The FEI Cavalor Best Groom Award is extremely prestigious, presented at the FEI Awards Gala each year.
Grooms are nominated by their athletes, and others within the sport.
A judging panel draws up a shortlist from the nominations they receive and the winner is chosen from this shortlist, 50% from a public vote and 50% by an FEI panel.
We are very proud to count many past winners of this Award as members of the IGA and have two previous winners sitting on our Board of Directors, Jackie Potts (2014) and Alan Davies (2017).
This award celebrates and rewards truly outstanding grooms, and is kindly supported by Cavalor.
The winner of the 2025 FEI Cavalor Best Groom Award is Sanne Melsen, groom to Gilles Thomas.
Sanne has worked for Gilles for the last 6 years and plays a key role in his many recent successes. She is recognised for her deep commitment to her horses, and ensuring their emotional wellbeing as much as physical.
You can watch the FEI's video interview with Sanne below.
The other nominees for the 2025 award were:
Steffi Wieagrd, groom to Isabel Werth
Adam Short, groom to Tom McEwen
Oona Eerola, groom to Yuri Mansur
The winner of the 2024 FEI Cavalor Best Groom Award was Bettina Cardinael, Eventing groom to Lara de Liederkerke (BEL)
Bettina is known for her positive outlook and care for the horses. Having worked in top level eventing as a freelance groom for many top athletes, she now works full time for Lara.
This year they won the Luhmuhlen 5* and were in Paris for the 2024 Olympics.
The winner of the 2023 FEI Cavalor Best Groom Award was Emma Uusi-Simola (FIN).
Emma has worked for Steve Guerdat (SUI) for over a decade, and played a role in major successes such as winning Individual Gold at the Jumping Europeans last year.
She is known for her hard work and dedication, and is an integral part of the wider Swiss team, often the nominated groom to fly with the team horses.
Watch the FEI's video interview with Emma and Steve here.
The other nominees for the 2023 FEI Cavalor Best Groom Award were:
Danny Ingratta - works at Millar Brook Farm (Jumping, CAN)
Sofia Flodin - works for Matthias Rath (Dressage, GER)
Sarah Charnley - works for Ros Canter (Eventing, GBR)
We are very proud to once again see three IGA members among the 2023 nominees. The nomination alone is a huge honour, and all four serve as an inspiration and examples of exceptional dedication and skill.
The 2022 winner of the Cavalor FEI Best Groom Award was Kerryn Edmans (NZ).
Kerryn is Head Girl to Tim and Jonelle Price, the current Eventing World No. 1 and 2. Having worked for them since 2013, with a brief break before Covid, Kerryn is a key member of the team and a well-known and hugely respected face on the eventing circuit. Her attention to detail, her knowledge and feel for the horses she cares for and her ability to be a team player make her a great ambassador for eventing.
The other 2022 nominees were:
Lars Seefeld, dressage- works for Daniel Bachmann Anderson
Emma Olsson, driving- works for Boyd Exell
Sue Schlegel, jumping- works for Beezie Madden
Our site uses a script that is able to read, store and write information on your browser. The data processed by this script include personal identifiers for example your IP address and session details. We use this information for security, authentication, analytics and to improve our site. We also share information about your use of our site with analytic partners. You can reject non-essential processing by choosing to accept only essential cookies. You may adjust this setting at any time by clicking on the cookie icon in the bottom left corner of any page. Read our Privacy Notice for details.More
