The IGA works with a number of Show Supporters, who collaborate with us on groom-focused plans – and on sharing good work with the wider equestrian community.

Among these fabulous shows is CHIO Aachen, the World Equestrian Festival. This world-renowned show continues to evolve, and make efforts to improve the grooms’ experience.

Some high-profile shows rest on their laurels and history, but that is not the case in Aachen, where organisers continue their efforts to modernise and improve.

A highlight this year was the awarding of the Prize of the City of Aachen to the grooms working at the show.

This prize is dedicated each year to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to CHIO; this year it was given in recognition of the role of the grooms.

In addition, there was a further evolution of the grooms’ catering plans, including packed lunches for the eventing grooms on cross-country day and the return of the very popular leaving packs.

This year there was food provided in the Groom’s Lounge for those grooms who had horses competing in the Mercedes Benz Nations Cup, a class which runs into the night.

All these little touches help make the grooms’ lives just a little easier.

Of course, the show faces challenges.  Having permanent stables makes it difficult to make any changes to the stables themselves; on the other hand the Driving horses are stabled on grass, and heavy rain before and during the show created difficult conditions.

IGA Driving Rep Helene Ravat told us “it was difficult with the mud, but many shows do not try to change anything when this happens. At Aachen they have been giving us extra straw and have put down huge amounts of wood chips to keep the pathways as safe and usable as possible.

This has made a huge difference to all of us.”

For many grooms, working at a show where the organisers want to understand the challenges they face and work to mitigate them is huge in and of itself.

That’s before you consider the special and individual nature of this show.

Of course, we know not all shows have the budget and capacity to provide extra catering - or a main stadium full of cheering people.

However, some things do not rely on financial outlay, such as the WhatsApp groups for each discipline in which important information is shared directly. No more trekking to the show office to find the start list!

What sets Aachen - and many of our other Show Supporters - apart is the drive to acknowledge the grooms and ensure they have the best possible experience whilst working at the show.

International horse sport is not possible without grooms, and we are very proud to work with shows like Aachen to continue to bring improvements and to lead the way towards a better future for grooms in FEI sport - at all levels.

Aachen are hosting the 2026 World Championships – we’re already excited to see how much more progress and innovation has happened by then.