Groom (horses)
A groom is responsible for the welfare of their employer's horses. Their duties may include cleaning stables (mucking-out), feeding, exercising and grooming horses.
Grooms are often required to travel with their employer to provide support services during competitions. The services required vary with the type of competition and range from simply ensuring that the horse is ready for the start of the competition to warming the horse up beforehand. In carriage driving the groom is the passenger, and at speed is required to shift their weight to balance the carriage.
At large establishments there may be several grooms under the management of the head groom. In many cases the head groom has complete responsibility for the horses including devising training schedules, choosing feeds for optimum nutrition and ensuring the horses are shod, wormed, inoculated and provided with timely veterinary care.
