Meet Tracy, our Head Groom, for this month’s Hay There!

For this month’s spotlight we meet with our Head Groom, Tracy who plays a vital role in facilitating the care of up to 140 horses at our Home of Rest for Horses and leading by example to give support to all our grooms and senior grooms. Tracy has been with us at The Horse Trust for almost 7 amazing years, working her way up from a Groom in 2016, then to Senior Groom, and then again to her role now, Head Groom. Let’s find out more about Tracy and the role she plays within The Horse Trust.

When asked what an average day looks like, Tracy was unable to give a straight answer! A day in the life of a Head Groom for the oldest horse charity in the world holds some big responsibilities, looking out for the health and well-being of horse veterans and horses who have protected our country and communities. As you can imagine – no day looks the same!

However, generally in the mornings you will find Tracy in the ‘feed room’ where she and her Senior Grooms prepare the feeds and medication for all the horses on site. The rest of the day is however varied! Amongst other tasks, if horses need transporting to other sites and various locations, she will give our Equine Care Officer a hand, or if Veterinary Director, Nicky needs an extra pair of hands, Tracy is on board to assist in the Vet Clinic. Tracy organises the horses coming in for the public and their return to their fields at the end of the day, and when our herds need moving to different fields for their winter or summer grazing, Tracy co-ordinates with her team to make that happen!

Tracy’s love of horses came about due to her sister, Kelly, who is our Hospitality Manager over in the Fundraising & Marketing team! Kelly was learning to ride when Tracy was growing up and so followed in her big sister’s footsteps and began to learn at the young age of two and had her first pony, called Lady, at the age of three! Kelly was our Hay There spotlight back at the start of 2023, which you can read here.

Tracy told us that with her huge love for horses, it feels like a privilege to care for all our residents and loves spending time with these magnificent creatures, even when they can be a little hard work! One thing about Tracy’s varied job that she loves is assisting Nicky in the Vet Clinic as she described Nicky as a brilliant teacher and enjoys learning from her about different medical procedures.

The most memorable days that Tracy has had over the years have been the snow days. Usually, this weather makes for a fun day as the close-knit teams work together to problem-solve and get stuck in to care for all the residents – no matter the weather. Some of the hardest days are of course saying goodbye to horses when it is their time to go. Tracy says it is bittersweet as she knows they have had a five-star retirement with us, and they lived their last days with us in our safe and caring environment.

We asked Tracy what she wishes everyone knew about The Horse Trust which she feels is unique to us. Although Tracy has been with us many years now, she recognises that our unique culture of learning and training is paramount to the success of the level of care we are able to give our residents. Here at The Horse Trust, we have our own unique training system in place to ensure that all our grooms have the knowledge and skills to carry out their jobs and they continue to learn and assess their knowledge. This in turn helps us have more eyes on all our horses to spot early signs of lameness, colic and other health issues, as well as being able to carry out their job to a high level.

We are all very grateful to Tracy and her team for the hard work they put in day in, day out, 365 days a year to care for our herd and for Tracy’s knowledge and organisational skills to support a very important team at The Horse Trust. We won’t keep her any longer as we know she will have some horses to tend to no doubt!

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