How To Instill Good Ground Manners

Dale Hailstones, travel groom to Olympic show jumper Laura Kraut, has earned his fair share of frequent flier miles. Spending the majority of his time on the road, splitting between Wellington and England, Dale has learned how to best manage a busy string of nearly 40 horses and keep them performing at their best. 

Dale, who originally hails from Scotland, started out by assisting with some client horses before stepping into the role of traveling groom a few years ago. A rider as well, Dale has fallen in love all aspects of the job, which includes introducing younger horses to their new roles as Laura’s upper-level circuit mounts. 

Helping the Rookies

For younger horses who are beginning to travel with the top team, Dale finds that patience is key. But even with some of the most inexperienced horses, he says, leave him marveling at their eagerness to learn. 

“Sometimes for a horse who’s not wanting to just stand still and relax, I’ll try to motivate them with some food, like a hay net,” Dale described. “But if they’re super stressed, they won’t want to eat. So I really just do everything piece by piece and don’t expect much. I keep their routine on the road as close to that at home as I can. It’s all learned behavior, and eventually they do learn their jobs.”

Dale is a big believer in repetition to train horses to expect routine. You can leverage the horse’s preference for routine, he says, with repeating things such as walking to and from the ring and standing at the gate or braiding. This will quietly teach younger horses that it’s all in a day’s work. “I want them to feel like they are good at their jobs. It helps them in the ring too. So I try to set them up for success,” he explained. 

This often involves thinking ahead. If a horse is particularly nervous at a show, Dale will take him for a walk early in the morning, before the show has really gotten underway. It allows the horse to settle down at a quieter point in the day, stretch his legs, and get a good view of the grounds.

Dale advises against letting the horses walk all over their grooms. “I am not against proper use of a chain shank, as I don’t want to get run over. But I do think that if something goes wrong, you can’t always just abandon what you know and try some new trick you heard about,” he said. 

He’s also a big believer in being consistent. Even if that means waiting to see results. 

“I think some people are too quick to change everything when it doesn’t work the first time. You have to have faith that your system works, even with younger or more high-strung horses,” he said. “If you have a young stallion who’s just starting, you don’t want to put him in a situation where he will fail. You have to be tactful.

Dale says the horses often surprise him. He is amazed by the maturity of the horses and how they adapt so quickly to new, strange environments. But that doesn’t happen overnight. 

“These horses are accustomed to this life,” he said of Laura’s string. “But when they’re not, you can’t force it. You might think you can take them on, but the truth is they’re a hell of a lot bigger and stronger than you.When they get into a situation where their instinct is flight, that’s when they realize exactly how big and strong they are. So don’t put them in positions where that could escalate.”

Back at the Barn

Of course, it isn’t always go, go, go on the road for Dale. There are times where he’s at home base with the horses if they are competing locally. There the horses also thrive on routine – and it’s important for both Laura and her team to allow the horses to be, well, horses. No matter if the horse is bound for the Olympics or is just starting to compete, both Laura and her team believe in the importance of movement and turnout – a rarity in their discipline. 

“We have a walker as well as a treadmill at the Wellington base, so the horses all start their mornings on one of those if they aren’t competing,” Dale said. “And we have fantastic paddocks both in Wellington as well as England. We’re huge fans of turn out – we believe the horses should spend as much time outside as possible.” 

One of Dale’s favorite go-to grooming products is baby powder, which, he says, has multiple uses. With lots of white legs in his charge, Dale goes through a lot of baby powder to keep them glowing in the show ring. He also recommends using it inside boots or under wraps for horses who are prone to rubs or scratches.

With grey horses, he recommends Quik Silver Shampoo, and lots of it.

 “I try to keep them clipped, which in turn keeps them cleaner. Typically I will soak the tail in Quik Silver first, so that by the time I’ve bathed the rest of the body the tail comes out super white,” he said.