Tamayo and Villanueva Win Top Honors in EAF Grooms Class at Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show

Twelfth annual EAF Grooms Class at Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show. Photo by Sally Floyd Kay

Jul.29, 2024 – Blowing Rock, NC – South Carolina-based grooms Sotero Tamayo and Jamin Villanueva topped a field of 11 entries to win the $2,000 Equestrian Aid Foundation Grooms Class during week one of the Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show. Tamayo, groom of Ann Rice Ervin’s Undeniable, earned top hunter groom honors, while Villanueva, who grooms Meghan Kaergel’s Conto Van de Helle, earned top spot in the jumper groom category. 

Amateur hunter rider and EAF board member Missy Luczak-Smith of Upperville, VA, organizes and sponsors the annual EAF Grooms Class at Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show. In its twelfth year, the class is a celebration and showcase the vital role grooms play in the equestrian industry. “So much of what we do at EAF to champion our industry’s workers, grooms and beyond, happens in the face of crisis. It’s heavy work,” said Luczak-Smith. “The grooms class gives us a chance to celebrate what these individuals bring to the sport and our community, and I’m thankful to the class co-sponsors and Blowing Rock management for allowing us to do that here.”

Left: Jamin Villanueva, winning hunter groom. Right: Sotero Tamayo, winning jumper groom. Photos by Missy Luczak-Smith.

Winning jumper groom Villanueva received a custom ring bag designed by The Clothes Horse filled with Shapley's grooming products, a massage gun, and a $500 cash prize. For his winning showmanship in the hunter division, Tamayo was awarded an EAF director's chair, a Shapley's Winning Bucket, and a $500 cash prize as well. Luczak-Smith recognized Michael Check, Caroline Moran, Shapley's, The Clothes Horse, and Equine Quality Horse Treats for their generous support of the class. In addition to the class winners' prizes, all class entrants received a cash award, gift certificates to horse show food and coffee vendors, horse treats, EAF grooming towels and commemorative BRCHS merchandise.

Full class results and more scenes from the EAF Grooms Class are below.

Clockwise from left: Missy Luczak-Smith and reserve champion hunter groom Eduardo Aguilar; Rein Family grooms Ariel Morales and Ivan Arredindo; class judge Bob Crandall; reserve champion jumper groom Saul Carmona. Photos by Sally Floyd Kay.