No longer in the shadows, grooms are increasingly at the forefront of the equestrian world and Shay Stenchever epitomizes this transformation, with her foray into social media and sponsorship.
Stenchever started her grooming life as a working student at 16 years old. Some 12 years later she has moved up through the ranks, worked for several Olympians and was, for the past three years, helping Stella Buckingham – who rides with Carly Anthony – with her program.
Stenchever balances her work grooming – caring for seven horses – with a presence on social media derived from creating educational videos, mainly for Instagram and HorseGrooms. Recently, she accepted an invitation to become a HorseGrooms mentor and will be sharing even more of her valuable insights with the community.
Advice was harder to come by in Stenchever’s early days
“At that age, you don’t know much, and you learn fast—mostly through trial and error,” said Stenchever of her working student initiation. “I didn’t have a lot of mentors. To break into doing more FEI shows and things like that was difficult. It was a hard learning curve because you would take a job with very little pay – because learning is your payment. Sometimes you’re really lucky and there’s a groom at the job who takes you under their wing and is helpful.”
Without a guiding hand, options were limited. “Ten years ago, you couldn’t just hop on Instagram and see how someone was packing for a horse show,” Stenchever said. “If you didn’t have someone showing you, you figured it out for yourself. With the advent of social media, educational access has changed. “With social media and with programs like HorseGrooms it is much easier to have access to information,” she said. “You can be constantly learning and finding out other people’s ways of doing things.”
Evolution of an online presence
Stenchever not only had equestrian knowledge, she also had technology know-how. “I’m from the age group that grew up with technology classes,” she said. “It was always something that was interesting to me. But I never set out to be an influencer. I just wanted to share the things that I had learned so that others didn’t have to struggle to get advice and information as I did.”
She started out making short clips involving quick demos, some practical tips and insights into her daily work. “At shows, people would ask me questions like, ‘What fly spray do you like?’” she said. “I realized there was a demand for real practical advice and social media was the easiest method of sharing it.”
Her incentive is not to be high profile in the industry necessarily or to make money. “I don’t want to put out a video every day just to get likes,” she said. “I do it to help and if people find it useful that’s great. And if not, that’s fine too.”
Dealing with priorities
The intense demands of grooming at a horse show do not always leave time for creating content and as a groom Stenchever puts her charges and her job first. “Sometimes, I’ll have big ideas,” she said. “Like showing my whole process for packing for a show. But then we get there, and I have four horses showing and the priority is always the horses. Filming has to come second.”
She keeps the technology simple and practical, filming mostly on her phone, often while balancing it on something with duct tape, to make an improvised tripod. She edits quickly on free apps and realizes that there are others who have more time than she does to upgrade the content. “Sometimes I laugh when I see that someone else has remade the exact same video that I made – same topic, same tips – but with a better camera and editing, theirs is prettier. At first it was hard not to feel discouraged, but in the end I just remind myself that the point is to get the information out there. If someone else does it better then it’s still a win for the community.”
She has discovered ways of making life easier for herself. Voiceovers have helped the process. “At first I felt so awkward talking to a camera while working,” she said. “I’m introverted and it didn’t feel natural. “Then I started filming what I was doing and recording the voiceover explanation later. It made things much easier.”
Sidelining competition in the grooming industry
Stenchever is keen to share her knowledge but knows that there are situations where exchanges of information are less common. She has experienced competition in the industry and worked in some barns where there is a dynamic of the top groom getting the top horses or where assignments would create insecurity.
“At one farm, we would get a group text every morning telling us which horses we had that day,” she said. “One week I’d have the top string, the next week just the young horses. You would think ‘Oh could I have done something wrong? Did I do something that upset the rider? It was almost a toxic feeling of ‘I’m not doing this well enough.’”
For those reasons, she particularly valued working with Buckingham who is an under-25 rider with big ambitions. “I’ve been with her for three years,” said Stenchever. “And it was so rewarding to grow with a rider and see her develop. She does have a lot of potential to go forward to be a top rider.”
Breaking ground with groom sponsorship
Sponsorship has been a groundbreaking aspect of Stenchever’s journey. While companies have built strong sponsorship relationships with riders, grooms have typically not been given consideration. Stenchever had collaborated with brands such as Corro and Stable Secretary, which might involve exchanging store credit for content.
“It’s unusual, because usually it’s the rider who gets sponsorship,” said Stenchever. “But in reality, grooms are often the ones actually using the products daily. I was already the person placing orders and talking to sponsors, so it just made sense.”
She considers these partnerships to be of all round benefit. “The rider benefits because I can get equipment for the horses.” she said. “Sometimes I’ll get myself a shirt, but most of it goes back to the barn. And companies benefit because grooms talk to each other constantly. We’re the ones recommending supplements, sprays, wraps—you name it. It makes sense for brands to connect with us.”
Elitist sponsorship would be shortsighted, Stenchever thinks. “There are amazing grooms turning out horses beautifully every day who don’t get attention just because their rider isn’t an Olympian,” she said. “I’d love to see sponsorships grow based on merit, not just on who you work for.”
Community is built through knowledge sharing
Being able to disseminate advice, answer questions and give support on platforms like HorseGrooms has been an important element for grooms. Stenchever regularly posts her videos and tutorials on the platform and tries to find time to take on bigger subjects, like prepping for shows.
She finds the response rewarding and invariably positive. “I’ve had parents come up and say their kids watch my videos every day,” she said. “I’ve had top grooms message me to say my packing videos reassured them, because even after years of experience, you still wonder if you’re forgetting something. It’s amazing to realize how much we all have in common, no matter the level.”
Being a newly-appointed HorseGrooms mentor has given Stenchever even greater incentive to share her insights within the community. “Putting it out there as a part of the HorseGrooms mentorship program it means opening even more doors,” she said. “People will recognize me more at the horse shows and be a little more open to talk to me and ask me questions. There is so much importance to have something like that as it keeps the dialogue open, providing opportunities to talk to each other and to share opportunities and to learn.”
It is a cultural shift in the horse show environment. “Ten years ago, it was much more every man for himself,” she said. “Now, there’s more camaraderie. People are wishing each other luck in the warm-up, sharing tips, cheering for one another. Social media has definitely played a role in that.”
Transparency is not for everyone
Stenchever recognizes that some working environments are more sensitive than others when it comes to online posts and publicity. She has worked in barns, as others have, where signing Non-Disclosure Agreements is mandatory.
“Some Olympic-level barns don’t want anything shared. Lower-level programs are usually more relaxed, like, ‘Yes, please, share everything!’ It depends on the rider’s profile,” she said.
There is also subject matter that needs to be respected. “There are things I won’t share—like medical treatments or sensitive rehab work,” she said. “I always check with my rider before posting. At the end of the day, I represent the whole team, and I don’t want anything to reflect badly on them.”
The sweet spot of social media
In these days of limited attention spans, Stenchever does not hesitate in recommending that less is more when it comes to videos.
“Shorter is better. Under 15 seconds is the sweet spot. People are doom-scrolling, and you only have about three seconds to hook them before they swipe away.”
At the same time, the subject material is not easily condensed into short, catchy reels. “Horses are complex. Nothing has a simple answer. I don’t just want to show how I do something—I want to explain why,” she said. “That often doesn’t fit in 15 seconds. So sometimes I’ll speed up the video, or I’ll post a short teaser on Instagram with a longer version on HorseGrooms.”
Stenchever profits from her analytics access on Instagram. “I can see how long people watch, when they like, what countries they’re in. It even helps me decide whether to add subtitles. It’s a constant learning process,” she said.
Being an influencer is a bi-product
Stenchever is keen to emphasize that she is not trying to build a brand, rather help to improve the grooming industry. “It was never about becoming an influencer,” she said. “I just wanted to share what I’ve learned, so other people didn’t have to go through the same steep learning curve I did. Even now, I don’t see myself as an influencer. I’m a groom first. Social media is just a side project.”
That aside, she knows more than most that social media is the medium that can help support the next generation of grooms and build greater recognition for the work that they do.
“There’s no reason grooms shouldn’t be sponsored, respected, or celebrated for their expertise,” she said. “We’re the ones on the ground, making sure the horses are healthy, happy, and ready to perform. That matters.”
Her ambitions remain the same – to focus on her horses, on her rider, and share her knowledge along the way. “If something I post makes one person’s job easier, then it’s worth it. That’s all I want,” she said.
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.
