We’re excited to share week two in our Eventing Tips and Tricks series! Last week, we caught up with Courtney Carson, barn manager for 5* eventer Doug Payne, and this week, we’re sharing insight from Emma Ford, the incredible top groom and manager who has been behind the scenes for Olympic gold medalist Phillip Dutton for more than a decade!

Meet This Week’s All-Star Barn Manager

Emma Ford – Emma Ford has been an integral part of the team at Phillip Dutton International since 2005, including traveling with the two-time Olympic gold medalist to multiple World Equestrian Games, Pan American Games, and Olympic Games. She took a year off in 2013 thinking that she was ready to slow down, but she missed the action and soon returned in 2014 and has been a top go-to for eventing grooming tips and tricks ever since!

Q: What’s one thing that you don’t go to the ring or start box without?

For the dressage and show jumping phases a towel, hoof pick, and fly spray are always in my backpack in case dirt needs to be wiped off. For horses that don’t like to be sprayed, I use the towel to apply fly spray to their heads and ears.

When heading to cross-country at the larger competitions, I always have spare studs and a wrench in case studs need to be changed in the warm-up.

Q: What’s the most rewarding part of the job?

Truly bonding with each horse. Knowing them well enough that a slight change in attitude or eye alertness means catching a health problem before it becomes too big.

I like to know what makes each horse tick. Each horse is an individual; what they need to perform their best at championships is paramount. Some horses love the individual attention, whilst others want to be left alone. I have one horse that has to be hand-grazed first thing in the morning otherwise he is anxious for the rest of the day.  Another horse gets very nervous before cross-country, and taking him out for a hand-walk prior to tacking him up seems to relieve some of his tension.

Q: What do you consider to be the biggest challenge of the job?

Learning to delegate and communicate. I am on the road with the advanced horses a lot through the show season. Being able to establish an at-home team that can keep the barn running smoothly is key. Over the years I have had to learn to trust people within the job to take care of the horses as I would – but also to not micro-manage!

Q: What items do you use most often in the barn?

My Multi Radiance M4 Cold Laser. I use this to help heal cuts, address sore muscles and acupuncture points, and rehab soft tissue injuries.

The Posture Prep Cross Fiber Groomer. It’s a grooming tool that allows me to massage the horse’s body to help release fascia whilst lifting dirt and bringing out the natural skin oils.

Towels! I’m endlessly drying horses’ legs, applying sprays, removing dust, and cleaning boots and surfaces – there are never enough towels!

Q: What is your biggest time-saving trick in the barn?

Thinking ahead! We have a training log book. Each day I try to list everything that needs to happen, lesson times, medications, icing, wrapping. This helps the staff to look at the day “as a whole” and be more efficient. Knowing these things ahead of time helps us to do day turn-out effectively and determines when horses are to be ridden (i.e. night turn-out horses get ridden earlier in the day). Rather than continually having to ask me what needs to be done, staff can go to the book and work it out for themselves.

Q: What’s your best grooming tip?

Allowing your horse to dry in the sun after bathing. This could be hand-grazing or letting them rest on cross-ties outside to dry. We are fortunate enough to have a horse walker. Many skin issues are caused because horses are put in stalls while they’re wet and without good airflow. The skin remains warm for a long time and provides a great environment for fungus and bacteria to grow and cause havoc wherever micro-abrasions might be present.

For more from Emma and clinics on horse health and management visit www.worldclassgrooming.com!

Photos courtesy of Emma Ford

We’ve shared tips and tricks from some of the top hunter barn managers in the country, and some of show jumping’s “grooms to the greats” shared their insight with our BarnManager team. Now, we’re excited to learn from the barn managers behind some of the best eventing riders in our new Eventing Tips and Tricks series of blog posts!

First up, we caught up with Courtney Carson, barn manager for 5* eventer Doug Payne (who was recently named to the U.S. team for the 2019 Pan American Games to be held this August)!

Meet This Week’s All-Star Barn Manager

Courtney Carson – Hailing from Illinois, Courtney has spent the last three years based in Aiken, SC, as the barn manager and head groom for Payne Equestrian and eventer Doug Payne.

Q: What’s one thing that you don’t go to the ring or start box without?

“I always have a rag with me. Even if I can’t get baby oil or something out of my pocket, I make sure to give their noses and mouths one last wipe and tell them to “be good.” I also try to check their girth one last time just in case. Plus, I always have cookies waiting for them at the end!”

Q: What’s the most rewarding part of the job?

While doing well at the big events such as Land Rover Kentucky are great, most times it is something as simple as a four-year-old doing its first show.

We just had a six-year-old do his first CCI-L back in May; he was the first horse that Doug broke from nothing since I had started, and he was amazing all weekend. To see how far he had come in a short amount of time, and to see the potential that is there, was incredibly rewarding. I remember when we couldn’t turn him out without a halter and lead rope attached because you couldn’t catch him!

I also love when our students come back from a show or a round, and they are so excited to tell me about how they did. These guys work day-in and day-out for me, so to see their work pay off is one of the best things.

Q: What do you consider to be the biggest challenge of the job?

Keeping all the wheels moving in the right direction. We are a 60/40 split between 3-day event horses and hunter/jumpers, so there is always a lot going on. This keeps us on the road quite a bit with very little turnover time while at home. It is very important that I have a good crew at home who communicates well, and we all work cohesively together. I would much rather hear from six people that we need to order hay or grain than come home to nothing, and I have to jump in the truck immediately and go pick some up as soon as the store is open. Doing the multiple disciplines means that the type of care and body maintenance is different – my event horses are kept much more lean than my jumpers (and especially compared to the hunters!!), so staying on top of that and keeping mental notes in my head is difficult. Thankfully we have a great team, and I own a million white boards!

Q: What items do you use most often in the barn?

A good rubber curry comb is at the top of my list. Between the sand in Aiken and my desire to have them all as shiny as possible, I use my curry comb a bunch. I also like to keep a ton of Show Sheen or some kind of mane and tail detangler spray. I don’t brush tails unless we’re going somewhere or while at a show, but I load their tails up with the Show Sheen every day to keep them from getting dreadlocks. We also go through a lot of fly spray with the bugs in the South East.

Q: What is your biggest time-saving trick in the barn?

If it is finished, put it away! I try to write the daily list so that we would ideally be using the last dressage saddle before the first jump saddle makes an appearance for the day. This way all of the dressage tack can get cleaned and put away while we are tacking up horses who are jumping. I have a list of “standing chores” which includes hay, water, stalls, and laundry. If it is just me in the barn because the kids are riding, I may go ahead and tack up two of Doug’s horses then have a third one groomed off, so when he comes in and I need to bathe, get the next one tacked, etc. I am already ahead of the game. Then I can take care of the horses the way I want. I’m thankfully pretty good at multitasking, so it works. But as long as the kids are moving productively then it gets things done. Probably my biggest life-saver is that I put together a binder which lists all the equipment the horses will go in for each phase/type of ride. That way newer students don’t wander around the barn looking for someone to show them what tack to use.

Q: What’s your best grooming tip?

Pay attention to detail. Get to know your horses – their legs, coat, skin, eating habits, turnout behaviors, etc. and use it to your advantage. I have one horse that is super sensitive to the sand, skipping one day of washing his legs and skin funk shows up, but then the only thing that works on it is Micro Tek. I’ve tried every other anti-fungal shampoo with no luck.

I have another horse who eats half of his breakfast every morning, goes outside for a couple hours, gets ridden, and then will finish breakfast. All of these things are normal, but it scares everyone when they first start working for us. Don’t let the little things get to you, because horses spend every day of their lives trying to hurt or kill themselves, so things are going to happen that are out of your control.

Love them like they are your own. Communicate with your boss about how they want things done, and remember that everyone is on the same team. Never stop learning though, talk to other grooms, talk to vets and farriers, read articles, and keep an open mind. Things will work for some horses and not others, that doesn’t make them wrong. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help. Most importantly, find out what kind of treats your horses like the best and keep those on autoship through Amazon, Chewy, or Smartpak!

Photos courtesy of Courtney Carson