A Special Kind of Groom ~ Sikhangele Mbambo
Have you ever spoken to someone on the phone and instantly wished you could meet them? Ngqayimbana Mveleli or Franz as he is famously known is one such gentleman. He has a keen wit, thinks on his feet and had me laughing from the first sentence till I had regrettably finished my interview.
Franz comes from the Eastern Cape and is one of a family of 10. A married man, he is a father to 3 boys aged 11, 6 and 4. His schooling journey reached its end in 1995, and his journey as a groom began in 1997 when he was employed by Linda Augustyn from Epona Equestrian Centre, in the Western Cape. He looked after 6 horses, which competed in Eventing, Showing and Dressage. This is where he learnt all the basics of grooming and looking after horses. After 4 years he left Epona and became a relief groom for the next 3 years, eventually joining Equestria Show – Jumping Yard working for Tori Rohde Coughlan in 2013. 4 years later, he is still there, evidence that he finally has found his niche. His happiness and contentment clearly comes through.
Tori herself cannot say enough about him, they have a very strong working relationship;
“Franz joined Equestria Show – Jumping Yard in 2013 He very quickly became my right hand man, as his knowledge of horses soon became apparent. He seems to instinctively know when a horse is unhappy or having an issue, particularly his beloved Nachtmusik. But it is more than just his proficiency with horses, it is his deep love of horses and all animals, his Pitbull Febe makes regular appearances as his Whatsapp profile pic. In short it is this combination of experience, knowledge and caring that makes Franz such a wonderful member of the Equestria Show – Jumping Yard team.”
What more can one say? Beautifully said and I bet everyone wants a groom like that.
So what does a day as a groom entail?
Franz gets to work at 7:00am, and goes to check that the horses are all healthy and physically well. He then dishes out breakfast and changes the water. He also fills the teff nets and water buckets in the paddocks before taking the horses out. Depending on the season, the right blankets are put on and at 8:30am the horses go out and Franz comes back to muck out the stables. Lunch for the horses is at 11.30am and this takes him to his own lunch at 12:00pm. He gets back at 2pm, cleans the paddocks, checks that none of that horses have been hurt and the fences are still intact. The horses are then taken back to the stables and given a thorough grooming, The horses have different owners so each has their own grooming kit. Supper is at 4:30pm and it is important to ensure that the horses have fresh water for the night and their hay nets are filled. His day ends at 4:45pm
Has he got riding experience?
Oh yes, he grew up around horses, racing them with his friends, nothing commercial, just boys having fun.
What other duties has he got?
He helps Tori in handling and working the horses, on some days he will lunge the horses or walk them out. They get a lot of young horses, train them and re-sell them
What shows has he attended?
He and Tori have been all over, Shongweni, Johannesburg, Polokwane
What is his best venue?
Shongweni, it has a lovely environment and beautiful amenities.
What advice does he give Tori before she enters the ring?
Believe in yourself and trust the horse. She is such an amazing rider, she is talented and is lucky to have a good horse to work with. She needs to believe in herself, he does and Muse does too. (sniff, sniff)
What would Franz like to see changed in the lives of grooms?
It bugs him a lot the way some employers view their grooms. They look down on them and do not have faith in their capabilities. They forget that the groom is the one that spends the most time with the horse and therefore knows more about the horse than most people. Trusting someone with your horse is like trusting someone with your child, for your horse to be given love and respect, you have to give it to the groom first. What he feels that most people do not get is that it is teamwork between groom, horse and rider. He has witnessed instances where the groom will tell the rider what he thinks is wrong with horse and it gets brushed off with a ‘what do you know attitude‘ and later it comes to light that the groom was right all along.
What does he forecast in his future?
He would like to learn how to train horses properly, own a horse farm, produce good horses and run a livery.
It was a wonderful chat and I hope that one of these days I will meet Franz face to face and experience his humor first hand. He is very passionate about horses and I imagine that he has a lot more to tell than this interview can cover.
Tori sums him up quite nicely,
“He’s funny – has pulled the Mickey on me a few times with a straight face. He takes it seriously if I mess up a round with his beloved horse”
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