For Meghan Laffin, a much-needed gap year in her career trajectory turned into a seven-year long adventure making lifelong memories.
After completing her graduate degree, Laffin took a year to get back into horses. While scrolling through Facebook, an opportunity arose to groom for Olympian and U.S. Dressage stalwart Kasey Perry-Glass. Laffin took the job in 2019 and never looked back.
“I thought, well, I’ll just go have one year experiencing the elite side of things, and then I’ll go get a business job in the real world,” Laffin recalled.
Seven years later, she is still yet to get the business job or return to the corporate world. Instead, Laffin built a career alongside Perry-Glass, learning the intricacies of caring for horses at the highest level of the sport and developing relationships with the horses going far beyond simply preparing them for competition.
One of those relationships is with Heartbeat W.P., or “Heart,” whom Laffin has groomed for the past four years, including at this year’s FEI Dressage World Championships in Aachen, Germany.
“Heart is really special because I think that he really gravitates to his people,” she said.
Their connection did not happen overnight. Heart can be sensitive in new environments, and helping him feel comfortable has required patience, consistency, and a willingness to listen.
“It sounds comically simple, but we listen to him. I really listen to him,” Laffin said.
For Heart, this communication can come in many forms. If he becomes restless in his stall, they take him for a walk. If his stomach seems uncomfortable, they take him outside and let him graze. Even something as simple as asking to have an itch scratched has developed into its own language between Heart and Laffin.
“I think he has sensed over the years that we are in a constant state of trying to listen to him and trying to understand him,” she said.
That understanding makes seeing Heart relaxed on one of the sport’s biggest stages particularly meaningful. A horse who once struggled to settle into new environments arrived in Aachen fully relaxed and ready to take on the 2026 FEI World Championships.
“Now we are here at the biggest horse show in the world, and he’s a pro,” Laffin said. “He’s eating his grass; he’s relaxed in the stable. He’s just such a
good boy.”
For Laffin, those quiet moments are among the greatest rewards of grooming. The work behind the scenes offers an opportunity to understand a horse on an entirely different level.
“My favorite part about it is how well I get to know these horses and truly understand them,” she said. “Once you have that, it's so fun, and you feel like the world is your oyster. You really understand your teammate, and then you can go out into this big wide world and show that to everyone.”
This philosophy has developed throughout her time with Perry-Glass.
When Laffin first arrived, she had experience with horses but had never been immersed in the attention to detail required at the elite level. Working alongside Perry-Glass introduced her not only to international sport, but to a different level of horsemanship too.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better person to shepherd me into this world,” she said. “Kasey is so happy and loving. She takes good care of her people.”
The experience also helped Laffin develop as a rider and horsewoman while giving her a firsthand education of what it takes to keep horses happy and performing at their best. In a bittersweet farewell as she moves on in a new direction to ride and train independently, the years with Perry-Glasshave been full of irreplaceable education and experience.
“I think everyone should experience grooming in their life, no matter what aspirations you have in this industry,” she said. “This to me feels like getting your Ph.D. in the horse industry.”
Her advice to others hoping to build careers with horses is straightforward, “find someone you admire, work hard, and absorb as much as possible.”
As Laffin prepares for her next chapter in life, Aachen marks her final competition as Perry-Glass and Heart’s groom. It is not a goodbye to the relationships built over years, rather the conclusion of the role that changed the direction of her life. There is no better place for the end of this chapter than the 2026 FEI World Championships.
“On any given day, Aachen and the environment could just make me cry tears of joy because, as a horse person, it’s just like the ‘Mecca,’” Laffin said.
For someone who once planned to spend only a year grooming before returning to the “real world,” finishing seven years later at a World Championships is a full circle moment.
“It feels like we couldn’t have planned a better finale,” she said. “For this to be the ending to this chapter of my life, it feels better than fiction.”
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