Once in seven years Gerry Rodriguez attends WEF on perfect night

This interview is part of HorseGrooms’ ongoing groom interview series, featured throughout the Wellington season in partnership with Wellington International and Paper Horse. 

Gerry Rodriguez has been a Hunter groom for over 30 years and for the past seven of those, he has never been to the show ring. That changed on Saturday night at the Winter Equestrian Festival when he was there to witness the horse he cares for, Dicoblue PS, win the $150,000 WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular with Victoria Colvin.

Rodriguez’s regular absence from the show ring is due to a physical disability. “I don’t want to walk too much,” he said. He has a prosthetic limb – a sudden hospital visit some seven years ago due to diabetes resulted in the amputation of his lower leg and while able to work comfortably all day as a groom, he prefers to stay behind the scenes at the barn.

For a while, after his hospitalization, Gerry dropped out of the horse world. “After I lost my leg I did not work for six months,” he said. His brother Adrian Rodriguez realized that Gerry was not happy being at home all the time and he wanted to help him turn his life back around.

A solution arose when Torrey Hardison asked Adrian to come and work at the barn of John and Stephanie Ingram. Adrian was committed to working elsewhere at the time but was quick to recommend his older brother for the job.  “He had worked for Ashland Farm for 20 years,” Adrian said. “I told them he was a good groom and that they should give him a try.” Gerry arrived at the Ingram’s prestigious Hunter barn on Pierson Road. “They were happy to help,” said Adrian. “And he worked hard from day one – even when he could have taken a rest, he kept on working. He a very important part of the team and keeps the barn running when the rest is at the show.”

Gerry has two horses specifically in his care. ‘Blue’ – his barn name as stated above his stable door – won the Saturday Night Lights class during ‘Hunter week’ and all six grooms were there to celebrate with him as he attended the showgrounds for the first time in a long time. “The team here is perfect,” said Gerry, who works alongside his brother, and a quartet of four other brothers. “We are looked after really well by the family.”

Blue, Gerry says, is also faultless. He was an addition to the Ingram’s barn last August and Gerry welcomed the gelding into his care. Within weeks of his arrival, Colvin and Blue had won the  Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship in Kentucky. “He is the perfect horse. He is so well behaved with everything,” said Gerry. “There are many wonderful horses in the barn, but Blue is very special.”

On Saturday Gerry took his time with the gelding, starting preparations for the class three hours ahead of time. “I wanted to make sure he was relaxed and not stressed at all,” he said. When the horse went up to the ring, Gerry followed in a golf cart. “It was a really important class,” he said. “And I thought to myself why not go to watch.”

Consisting of two rounds, victory was not a certainty until the final trip was completed, but after the scores came in for the pair’s second round, the writing was on the wall. The 11-year-old Diarado’s Boy and Colvin came close to perfection – they had posted a 95.66 from the opening round and in the handy they secured a substantial score of 97,  including a perfect 100 from panel three. The grooms were all there to celebrate. “You would never see all six of us at the show ring normally,” said Adrian. “It was a special night.”

Gerry’s journey from the barn to the show ring had been worth it and did not go unnoticed. “We were all so happy,” he said, having received the $500 Double H Farms Grooms Award. “It is not about the money as much as receiving recognition from the show.”

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