Animal_Tales_-_February_2020

(^16) Tales

I

f you’vealwaysdreamedof

takinghorsebacklessonsor

spendingyourdaysat the

stables,you’regoingtolove

learningaboutTrentMcGee’s

cooljob!He’sa horsegroomer

at BrookwayStablesin Lake

ViewTerrace,CA.Hetakescare

ofhorsesofalldifferentbreeds,

suchasEuropeanWarmbloods,

ThoroughbredsandQuarter

Horses.“They’remajestic,

wonderfulcreatures,”Trenttells

AnimalTales. “Beinga groomeris

a lotofhardwork,butI’vebeen

ridinghorsessinceI was7, soI

lovegettingtocareforthemnow.”

Andwhileyoumightthinkbeing

a horsegroomeronlyconsists

oftaskslikeshampooingand

brushing,there’s a lotmore to

it. Keepreadingtofindoutwhat

reallygoesintoTrent’sjob!

T YPICAL TASKS

As a groomer, Trent works four

to five days a week from 9 a.m.

to 4 p.m. When he arrives at the

stables, he’s off to work right

away. “In the morning, I start

out by hand-walking the horses,

bringing them out to the pasture

and removing their protective

wraps, which are applied to

horses’legstogivetheirtendons

extrasupportat night,”hesays.

Trentheadsbacktothestables

tocleanalltheridingequipment

andaccessorieswhilethehorses

are occupied.However, mostof

histimeis spentwiththegentle

creatures.Hebrushesandcleans

eachhorsebeforetackingthem

(fittingthemwithridingequipment)

andfeedingthem.Sometimes,

Tr enthastolongea horse.“That’s

whenthehorsewalksaroundin a

circlewhileattachedtoa rope,”he

explains.Beforeheheadshome

fortheday,Trentcleansupthe

barn,bathesthehorsesandpreps

themforthenight.

GROOMING 101

Sowhatgoesintogroominga

horse? Trent tells us the first step

is securing the horse in its stall

so it won’t try to walk away. After

the rope’s in place, he begins

by removing the excess dirt and

the thin wood shavings from the

horse’s bedding that get stuck

inside of the horse’s hooves. Then,

he moves on to the brushing

Horses

definitely

require a lot

of attention

and care.

—TRENT

MCGEE

HORSE

GROOMER!

Animal Jobs

What

it’s like

to be a

We’re

not horsing

around —

this is a^

real job!^