Pro Groom School - the first, but not the last!

BGA's membership assistant, Zoe Hargreaves shares her experience of organising the first ever Pro Groom School. Read her account of this unqiue learning experience with top level experts. 

“When Lucy Katan, BGA’s Executive Director, asked me if I would like to organise the BGA’s Pro Groom School, I was very excited.

Alan Davies, Jackie Potts, and Jenny Ellis are already huge supporters of the BGA, with their knowledge and experience, it was great to call upon them to help deliver the day.

Through our network, we found Sophie Sparrow to deliver equine massage sessions, and Paul Thomason, FEI Vet, whom I knew from my days as an event groom, very kindly said he would deliver the talk on anti-doping .

Stallion AI Services are great friends of the BGA, and their unique surroundings made for the perfect choice for the location of Pro Groom School. When we asked Stallion AI if we could have some horses for  the demonstrations, we all assumed that they would give us some ponies or brood mares. I think everyone was taken aback when we were told we would be working with the stallions. We had Springpond Merryman, Je T’aime Flamenco, and Big Star amongst other amazing stallions. They were all so beautifully behaved and so beautifully presented – even more so when they had been preened by Alan! We would like to thank all the grooms at Stallion AI who looked after the stallions during our sessions – they did such a great job for the Pro’s.

Pro Groom School

The Pro Groom School day started with an introduction from Lucy before the attendees were divided into groups to be sent off for their first session with one of the Pro’s. There were several sessions throughout the day to allow each group to spend time with all the experts.

Alan Davies

Alan covered Elite turn-out and this gave everyone the chance to see him demonstrating his plaiting techniques, so many grooms were delighted to know he uses plaiting bands! Watching Alan demonstrate his quarter marks on Big Star was a real highlight! There were lots of grooms who were desperate to look inside Alan’s bag, they wanted to know what secret products he had in there! Alan shared stories of his time grooming for Carl and Charlotte, and it was great hearing how they like things to be done.

Jackie Potts

Jackie was the lucky one who got to deliver her sessions in the warm classroom! Jackie talked about preparing for a competition and gave her insights into what she does when she is working for William Fox-Pitt or Kazuma Tomoto. It was great hearing some of the inside stories and being educated by Jackie, someone I have looked up to for over 20 years!

Jenny Ellis

Jenny gave fascinating talks on knowing your competition horse and shared top tips on how to care for them, especially when traveling. Everyone got to have a turn of listening to the pulse and feeling for the pulse too. Jenny’s stories were hilarious! I know Jenny was nervous but she delivered her sessions so very well and I learned so much from them.

Sophie Sparrow

Sophie shared great equine massage techniques and her tips on what people can do at home. It was great seeing the different horses’ needs and listening to Sophie’s expert knowledge in this area.

Paul Thomason

Paul’s talk on anti-doping was very insightful, I learned a lot. When Paul asked who had been to the toilet in a horse’s stable, the hands slowly went up – I think a few people were quite shy!  Paul explained that this accepted practice of using a horse’s stable for a quick wee, is an absolute NO! Especially not at competitions, as urinating in a horses stable could lead to an anti-doping violation. 

Paul’s talk fitted in so well with the game run by Phil from Bedmax on NOPS, (Naturally Occurring Prohibited Substances). Again, this was very informative and a bit of an eye-opener!

The fun didn’t stop for lunch, which was sponsored by Bedmax. The spread was delicious and the educational game to highlight potential contaminates was such a giggle. There were also talks from Lucy which were so educational as well as a question-and-answer session at the end of the day.

I want to thank Alan, Jackie, and Jenny for being so honest and so much fun. I have to pinch myself that this is what I call work!

It was so lovely to be able to put a face to the name of so many of our members, it is always great talking to you but being able to see you face to face was very special.

I also want to thank everyone who provided us with a video about what you enjoyed from the day. There were so many of you who I had already spoken to in advance of the day, and it genuinely felt like spending the day with friends.

Also, thanks to Faye, Kat and all of the Stallion AI team for everything!”

BIG thanks to; Stallion AI Services, Bedmax, NAF, Haddon Training Limited, Haygain UK, Treehouse Sporting Colours, Baileys Horse Feeds, Clippersharp, KBIS British Equestrian Insurance

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