United States Eventing Association

It’s 7:15 on a Sunday morning and while most 19-year-olds are still in bed recovering from the fun of Saturday night, Katie Hasse is starting her morning chores at Kilfinnan Stables in Upperville, Virginia. Katie is a groom for upper-level event rider and trainer, Sean McQuillan, and although she says that her job is not glamorous, she has gained a wealth of knowledge that will be so important in her aspiration of becoming a professional rider.

Katie has spent the past two summers as a working student at Sharon White’s Last Frontier Farm before coming to Kilfinnan as full time groom.

This particular Sunday is an off-weekend; Sean is not taking any horses to an event, so Katie is able to have a relatively quiet day. On weekends with events mornings can start as early as 4:00 AM with braiding, bathing, and all the regular barn chores before hitting the road to groom and often compete herself at the event.

So, if you have ever dreamed of taking a year off after high school and working full time in the sport that you love, here is what a typical day could be like at busy eventing barn with 24 horses.

7:15: Arrive at the barn and start bringing in the horses to feed.

8:00: Feed all the horses.

8:15: On Sundays the stall-cleaner has the day off, so today Katie is responsible for cleaning all of the stalls, dumping and scrubbing buckets, and haying and watering the horses.

10:30: Katie pulls out the tools of the trade: her grooming kit.

10:45: Katie grooms all of Sean’s horses in the morning so they will be ready for him whenever he has a chance to ride in between the lessons he teaches.

11:00: Wex gives a big yawn as he is fully relaxed from Katie’s hot towelling.

11:45: Katie takes a quick break from getting the horses groomed to confer with the barn manager, Kendra, on the afternoon’s plans.

12:15: Katie grooms Tyler, a sale horse, before getting a jump lesson on him.

12:30: One of the perks of the job – jump lessons from Sean!

2:00: Give Seamus a bath after Sean rode him.

2:15: Put Seamus away and get out Wex to tack up.

2:30: Ahh – 5 minute break while waiting for an open wash rack.

3:00 – 3:30: Clean all the tack that was used that day.

4:00: Feed dinner.

4:30-5:00: Turn the horses out for the night, and head home to get a good night sleep to do it all again the next day!

Katie’s tenure at Kilfinnan is coming to an end as she is going to be a full-time student in the fall. Katie is still going to be riding as much as possible though and is hoping to do some teaching of her own.

So, do you think you have what it takes to be an event groom?