Amidst the chaos of a top eventing competition, you might find Sarah Choate standing quietly in a stall with one of Plain Dealing Farm’s horses. She may have a hand on the horse’s poll or back or sacroiliac joint, or she may be asking the horse to stretch or flex—exercises that she, as head groom, reinforces daily at home to help reduce anxiety and manage stress on the road.
She’s waiting for a sign—a lick, a chew, a big release of breath—to tell her the horse is relaxed and ready for the work ahead. And if the horse isn’t ready? Well, she’ll wait a little longer.
In her nearly decade-long tenure working for sisters Benita and Lucia Strini, she’s learned that empathy and understanding toward the emotional state of the horses in her care is just as important—if not more so—than their physical well-being. Only when they feel safe and secure are they ready to offer their best selves.
An awareness of the importance of mental health has expanded beyond the horses for Choate; she serves as an ambassador for the International Grooms Association, an organization whose mission is to support international grooms and to speak up on issues that affect grooms’ careers and working conditions.
Supportive Working Environments Lead To Longevity
In a field where many professionals change careers frequently, the fact that Choate has been with the same program since graduating from Otterbein University (Ohio), with degrees in equine business management and equine veterinary technology, is a bit of an anomaly.
But a few things have kept her firmly planted and without the burnout that often comes with the job.
The Strinis usually have between six and 10 competition horses, a number Choate feels comfortable with for the level of care she seeks to provide, plus a handful of young training horses and a herd of retirees.
“Twenty to 30 competition horses isn’t how I like to go about things,” she said, laughing. “But also, Benita and Lucia are the most lovely people to work for. They have always been super welcoming, and I respect that they always want to do right by their horses.”
And the Strini sisters also want to do right by their staff—another reason that Choate said she’s so satisfied with her work. She receives benefits, plus paid time off and holidays off.
“I’m treated more like a normal person,” she said. “That’s been really huge. Benita and Lucia are really dedicated to their riding goals, but they want to have a life outside the horses as well. I think because they understand that, they also understand that we [staff] need to have a life outside of work.”
Lucia said the sisters try to treat their employees as they would want to be treated themselves.
“We also try to compare what we’re asking of our employees to how we feel ourselves,” Lucia said. “We can’t always be at the barn, and we need intelligent, trustworthy adults helping us with our program. We cannot do this career without help. Too many times in this industry, you hear about great grooms leaving the field because they burn out or can’t pay their bills. We want our staff to stay with us, and so it’s important that they feel like what they’re doing is sustainable.”
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A Focus On Equine Mental Health
Choate has learned to incorporate various natural horsemanship techniques into her daily routine to improve the performance of competition horses. This approach fits in naturally at Plain Dealing, where the horses live outside 24/7 and have plenty of down time just to be horses.
But it was Choate’s own horse, an off-track Thoroughbred named Remus, who showed her just how beneficial these practices can be.
“I bought Remus in the hopes that he’d be easy, as he seemed that way when I met him just 10 days off the track,” she said. “But he turned out to be very emotional and sensitive and too clever for his own good.”
So Choate sought out advice from professionals in her circle. Katie Coleman, who was helping Choate with Remus during a winter in Florida, recommended Warwick Schiller’s podcast, and Choate became a regular listener. One guest was horse trainer Lisa Kay, who was in Virginia. Choate reached out, and Kay has been helping with Remus, as well as some Plain Dealing’s horses, ever since.
“It’s been the most magical and transformative journey, working through understanding his emotions and learning to be more empathetic and patient with him,” she said. “He was trying to tell me something, but I didn’t understand.”
She credits Remus for teaching her to slow down and pay more attention to equine emotions. She’s also learned various strategies to help horses manage their own emotions and has incorporated some of these practices into the daily routines of the Strinis’ horses, especially Keynote Dassett and DHI Kevin G, who she described as more anxious and emotional.
“Every day at home we do groundwork before riding; sometimes it’s working on stretching and taking a breath, and sometimes it’s asking for a little lateral flexion. It depends on what they need in the moment,” she said. “They’ve learned now what I’m asking for, and often these exercises get a good release, or a breath or a yawn or some slow blinking. They learn that these exercises give them time and space to relax, and then the ability to self-regulate helps them relax when they’re away from home.
“I can be their anchor in times of stress,” she continued. “It means so much that they look to me for that. At competitions, there’s that extra layer of anxiety and emotion. But [the horses] have a foundation to come back to. They know we’ll give them the time and space to relax.”
The horses aren’t the only ones who have come to count on Choate. Around the barn, her dedication, her willingness to help, and her positivity impacts human as much as horse.
“There’s just such a level of trust with her,” Benita said. “She cares so much about the horses and knows them in a totally different way than I do. She’s been with them for so long, and spends so much time with them, she’ll notice things that I don’t. She’s such a part of the team. I just feel much more comfortable knowing that she’s with them and has eyes on them. I know they’re well taken care of.
“And it’s also really fun, because she doesn’t just know the program, but she knows us really well,” she continued. “It goes beyond the horses. She’s absolutely part of our team.”
Improving The Industry
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For the past two years, Choate’s involvement with the International Grooms Association has enabled her to make an impact far beyond her home farm. As an ambassador, other grooms can go to her for advice or support or with concerns that they feel should be brought to horse show organizers or the Fédération Equestre Internationale.
“It’s really important for other grooms to get involved,” she said. “[The organization] speaks at FEI meetings, and they’re able to make some real changes. Recently, at the Olympics, they were able to improve groom accommodations, and they’re advocating for late-night classes moved earlier [to shorten working hours].”
(In its first draft of rule change proposals submitted for 2026, released earlier this month, the FEI rejected a proposal from IGA and the Grooms Consultative Group to end FEI night classes, including prize-givings, by 11 p.m. and ensure horses in those classes don’t compete before 10 a.m. the following day. In its response, the FEI said this was already addressed in scheduling and that it would work on sanctions for non-compliance.)
The organization also conducts surveys about working conditions at shows. For example, Choate said, at certain venues the barns are far from food vendors, trailers or restrooms. During nonstop show days, access to these things is important.
“A lot of shows are trying to do better,” she said. “Stable View [South Carolina], for example, has lovely riders’ lounges with snacks and drinks and bathrooms. We can see show organizers working hard to make conditions better for employees.”
The work-life balance that Plain Dealing provides, as well as the improving working conditions that the IGA continues to push for, will hopefully set Choate up for years of continued success and satisfaction in her career.
“My biggest pet peeve is when people use the excuse, ‘It’s just the industry; that’s just the way it is,’ for excuses for pay, contracts, time off, etc.
“That’s why the turnover is so high,” she said. “People are burned out. They don’t get paid enough. They don’t get time off. I look at other programs and know that I wouldn’t have lasted at other places for this long.”
She looks forward to the years ahead with the Plain Dealing horses, riders and colleagues.
“Not only do you get to know the horses when you’ve been in a program for so long,” she said, “but you get to know what your riders are looking for, and what they want to accomplish. There’s a more natural feel for what needs to get done.
“It’s just become a really rewarding career,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried seeing my horses come out of the ring or off of the cross-country course. I love the relationships I’ve developed with these horses, and our farm has come to feel like family.”
Do you know an exceptional groom who deserves to be showcased in our Groom Spotlight section? If so, email kloushin@coth.com to tell us all about that person.
