When we get messages from happy grooms telling us about the fantastic show they are at it makes us very happy - Courtney Carson visited Ocala last week to speak to the grooms there, and see what efforts the show had made for them.
"Last week saw the American leg of the FEI Longines League of Nations at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida. While no horse show is perfect, WEC set the bar high.
WEC is an impressive venue: with the main ring surrounded by white stands and the massive hotel as the backdrop for photos along one side of the arena.
Video boards lined the arena with updated information, multiple big screens around the ring and in the warm-up, and world class course design- it was the feature week of the winter circuit in Ocala.
Does any of this really matter though? Shiny things are great for spectators and owners, but what makes a horse show good?
WEC, which hosted its first FEI jumper classes less than a year ago, went above and beyond for everyone involved – including the grooms.
Some things that were greatly appreciated throughout this show may seem small to most people, but they were huge things to the grooms.
WEC provided the grooms with individual rooms in the brand-new hotel onsite.
Every groom had a place to go back to and decompress, have some privacy, and get good rest in the evenings.
When the schedule called for night classes in 3 of the 4 competition nights, this is very important to the mental and physical health of the grooms
participating.
WEC provided golf carts to the nations and explicitly said that grooms were to have the first use of them to help transport the grooms back and forth to the hotel.
Food was readily available with both catered meals in the expo center by the main ring and quick options in the Groom’s Lounge in the stabling area.
The Groom’s Lounge had comfortable chairs, air conditioning, snacks and drinks. There were picnic tables and cornhole set up outside for enjoying the Florida weather and relaxing.
The main rider’s lounge was open to grooms which had the live feed running, healthy options for lunch and dinner, and a full drink cooler of juice, water, and soda.
The lounge had multiple massage chairs, good WiFi, and overlooked the schooling ring as well.
When I walked through, I found tables of grooms who were able to relax, have a sit-down meal, and enjoy being out of the stables.
The hours for breakfast and lunch worked quite well, although there was conflict with the night classes.
WEC does have an array of restaurants on-site, and while not free these provide another option for food if grooms wanted something different or could not get to the catered food within those hours.
Another compliment I heard from grooms was that WEC did an incredible job of keeping the stabling area clean.
While the grooms are good about picking up after their own horses, when you’re hand walking it can be difficult to come behind yourself and clean up.
WEC employees were constantly going through the barns and keeping things tidy- which was much appreciated.
There are nice, permanent bathrooms in the stables which were kept clean and stocked with necessary items.
The rings were close to the stables, and the schooling area was large with long hours to give grooms and riders options to work their horses without being stressed or rushed.
During the Nations Cup, every groom had their name and picture up on the big screen when their rider came into the ring.
Once the round began the groom’s name remained on the big screen.
I had multiple other grooms sending me messages about how much this means to see grooms represented throughout the entire competition.
Their names were not just footnotes, but represented as a part of the team because it is so much more than just the horse and rider.
Overall I was met with lots of praise for the venue and the organizers who helped put on this show.
Was everyone 100% happy about every single aspect of the show? No. But as I said at the beginning of the article, no show is perfect. If any of our readers have tried to put on an event of their own they know you won’t make everyone completely happy, no matter what you do.
Multiple grooms said this is "the best show I have been to, hands down".
I hope other competitions around the world can take what the World Equestrian Center has done and rise to the occasion.
Grooms work hard and deserve to be treated with the same level of respect as every rider, judge, steward, and official - in my opinion WEC did that and more."
