“Late classes on Saturdays sometimes finish at 12.30 am; then if you have young horses or need to ride early you have to be back in the stable. Then as soon as the show is done, they’re dismantling the stables, so you have to drive.

It has a knock-on effect; by the time you get home early on Monday you then spend your day off sleeping rather than doing the things you need to.” 

 

 

“Late classes mean very long days. Feeding time in the morning does not change, short nights of sleep affect the body and the brain. We all need to be on top of details and without proper sleep we might miss things. The same for the horses. They need time with lights out and no people around. And that’s not happening. 

 

At the last show I did I was in the stables until later than midnight every day because of the last class plus jump off. I was not the only one nor the last one in the stable. When I arrived in the morning (6:30 am) the stable was already active.  We can try to get rest during the day it’s not the same as having a night’s sleep.” 

 

 

“Late classes affect us grooms, and our horses too. We always try to keep as close to the home routine as possible for our horses. When the class finishes around midnight and we do a prize giving most of us still need two hours to be done with horses (shower, brush, icing, bandages, clean the tack…) but the next morning we try to be there on home time to feed and then to hand walk, lunge, riding to keep the routine. 

 

When those classes happen on a Saturday evening it is a problem because most of the grooms also drive. Normally after they finish the class on Sunday, they just pack and leave straight after. So the late classes make us work more hours, meaning less time to rest which can cause us to make some mistakes during work. It also increases the risk of injury as you are not 100% alert” 

 

 

“I understand the attraction of having night classes at shows for the public because it creates more atmosphere. On the working side, it is unnecessary to wait all day to start at 18:00pm with the second class at 21:00pm with a jump-off. People are not finished until 02:00am. 

 

The grooms are being penalised for success because if the horse is clear and has prize giving in the first class and then you go onto the second class you have no time to look after the first horse so after the second horse you have both to do off and so you can be there until 02:00am.” 

 

 

“It’s always difficult – the prize giving of the jumping is always late. The horses have to be washed, cooled down and iced. They have to dry. And then the stewards want you to leave the stable, and you have to fight and say ‘no I cannot leave the stable my horse is not dry.’ Then other people come early to train or feed and once people start feeding and making noise the horses that competed late get no rest. 

 

We talk always of the welfare of the horses, and of course, the grooms, and you can see how few hours they can sleep – four hours if you are lucky all through the weekend and then you have to drive home.  These late jumping classes are really difficult for everyone.” 

 

 

“I feel I will soon have to give up this job because of burnout.” 

 

 

“Late nights mean short nights of sleep! Because we have to wake up early the next day to feed and take care of the horses…. And then we have to drive on Sunday night, which is dangerous if we have really short nights to sleep the past days. 

 

The tight show schedule doesn’t allow us to drive Monday morning and anyway, most of the shows unbuild the stables straight after the show is finished.” 

 

 

“First for the horses and the riders, it is well documented that good sleep is a key factor of performance and longevity, specifically for preventing injury, it is as important as nutrition.  So this also applies to grooms! We are not immune. In the long run, it affects the groom’s health and their motivation to pursue a long career in this job.

For the grooms the problem is the repetition; one show organiser may think ‘ok it's not too bad if I make a late competition on Friday and Saturday’ but what they need to understand is that the organiser the week before thought the same and also the one for the following week.

The problem is that we HAVE to be up early in the morning to feed the horses and take care of them, it is not an option for grooms to start working at 10:00am.

The next problem is the driving! If we lack sleep during the event it becomes very dangerous to drive the lorry home. I am already expecting the answer "Is it not the responsibility of the rider to hire a driver or 2 grooms – but this culture change is not happening, so what is the solution?".

We need to avoid a dramatic accident because of overtired grooms.” 
David - 5* jumping groom

 

“One of the biggest problems we have is with the late-night classes – most of the day you are on your feet, trying to nap between times. Then when we are trying to finish our horses we have to argue with security who want to close the stables. 

And then the same thing the next day for two or three days in a row depending on the show. And then Sundays – these can feel like they are 48 hours long not 24.

We have to feed on time and then compete, pack up and drive home, often arriving back early Monday morning. Once you are home it takes days to recover. I work at home as well as the shows, and as soon as you feel recovered it is on to the next show.” 
Mel - 5* jumping groom

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