Category: Labor Unions

He’s a quiet man, barely five foot tall. He moves with the slow fluid movements of a horseman and I can vouch for him, he handles and cares for his horses well. His name is Adrian Menlee and he is from Puebla in Southern Mexico. He is a groom and it is his job to care for the horses of a wealthy patrona. There is pride in his voice as he speaks of his horses and their different personalities. The farm is cleaner than many homes and his horses are not afraid of humans, a fact that makes my job so much easier and attests to the fact that these horses are enjoying their life.

I always try to engage the grooms in conversation; many of them are from different areas of the world and it is interesting to hear of their lives and ambitions. You see these people are doing the work that Americans refuse to do. I know there are American grooms on the race track and on the traditional horse farms of Kentucky and the South, but there are logical reasons for these Americans working as grooms.