As the leading Canadian rider at Spruce Meadows (Alberta), Tiffany Foster earned a yearlong lease on a Mercedes-Benz of her choosing. Rather than driving off with it herself, Foster handed the keys over to her groom Jerome Caron. 

Caron’s car had broken down earlier in the year, so he’d started looking for a replacement. When Foster heard that the show as giving away a car, she decided to gun for the prize.

“[Foster] said, ‘We’ll go to Spruce; there’s a car to win. If we win it you can have it.’ ” said Caron.

“They’ve always been like that—the Zieglers [who own Artisan Farms], Eric [Lamaze] and Tiffany—they’re very, very generous. They take care of us,” he continued. “For me, I wasn’t that surprised. When I worked for Eric, he was always good that way. That’s always nice though.”

Caron worked for Lamaze for 11 years, including taking care of Lamaze’s individual 2008 Olympic gold-medal horse Hickstead,  before taking a break from grooming. He returned to work for Artisan Farm three years ago, and regularly grooms for Foster.

Two of his charges, Quintender 2 and Cyber, helped Foster clinch the win after there was a three-way tie for the leading Canadian rider going into the final class.

Jerome Caron (left) has a new ride after Tiffany Foster (center) won a year’s lease on a Mercedes and gave it to him. 

While news outlets and social media pages are having a field day with the idea that he’ll have a luxury car to drive for the year, Caron sees it a bit more practically.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “It’s always nice to have nice car. It’s funny; everybody is talking about it. It’s news in Germany and in Holland and all these languages and on Instagram and stuff.”

Shortly after Spruce, Foster’s camp packed up for the Longines Global Champions Tour in Vienna, Austria, so Caron hasn’t picked which model he’ll be driving for the next year.