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Jiliann Miller Prepares To Mentor From Wellington
Knowledge is power, and at no time more so than when you get the inside scoop on how to acclimatize to a new equestrian environment such as Wellington, Florida. Dressage groom Jiliann Miller has five Wellington winters under her belt as well as two full-time years in the equestrian hotspot of the world. Hot being the word during the summer in the balmy and humid climate of South Florida. She has taken up the mantle of mentor for new grooms coming to Wellington and is ready to share advice as needed.
“Hopefully people reach out, and I’m happy to help,” she said from her base at the dressage barn in Loxahatchee, Florida, where she grooms for Grand Prix dressage rider Alexandra Reid-Naranjo of ARA Equestrian. She takes care of six horses but not by herself. “My boss is very hands on,” she said. “She’s very involved, and we are definitely sharing the workload.”
Miller’s trajectory with horses started at the age of 10 when she first started to ride. She landed her first job as a groom in 2017, and it is her particular knowledge of Wellington that HorseGrooms has asked her to share.
“My contact is available, and if someone wants someone to talk to, I will be happy to help,” she said.
Disney World for Horses
Miller’s arrival in Wellington proved to be something of a culture shock, having previously been used to the cooler climes of Massachusetts in the Northeast. First impressions included the horse friendly road crossings in the vicinity of the Global Dressage Festival, allowing people to ride horses safely alongside the traffic. “The crosswalks were new to me,” she said. “The stop sign with the button that you can press from horseback when you’re hacking with the horses. That was mind-blowing to me, but now I don’t even think about it anymore.”
Also impressive was the size of the equestrian community. “The whole scale of it,” she said. “And all the gorgeous horse farms and barns around too. And they’re all so different and all obviously have the same underlying goal of housing horses. But they’re so differently built. I was told about that before I came to Wellington for the first time – that it was like Disney World for horses. But it really is. There’s barn after barn, and the communities like Grand Prix Village and Palm Beach Point are areas I never knew existed before coming to Wellignton.”
Growing up in the Northeast, the equestrian landscape was less evident. “To have everything you need in the same place is incredible,” she said.
Balmy Climate
Wellington’s climate brings with it a unique set of challenges for grooms and the care of horses, starting with the heat. “The heat is definitely a factor for humans and horses,” she said.
With great heat comes skin issues. “Everyone here knows about Florida fungus,” she said. “I keep my horses’ legs clean daily, clipped weekly, and apply cream as needed to prevent them from getting the gunk. I think the horses that are here year-round eventually get used to it, but the ones that come from cold climates that get dropped right in the middle of the hot, humid Florida sun maybe have a trickier time of it.”
Battling the Sun
The sun’s strength also affects the horse’s coats. The bleached look is not appealing for the show ring and Miller is open to advice. “Because the sun is so strong, their coats get all sun bleached, which is inevitable,” she said. “I have to just keep fly sheets on them when they are outside. Except when it’s too hot in the summer. I have a bay, and she goes gray in the winter months. It’s awful. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.”
Turn out is always a limited facility in Wellington, where some equestrian properties are situated on as little as two acres – and even those with more do not have lush turnout, with grass and room to roam as horses would if they were in the Northeast. The barn in Loxahatchee – where equestrian farms typically have more room – benefits from trees and their shade. Shed rows give horses the option of being outside or inside. “We’re very lucky in the sense of the amount of turnout we have here at this farm,” Miller said.
Feeding Schedule
For feed, Miller’s horses are on Hygain, “which I think really helps their coat,” she said. “Also they don’t eat at the same time every day which I think is good for them so they are not standing there anticipating. I usually start my day around 6 to 6:30 a.m. when they eat breakfast, but lunch can be between 11 and 1 depending on when they are ridden. And dinner between 4 and 6 p.m., depending on the day. I also give a small mash at night check.”
They are given plenty of hay, and Miller is “always keeping an eye on their weight and adjusting as needed.”
A Spotlight on Grooms
Miller is excited by the recent seismic shift that has put grooms in the spotlight. “It’s just something so simple – to give grooms more recognition,” she said. “What Dinette [HorseGrooms’ founder] and IGA [the International Grooms Association] have been doing is above and beyond what I think anyone thought could happen. Things as simple as having grooms’ names on the jumbotron at championship shows and ensuring grooms have proper living and eating accommodations at shows are just a few things to show the importance of groom recognition.”
The ripple effect has been felt in the community.
“It has a more positive vibe,” said Miller. “I’m a quiet person who doesn’t put myself out there. But having horse grooms be able to talk to each other through the [HorseGrooms] Community and ask: ‘Oh, hey, does anyone have any ideas for this, or has anyone tried this?’ I think it’s great, as far as connecting grooms. You have to be always open to trying new things, and being able to easily reach out in an online capacity makes it easier to get great advice.”
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Sarah Eakin has a long history of sports reporting and covering equestrian disciplines – particularly show jumping, polo, racing and dressage – for a range of international publications as writer and editor-in-chief. In 2024, Sarah launched Paper Horse – an online magazine with an eclectic mix of stories from the horse world at www.paperhorsemedia.com. Paper Horse is an official Media Partner of Wellington International. Sarah was born in England and came to the US in 1996 as Sidelines’ Polo Editor; at the time she was chief polo writer at the Horse and Hound and Polo Correspondent to The Daily Telegraph. She married US professional polo player Gary Eakin and stayed Stateside traveling throughout North America while covering equestrian events. She is also an author; Wed, White and Blue, her first novel is on Amazon.
