“I’m just grand,” Mallory Brown declared at the beginning of our phone conversation. Brown’s upbeat statement set the tone for the following 30 minutes of conversation, in which I learned how “a small town girl from Ohio” might be headed to the Rio Olympic Games with top Danish dressage rider, Lars Petersen and his mount, Mariett.

The Legacy Farms groom did not have such a grand introduction to horses at a young age. Although her great-grandfather and grandfather were horsemen, Brown’s mother is deathly allergic to horses and her father is simply not a “horse person.” Brown took a few riding lessons when she was 12, but her mother’s allergies paused those visits to the barn.

After a lengthy wait, Brown began riding on a regular basis when she attended Ohio University’s Southern Campus to pursue an associate degree in Equine Studies. At school, Brown competed on the western and hunter seat IHSA teams, as well as the university’s dressage team.

Due to the lack of equestrian job prospects in Ohio, Brown moved to Florida six months after graduation—unaware that her journey south would lead her to groom for world-class athletes. While working at Annie Morris’ small barn in Loxahatchee, Fla., Brown met Petersen and his wife, Melissa Taylor, of Legacy Farms. Morris’ introduction sparked Brown’s dream of working for the dressage riders. “I asked Annie, ‘Hey, can you get me a job at Legacy?’ and she goes, ‘Mallory, I don’t think you’re ready yet.’ “ Brown recalled. “And I wasn’t.”

After working for Morris and Reed Kessler, Brown moved to Wisconsin to pursue roping with her Quarter Horse, Ginger. “Western is where my heart is,” Brown said. “I would probably be training and having my own barn if I wasn’t grooming. It was a bucket list item for me to work with Mariett and Lars—I wanted to accomplish that so I put my own personal dreams on the back burner for just a little bit.”

Finally, Brown lassoed her goal after finding an ad for Legacy Farms on the Yard and Groom website. “I said, ‘I want to work for them finally,’ so I did—I made it happen,” Brown asserted. The 25-year-old has worked with Petersen and Taylor for one and a half years as a groom for numerous horses including the Olympic hopeful mare, Mariett (Come Back II—Zendi, Sidney).

 That Danish Warmblood (owned by Petersen and Marcia Pepper) is one of Brown’s favorites. “Mariett and I have a very special bond,” the groom said with a laugh. “It’s a joke when we bring new people in—‘you don’t touch the princess!’ Nothing happens to that horse unless I know about it. I baby her and she knows that she is the queen of the barn.”

Mariett at home. 

Under Brown’s care, Mariett was consistently in the top three of CDI Grand Prix classes during the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (Fla.) this winter, including winning the Palm Beach Dressage Derby FEI Grand Prix Freestyle CDI-W in March.

For the mare’s pre-competition routine, Brown acts as a part-time singer and masseuse. “We use a massage blanket, but sometimes I will personally give her a neck massage and I’ll scratch her back,” Brown said. “When I’m braiding I’ll typically sing to her. If I don’t sing then I’ll put on Pandora.

“When I get to know a horse, I think about their personality so I’ll put on the kind of music that I think they would like. With Mariett I listen to Beyoncé, Mariah Carey—diva songs. She’s a diva and she knows it. Most of the time I’ll just sing to her or I’ll hum to keep her relaxed. I would say that’s our ritual—braiding, singing, massaging, and lots and lots of carrot stretches. She just turned 18 this year so just really loosening her up and making her super happy is what’s key.”

Since Brown began working with Petersen and Taylor, they have mainly stayed local for competitions. However, the groom recalled her trip to the 2015 Reem Acra FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas with much enthusiasm. “I had never traveled on an airplane with horses before,” Brown marveled.

Brown and Mariett loading up to travel to Las Vegas.

Back on the ground, Brown’s excitement continued: “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m watching these horses and athletes. All of these big-time people are right here,’ and you act professional as a groom, but then inside I was screaming and ‘fangirling’ I guess. It was such a wonderful time.”

Brown hopes that Europe may be one of her future destinations with Mariett. “[Petersen] really concentrates on how the horses are feeling before he makes any decisions about traveling,” Brown explained. “Fingers crossed that we’re going to Europe and get that spot clinched for the Olympics. That’s always been the dream for me is to go and be a groom at the Olympics with a rider.”

Brown canoodling with Mariett.

At Legacy Farms’ home base in Loxahatchee, Fla., Brown enjoys her day-to-day routine that starts between 5:30 and 6 a.m. Her days consist of grooming, feeding and getting the horses out multiple times in the afternoon. She also rides Ginger in her big, western saddle, which causes a bit of good-humored teasing from the dressage riders.       

Although Brown is usually done with work around 5 p.m., she takes care of anything that comes her way later in the evening. “As a top groom, you have to be there for your horses,” Brown insisted. “The hours can be extremely long, but at the end of the day I just think, ‘You know what, I work for one of the most amazing trainers and riders in the world, this is all worth it—to be here and be a part of it.’ At Legacy we consider ourselves family. We all look out for each other.”

With the hint of a smile in her voice, Brown revealed that she is currently living her dream. She has roped in her aspiration and turned it into reality. “To work with Lars has been a dream. To work with Mariett has been a dream. All of my childhood dreams are becoming realities at the moment and it blows my mind,” Brown stated.

“If there are people who are questioning whether they want to be a groom or not, just follow your heart. I know that’s so cliché, but if you’re willing to do it, do it. If a small town girl from Ohio can possibly be going to the Olympics this year then anyone can. Just follow the dream.”

This is an article in Groom Spotlight, a new series of groom profiles to be featured on www.coth.com. Make sure to follow www.coth.com and like the Chronicle’s Facebook page to see them posted. If you know a fantastic groom you’d like to see appear in this series, email molly@coth.com.