Groom Recognition

The grooms used to be the unseen and unsung heroes of equestrian sport. Whilst there is still work to do there has been great progress in recent years in terms of recognising the grooms as the backbone of equestrian teams.

Of course, much of a groom's work is behind the scenes but there is a growing interest in hearing groom's stories and highlighting the absolutely vital role they play within FEI sport. 

Grooms feature fairly regularly in the media now, and we increasingly see grooms named in team announcements (a trend begun by British Equestrian). More shows are offering groom's prizes and making the effort to celebrate the work of the grooms during their event. It's great to see some riders also publicly sharing their success with the team around them.

Groom recognition matters, because as the public increasingly understands the role of international grooms, and the huge responsibility they carry, the more groom welfare will become a priority for the public, for shows, and for athletes.