Groom (profession)

[1] The word was originally rather grander in status, as in bridegroom and the socially-elevated offices in the English Royal Household of: The meaning "man servant who attends to horses" is from 1667[2] although women and girls are often grooms.

[3] Grooms may be employed in private residences or in professional horse training facilities such as stables, agistment properties and riding academies.

A groom in private service is expected to be 'on call' during specified hours in case any member of the employer's family wishes to ride.

Stablehand is a more old-fashioned term; the variation stableman usually applies to an experienced adult, the lowest rank stableboy (corresponding to the first origin of groom) rather to a minor and/or trainee.

Several other words originally denoting other (often much higher) titles, notably Constable, Equerry and Marshal, have developed into terms for those working with horses.

Shetland ponies with their drivers and formally dressed grooms in attendance.
Assyrian grooms and horses, from Nimrud , Iraq. The British Museum
Tri-coloured pottery horse and groom. Tang dynasty 618-907 CE. Shaanxi History Museum. Xi'an , China.
A woman grooming a horse's tail.
A painting by Shaikh Muhammad Amir of Karraya displaying a Bengali syce holding two carriage horses.