Margo Thomas advocates learning, trusting and communicating with a smile
Margo Thomas’ passion for horses began at a Girl Scout camp in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She found a hunter barn to work in and then moved over to eventing. When the event rider she worked for announced she was retiring in her 40s, Margo had an epiphany that it might be time to put her professional riding career on hold. She began working in a show jumping barn and sold the final horse that she owned. She has now been a show jumping groom for 10 years, the past six of those for USA Olympic gold medalist Laura Kraut.
Margo was grooming at the Winter Equestrian Festival finale when Laura and Bisquetta took second place in the $750,000 Rolex US Equestrian Open CSI5* Grand Prix, a Rolex Series Event, behind Christian Kukuk and Checker 47.
This article is part of a collaboration between HorseGrooms, Wellington International and Paper Horse.
What led to your job working with Laura Kraut?
When I started grooming in show jumping, I had one job and then the next job offer I had was a bit better — and then the next one was a bit better. I moved around a little bit almost yearly or every other year and freelanced for a bit.
My first summer in Europe I ended up going to Hickstead (England) to visit with some friends. I met Laura and I was there at the right time for the changing of the guard. Her previous groom, Dale [Hailstones], was ready to move on, and there was a good opening for me. So, I started working for Laura in September of 2019. It was just the right place — right time. I just kind of evolved into finding the right fit with Laura.
How would you describe Bisquetta’s personality?
Bisquetta is “Biscuit” in the barn. We have had her for a little over three years. She is owned by Cherry Knoll Farms, who owned Cedric for Laura, so they’ve been a long-time supporter of hers. She has always been a phenomenal jumper, but she can be a bit of a diva, and she has a lot of opinions.
Laura likes a hot horse. So, it’s a good thing in the ring that she’s a hot horse that kind of takes Laura to the fences, but then she can be a bit sensitive and a bit of a diva when we’re not in the ring.
She’s a very sensitive horse, so it’s just figuring out what works for her. She can just be a bit spooky, but never in the ring. The jumping and the riding is the easiest part, but it’s the other horses or people on the ground sometimes that she can just be a bit nervous about.
How did you prepare Bisquetta for the $750,000 Rolex US Equestrian Open CSI5* Grand Prix, a Rolex Series Event?
Normally on the day of a big class, I try to take her for a lot of handwalks. Because she can be a bit spooky about the other horses, she’s one that lunges just a bit before she competes. I usually lunge her three or four hours before a night class. She’s not one that you need to over lunge and really work her mind, but if she wants to canter for a bit or have a buck, she can do those things. We just kind of let her move around, and we just kind of let her do her thing. And then, when she looks like she is ready to trot and stretch at the end of the lunge line, she’s ready to go and have her break and have the magnetic blanket and the braids done before she goes to the class. So, it’s really just trying to keep her happy throughout the day.
When she’s at the ring she knows when it’s a jump-off because she actually gets a bit excited in a good way — she gets a little pepped. She knows when she’s jumped clear and that she’s ready for the part where she gets to go fast.
What do you love most about your job?
It’s really nice that from early on they trusted me — that I know what I’m doing, that I’m going to get to know the horse well and build a good relationship with the horses. So, it’s been really nice that Laura and Mary Elizabeth Kent [Laura’s sister and head of operations] trust my opinion — especially now that I’ve been there so long that I can say, ‘This is what I’m feeling about this horse today,’ or ‘You know this one’s a bit fresh.’ There’s a lot of trust between all of us and good communication between the whole team as to what the horses need at certain times.
We don’t have assigned horses. I work closely with my coworker, Alex Tyler-Morris. He is in Europe now, and we speak on the phone and find out how the horses are doing over there, and he asks about the horses here. We have constant communication between all of us. It’s this constant teamwork between us to make sure the horses are going to go the best that they can on any given week because it just depends on how the schedule works as to who’s grooming what horse or riding what horse at a certain time.
It’s a good system. Nobody’s an expert specifically on one horse, and as long as we keep that communication open, it works pretty smoothly.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to work as a groom at the top level of the sport?
There are a couple of things. Putting your best foot forward and having a good attitude is integral — not getting too big for your britches too early. Learning everything you can at other barns along the way until you find the right thing. Every job is a good opportunity, even if it’s learning how not to do things. Learn the good and the bad with every job that you have and take everything as a learning opportunity. Treat every job as a steppingstone — even if it’s not where you want to be, you might learn a few good things. You might run into a horse a few years later and realize something you learned in a different job is what is going to work with this horse.
So, putting on a good face, keeping a smile and keeping a good attitude as well as taking every opportunity as a learning opportunity.
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