ABSTRACT
Lad, lass A lad is, to quote the OED, ‘a stable groom of any age; also a female one’ – but lass is still in common use. In this sense lad is first attested in 1848. One of the lad’s jobs at the racecourse is to lead a horse around the parade ring, so that the OED’s speculation that the word is derived from a form of the verb lead makes its racing usage coincidentally apposite. The head lad will certainly not be a youngster: he or she is responsible for the general efficient running of the stable. ‘I started as a stable lad and then went from travelling lad to head lad to trainer’ (Sporting Life 21 September 1990).
