The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1904-10-29
A DEMAND FOR GROOMS.
A COMPETENT MAN GETS HIS
OWN TERMS FROM BREEDERS.
There Is Room in the Business for
All Grades Of inteI!igence-Not
Hard Apprenticeship-Thc Rewards
Are Great and Sure.


Hard Apprenticeship-Th Rewards
Are Great and Sure.
That good grOOms are scarce may
be discovered quickly if search IS
made. That they can command good
pay is equally fact. 1t is strange
then that the supply is not equal to
the demand. There was time per-
haps when there was somewhat OF
derogation attaching to the sroom's
position, but nowadays nothing OF the
sort obtains, providing That the man
himself is of good class and conducts
himself as such.
For the last few years men capable
of feeding and fitting show cattle,
sheep and swine have been turned
out in fairly large numbers by the
experiment stations, but we 90 not
know of one individual who has come
from such a school with any extern
Sive knowledge of feeding and con-
ditioning horses for show or work.
There is surely something wrong here.
for however valuable the cattle, sheep
and swine may be the horses are still
more valuable and require a higher
grade of care. 1t is far harder mat
ter to put a big draft stallion or
Hackney in the show ring just right
than it is to do the same thing with
bull, boar or ram. Why then have
our agricultural educators left this
important matter almost altogether on
one side?
A great many different qualifications
are included under the general head
groom. The man who may be an eX-
pert in the care of one sort OF horse
may know very little about the care
of other sorts; indeed the men who
are competent to condition properly
light and heavy horses are scarce in
deed. There is no reason why this
should be as the same general prin-
ciples apply in the care OF all horses.
1t is primarily the lack of education
that is to blame. Few men keep both
light and heavy horses. One sort at
time seems to be enough and hence
the men who graduate from the hard
school Of experience know only about
the one sort with which they have
been connected: The benign light
of education would soon alter this
condition and fit men to accept the
care of any breed of horse with equal
confidence.
This necessity for education be-
comes all the more apparent when 1t
is considered that man must be in
telligent to make a good groom. The
buffers never graduate beyond the
stage of cleaning out the stalls, carry
| ing water and the like. From the po-
sition of groom to that of foreman
is not long step; from that of fore
man to manager is no longer, but to
| be a really good manager, the man
must thoroughly understand how the
work should be done and to do that he
must be able on a pinch to perform
| the tasks himself. 1t is not hard ap-
premiership however and the man
who brings brains and willing hands
does not spend much time before he
graduates into some position of trust.
There is only just the one way, as
! stated, and that is to begin at the bot
tom. We know Of one man high in
the ranks of importers who has set his
eldest son to learn the business from
the ground up. The boy is caring for
a string of eight horses and it will
not be long before he will be adj
vanced. He takes his turn in the
showing like the rest of the men, gets
up at cockcrow to give his charges
their exercise, handles the comb and
brush like an old hand and in general
is serving his nOvitiate. 1t is his in
tentiCn to take veterinary course at
college in a year or two and when he
has obtained his degree he will be
admirably equipped to fight the battle
of life. 1t would be better still if he
could attend an agricultural college
where the feeding and management OF
horses are taught as are the feeding
and management of Matchmaking ami
mails, but at present it would be hard
10 QlfGCl MIN 10 al eStdDliSAIHcut
where such equal advantages are in
offer.
There is no doubt that the demand
for competent grooms will remain &C
tive from this time forward. There is
room for all high grades OF intelli-
gence Some men are not born to
reach beyond the grade of foreman
Some are not born to reach even as
high, but the young man Of average
mind can readily master the princi
pies required This is not an argu
ment to prove that there is nothing
much in the care of horses, for there
is, but there is no sleight Of hand MOI
hocus pocus about the business. 1t is
merely straightforward work which
must be learned somewhere, somehow
Turning now to the qualifications OF
the business it is not necessary tC
enumerate all the various lines in
which a groom may succeed. A few
of these branches will suffice. There
Is the head man in the thoroughbred
stable, the head man in the trottint
stable, the feeder of draft horses, o.
hackneys, of coach horses. the mar
uhO CON chow hOrcoc ua,I in tho ri n q