Vestibulum enim quis
Whats in your grooming kit at the
moment?
I
n the world of competitive Dressage, a skilled groom is worth their
weight in gold to an international
horse and rider team. Alan Davies
(UK) is one such groom and works with
Uthopia and Vallegro for Carl Hester
and Charlotte Dujardin.
What made you decide to start grooming
professionally and how did you get
started?
I was always fascinated with taking care of
horses from an early age and the thought of
getting to travel the world whilst doing the job I
loved got me started into the world of professional grooming . I started out with show jumpers & early on in my career I was lucky enough
to get sent out to America with some Australian
jumpers , and that was where I learned that to
Left: Alan Davies gets a
little love from Valegro!
be a top groom was a real profession , I spent
4 years out there and was really fortunate to
meet & learn from some of the best people in
the business , Karen Golding ( barn manager to
Michael Matz ) being one of the most influential
people in my life.
Can you tell me a standard day's grooming routine for you?
A standard day at the moment entails starting
at 6.15, feeding & haying round before mucking
out my main charges, checking them over and
making sure they are in order for the day. Then
I usually groom and tack up Valegro and then I
get on him at 7.45 am to give him a 15 minute
hack before Charlotte arrives at 8 to give him
his training session . And then it is tacking up
& getting ready and washing off for most of
the morning , we all work as a team and keep
everything rolling so that all the horses are
ridden and washed off before lunch as Carl and
Charlotte then teach in the afternoons . We
all ride & I generally hack Valegro and Uthopia
before & after they have had a training session
. In the afternoon the horses turn out or walk
in hand & I take Valegro and Uthopia to a local
water treadmill at least twice a week to have an
extra workout . And then generally 4.15 we hay
& do evening stables & feed at 5.15
In my grooming kit at the moment, are a rubber
curry comb ( the horses love being rubbed on
with this and it's great for their coats ) and a
variety of brushes , some with long soft bristles,
some with shorter soft bristles, one with quite
stiff bristled, and one ( my favourite Dutch brush
) with lovely long bristles that flick any dust out
of the cost . I also always have a selection of
cloths so I can either hot cloth or dry cloth the
horses
How does your daily routine change leading up to a major compeition?
Leading up to a show I try not to change the
horses routine too much , but in between all the
normal chores , I have to try and get the trunks
packed with numnahs bandages boots and rugs,
and try and have a variety of gear for different
weather ready, and get spare kit ready to then
put in the truck and I also have to make sure the
riders have everything they are going to need,
so I am often seen with my head in a trunk
checking and rechecking the contents !
Can you tell me a little about each of the
key horses you are currently working with
and their personalities?
At the moment, I'm in charge of the five main
Grand Prix horses at the yard , Valegro is the
main man , he doesn't like too much fuss , he
loves to work & he loves his food but he also
Passage Magazine
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