Jenni Calver knows as well as any groom how often their contribution is overlooked and she has taken on the task of correcting that scenario.
“I’ve been grooming for nearly 30 years,” Calver said. “And for most of that time, no one said thank you.”
This statement is not made in judgment but from the experience of someone who has worked behind the scenes at show rings in New Zealand’s rolling countryside to international three-day events in Australia and Kentucky, USA. Calver has witnessed equestrian sport in a multitude of different environments and remains committed to the horses and the people who care for them.
A Lifetime Among Horses
Calver grew up in rural New Zealand, where horses were a way of life rather than a luxury. Her father hunted, and she took up the unpredictable and sometimes dangerous pastime from a young age. “We don’t have foxes in New Zealand,” she said. “So it’s hares in the paddock for us. I’d go out as a kid, just soaking up the atmosphere. I loved the teamwork between horse and rider.”
By the age of 17 she had already chosen her vocation for life – grooming was her passion. “I didn’t want to do anything else,” she said. “I finished high school, but I wasn’t interested in university. I just wanted to work with horses.”
She started out working with horses competing on the New Zealand show circuit but was soon lured to warmer winters across the Tasman Sea to Australia. “Our season here runs from September to April,” she explained. “Then everything shuts down. So, like a lot of Kiwis, I went to Australia for the winter to keep working.”
In the course of the next decade Calver became a well-known groom in Australian eventing and showjumping yards. She found opportunities to work and learn from the best. She groomed for world-renowned riders, including New Zealand’s own Olympic veteran Jock Paget. “I worked for Jock when he was based in Australia,” Calver recalls. “In 2010, I went to Kentucky for the World Equestrian Games with Brett Parbery. It was incredible—the scale of it, the professionalism. But it was also a reminder of how different things are for grooms back home.”
One-Woman’s Campaign For Recognition
A decade ago, Calver returned to New Zealand and noticed something was missing in competition culture. “We’d win big three-day events, and there’d be no handshake, no mention, no prize for the groom. Nothing,” she said. “That didn’t sit right with me.” She decided to make things right and began a one-woman campaign to do so.
She took on the project at her own expense. She began supplying small prizes for grooms at New Zealand’s major shows.
“It started about 12 years ago with the big three-day events in December and May,” she explained. “I’d put together goody bags—little things like hot chocolate mugs, nice glasses, chocolates. I just wanted to say, ‘We see you. Well done.’”
Her gesture had an impact and her ‘Groom Prizes’ soon became a regular feature at top events – all still funded by Calver herself. “It’s not much,” she said. “But it means something. When someone hands you a gift, it’s a moment of recognition, and that goes a long way.”
Calver took it upon herself to widen her efforts into other disciplines. “Last year I started doing it at the big showjumping shows, too. It’s all still out of my own pocket, but I love it. I want grooms to feel valued.”
Decades of Change
Calver has seen how grooming has changed over the three decades of her career. “It’s not what it used to be,” she reflected. “When I started, there were lots of us—young people who wanted to work hard, travel, and learn. Now it’s different. There aren’t many coming through.”
There are several reasons for this drought. Costs rise, fewer full-time positions are available and the younger generation are less willing to put in the physical grind needed to groom.
“A lot of younger riders just do it all themselves,” Calver said. “Or their mum or sister helps. Grooms are seen as a luxury now. But it used to be a proper job—something you built a life around.”
Calver is an exception to the rule having built a solid reputation as one of the country’s few freelance, multi-discipline grooms, working in the realms of show jumping, eventing and the “dolly ponies” – who look pretty showing on the flat – that are unique to the antipodean show rings. “New Zealand’s small,” she explained. “If you only do one discipline, you won’t have enough work. So I do everything.”
Freelance work demands constant traveling – with horses to clip, braid and prepare in all weathers and often at the mercy of the elements. “Some of our shows are still outdoors, uncovered, on grass,” she laughs. “You get wet, you get hot, but that’s just how it is here.”
Representing Her Community
Calver has endured the long hours and physical toll of grooming and undergone two major surgeries resulting in a leg full of metal screws. She remains strongly involved in trying to improve the environment for her peers.She is a member of the International Grooms Association, working to connect and represent New Zealand grooms within the global community.
“It’s hard here,” she said. “We don’t have big professional stables like Europe or the US. Most riders are small operations or families. But that doesn’t mean our grooms shouldn’t have the same recognition or benefits.”
Calver has approached organizations like Equestrian Sports New Zealand for improvements – things like travel discounts, ferry subsidies and inclusion in official team listings.
“If riders get [financial] help crossing the Cook Strait, why can’t we?” she said, in reference to the ferry crossing between New Zealand’s North and South islands. “We’re part of the same team.” Her determination is beginning to pay off. She has campaigned across both New Zealand and Australia with a view to creating a regional network for grooms. “There are more of us in Australia,” she said. “But I think if we can link up, we can make something happen.”
No Letting Up
Calver is 46 and jokes that she’s “not allowed to retire yet.” Riders that she started grooming for when children and she has promised to see them through their Junior showing years.“They’re eight or nine now, so I’ve got at least another ten years before I can stop,” she said
Her weekends are usually fully booked in advance seeing her at a showjumping competition or other type of show and sometimes both. “It’s a juggle,” she said. “But I love the variety. Every show is different, every horse is different.”
Her mission remains straightforward. “It’s about pride,” she said. “About showing that what we do matters. Because it does.”
One Gift At a Time
Calver’s improvised gift packs – assembled with a variety of goodies that she amasses as she finds things – make their mark. “It’s not the money,” she said. “It’s the gesture. A little bit of appreciation.” Her presence at a show does not go unnoticed. “They know if I’m there, there’ll be prizes,” she said. “And they get excited. That’s the best part. I just want to keep doing my bit. If that helps another groom feel proud of what they do, then I’ve done my job.”
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.
