Haygain is happy to become a sponsor of The Grooms Award, Ltd. This non-for-profit 501(c)3 charitable organization recognizes professional grooms at select major horse shows each year. 

The program shines a well-deserved spotlight on grooms in the form of special prizes and tote bags filled with gifts from sponsors and supporters. Haygain's contribution will include a raffle drawing entry for an HG One Hay Steamer valued at $999. The winning groom's entry will be drawn and announced during the season-ending Las Vegas National Horse Show in November. 

Created to recognize "behind the scenes" workers, the Grooms Award was established in honor of the late Moira Caffarey and, later, George Hennessy. Friends of Moira donated a trophy for the first-ever Grooms Award, presented at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. Individuals and companies contributed extra prizes that year and in the following years, soon bringing the program to national prominence with the participation of shows throughout the United States.

The first show on the Grooms Award calendar was Winter Equestrian Festival #9, in mid-March. Abdel Saïd of Egypt won the $401,000 FEI CSI5* Fidelity Investments Grand Prix with Bandit Savoie. The horse's groom, Sofija Lavrinovica, received the Grooms Award with a large tote bag filled with sponsors' goodies, including a handsome Haygain tack room pillow, and an entry form for the Haygain HG One Hay Steamer prize to be drawn and presented at the end of the season. 

The full slate of participating Grooms Awards competitions is as follows:

• Winter Equestrian Festival #9, Wellington, FL - March 13-14

• Devon Horse Show, Devon, PA - June 3

• Upperville Colt & Horse Show, Upperville, VA - June 13

• Lake Placid Horse Show, Lake Placid, NY - July 4

• American Gold Cup, Traverse City, MI - Sept. 19

• Pennsylvania National Horse Show, Harrisburg, PA - Oct. 23

• Riders Cup, Del Mar, CA - Oct. 24

• Las Vegas National Horse Show, Las Vegas, NV - Nov. 21