FEI inaugural Grooms Working Group meeting

A delegation of four international grooms representing the three Olympic disciplines were welcomed to FEI Headquarters in Lausanne (SUI) by FEI President Ingmar De Vos this week to participate in the inaugural Grooms Working Group meeting. 

The first meeting of its kind, the working group was created following a recent survey among National Federations to determine the best way to improve communications and interaction with grooms and what the FEI can do to help them.

As part of a day of very positive discussion, it was agreed by the working group that there was a need to establish a more formal relationship, with grooms being officially welcomed into the FEI Family through being registered with the FEI. Registration would facilitate further development of education systems, creating a more structured framework for cooperation between the FEI and grooms.

In addition, the FEI is taking significant steps towards producing applications and other tools which will best serve the grooms, allowing them to streamline preparation for upcoming events.

“Grooms play an absolutely vital role in our sport, especially in preserving the welfare of our horses, but often they go unnoticed and unrecognised, so this new working group has been set up to change that and establish an official relationship with these very important members of our community”, FEI President Ingmar De Vos said after this week’s meeting.

“It is vital for the sport and for the development of our global equestrian community to have a solid support network, and for the FEI to offer assistance and education where necessary. Grooms are truly worth their weight in gold, and we want to provide the finest resources and tools that will help increase knowledge of best practices and standards. Forging better relationships with our grooms is only the beginning. We want to help them share their knowledge with the wider community for the benefit of the sport globally.”

“I felt very honoured to be invited by the FEI to talk about the future of the grooms”, said BGA Ambassador Alan Davies, who works for Carl Hester and BGA Patron, Charlotte Dujardin.

“The FEI are very keen to support the grooms more and they have some great ideas about creating a grooms register and other exciting things. The President is very supportive of the grooms and is looking to really develop a whole new scheme to promote the grooms and I'm really looking forward to being part of the project .”

Jackie Potts, BGA Ambassador, and groom to Willam Fox-Pitt said, "It was such an honour to be selected by the FEI to join the Grooms Working Group in Lausanne, something I could never have imagined in years gone by! The focus of the FEI is to work along side grooms in recognising their role in the industry, improving knowledge and therby trying to sustain grooms long term.

I believe in the future we can accomplish the changes discussed and I am looking forward to this task with 100% plus commitment. It's fantastic to have the opportunity to be able to ‘give back‘ something to an industry which has provided me with a long and exciting career." 

Following this initial meeting, the FEI will now focus on the key components of integration, registration, education and communication. Membership of the Working Group will be expanded to include grooms from other disciplines, with the next meeting planned for 2018, ahead of the FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Tryon (USA).

"This is so exciting", said BGA's Lucy Katan, "for 10 years we have been raising the profile of grooms, and for the FEI to at last invest in this area is frankly about time and great news! We are so proud that Jackie and Alan have been invited to be involved in this work." 

Jackie and Alan are BGA Amabassadors, do you belong to your BGA yet?

BGA MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS