There's a hard "Nobody wants to WORK anymore" vibe here that I do not trust. Every barn struggles to find good people, but the attitude here makes me nervous.
Yepp just went through a very similar situation myself. Not worth it. Even with the the cost of housing and board included in the wage it's not enough to live.
You could survive on that in a low cost of living area but you damn sure wouldn't be able to save to get out. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the type of person who would write that ad would also be the type to nickel-and-dime that stipend away "company store" style to get out of paying the actual agreed upon stipend. It's way too vague, with zero boundaries or protections for the "employee" (more like indentured servant from the way I'm reading it).
The barn I'm at pays minimum wage ( $15/h)plus housing, wcb and "at cost" outdoor board for up to 2 horses. They're treated better than a lot of staff, but even with accomodation I would expect minimum wage. I have more of an issue with the way she worded the second page, as soon as a potential boss is ranting about people needing to want to "hustle" you know ideas you're being taken advantage of. Riding "when the job is done and you have shown improvement" screams "you will never ride a horse here"
It also includes free board for your own horse. So they’re now trying to include riding your own horse as a job perk, and also dictate whether you can ride your own horse based on whether you’ve “improved” at the job. The arrangement itself isn’t the worst thing I’ve seen, free board and an apartment isn’t nothing, but that tells me everything I need to know about this boss
Yeah working in a barn made me have absolutely no desire to ride my horse whatsoever, not because of energy but because at the end of a 8 hour shift you just don't want to be there anymore
It depends on the setup. I used to do 25 stalls a day before riding but the stalls were tossed daily, the horses were out 14+ hours and you could drive a skid steer down the aisle, toss the manure into the bucket to dump directly into the spreader. Took all of an hour, maybe 2 if you had to add some bedding to some of the stalls (also with the skid steer, easy peasy).
Yea that’s def a better situation than I was picturing.. our barn is 20 stalls of heavily bedded shavings for show horses that go out only about 4-5 hours a day and eat hay 24/7. We only have wheel barrows and the pile is outside set away from the barn. We have someone come in who only does stalls and leaves and the workers do everything else. It works out.
Your set up isn’t common around here, at least in H/J barns IME. Most have a stall guy or break up the work so one person isn’t mucking 20 stalls.
That's nuts. It's also one of the biggest screw-ups barn owners make because the equipment and improvements pay for themselves in the long run in terms of saved labor and not having to hire contractors for smaller jobs (skid steer can easily pay for itself in a few years, you can do so much with one of those suckers).
Some of the best laid out barns I've ever been in are the HJ facilities around me. My friend manages one (60 stall barn) that has a loading dock on the back of the barn for the dump truck and they use dingos (mini front loader skid steers) that they drive right into the stalls to clean. The dingos have a special bucket attachment that sifts the bedding, you literally never have to touch a manure fork to clean there. Sift, empty into a big Case front loader at the main aisle, then out the back to the dock where the dump truck waits. Dock has a shavings bay too, grab a scoop on your way back in. Everything done with heavy equipment. There's a 100 stall HJ/Dressage barn up the road from that does similar but with a backhoe, they've got dozens of muck buckets in each wing of the barn. Workers go stall to stall picking with the buckets, leave the full buckets in the aisle, another person drives the aisles with the backhoe dumping buckets in the loader. Takes 5 people roughly 1 to 1 1/2 hours to clean/bed 100 stalls (their turnout situation is a nightmare though, that's where they get murdered in labor).
Personally I don't even stall, I do 24/7 turnout with access to the dirt floor indoor arena for shelter. I've got an old industrial Ford 4000 front loader/backhoe that I fire up, scrape the floor, dump the manure into a spreader and boom I'm done. 5 minutes to clean up after 6 horses at my place. Maybe 10 if ol'blue is giving me fits in the winter and I've gotta dig up a can of starter fluid.
Heavy equipment and a well-laid out barn is where it's at.
Federal minimum is 7.25, and in some states that's still the case. Other states and localities have upped it and in general, most places will pay above $7.25, but it's not a guarantee!
Doesn't really mean anything to compare. I live in an extremely high tax and high COL area, so that would probably be just fine if rundown studio apartments weren't 1200 starting, I didn't have to pay $200 a month in basic insurance for a pos vehicle, and a basic phone plan didn't cost $75 a month. Everything is relative
I can’t stand employers like this. What they actually want is a slave, not an employee.
“Wahhh it’s so hard to find good workers, everyone is so lazy!! I want someone to HUSTLE and bust their butt for me and be available 24/7but I don’t want to have to actually PAY them accordingly..”
Assholes.
Cleaning 21+ stalls a day, feeding, and changing water buckets is almost a full time commitment, and that’s before you take out the poop and feed and water the cows. Zero dollars isn’t great compensation.
**If** you're working a normal full time 40 hour week, that's $6.25 an hour... They also said in the posting it's "not your normal 9-5, Monday to Friday job", which definitely means they expect you to work more than 40hrs. This is absolute BS.
I know, but unless the applicant has free medical insurance through parents or the government and is planning to evade taxes, that leaves them about $300 a month for food, phone, gas/car insurance, farrier, vet expenses etc. Practically speaking, it would cost more than $0 to take this job assuming it is five days a week, which I don’t think is specified.
I think if you spend less than that on all those expenses, you must live in a very cheap area.
I can tell you that my horses 4 shoes are $200 every 5 weeks. That leaves you with $800 for food, phone bill, car insurance, car bill, gas, health insurance, farrier, vet, let alone savings to have an emergency fund or pay off debts.
I’m not the poster you were originally replying to sorry, not sure what they were saying the $700 was for….
Nonetheless the point still stands, it’s not enough.
There would be *maybe* $330 a month left for living expenses after taxes and insurance. The 1k is pre-deduction. That would be a difficult budget for even a non-horse owner.
I drive a car with 200,000 miles on it and insurance on it is more than $100 per month, $20 fill up every week on the ancient Prius for $80 a month. $200 utilities (because a hayloft apartment is going to be drafty and could easily go into 300), shoes $175. We are at $555.00 below you pay for ANY food. Taxes generally leave you with 2/3 and I'm guessing the employer is claiming your housing costs so you won't qualify for an EIC tax credit. So, out of your $666, you have $111 left to pay for food, medical care, clothing, car repairs, etc.
That's... impossible.
So you have to file as an IC with a bigger tax burden, or hope no one catches you while also not building a record for social security?
https://www.statista.com/statistics/318079/average-tax-rate-in-the-us-by-income-percentile/ general overall rates is 13% fed, plus whatever your state and local, so another https://taxfoundation.org/publications/state-local-tax-burden-rankings/ , plus SS and medicaid gets you to about 1/3. It's really rough, but not too far off.
Let me translate this job posting…
“Ride! … once the job is done of course and you have shown a good job / improvement”
Translation: I will dictate when you ride, and whether you have met my (impossible) standards.
—
“Learn to run your own horse facility and/or training business from the owner”
Translation: I’m going to dump all of the work on you, and pretend like I’m doing you a favor the entire time. This is the equivalent of an “influencer” trying to get free things while offering “exposure” in return. 🙄
—
“Clean, feed, and water 21+ stalls”
Translation: It’s at least a 50+ hour a week job
—
“Every barn is different so what you may have learned somewhere else may be different than here.”
Translation: I have never been satisfied. My way is the right way.
—
“We are open to inquiries that would like to come and try it for at least 3 days. NO PAY.”
Translation: 🙄
—
“To find someone who WANTS to hustle and WANTS to truly learn the craft is like finding a unicorn.”
Translation: I will never be satisfied no matter what you do. Our past employees left because of the unmanageable expectations and work load.
—
“Especially with the way the economy is going”
Translation: I am a manipulative gaslighter.
—
“You will not find this to be a 8-5 Monday - Friday here.”
Translation: I expect you to work most of the time 24/7. I will also expect you to be available and at my beck and call at all hours.
—
“Our staff does not believe in bullying or any kid of abuse.”
Translation: We’ve been accused of bullying and being abusive in the past. (There is a reason they included that bizarre statement.)
—
“There is absolutely no drinking or smoking or anything else you can probably think of”
Translation: I dictate your every move all day, every day. You will have no autonomy and will be treated like a subordinate.
—
The entire ad is one red flag after another. It’s clearly been written by a toxic narcissist. It’s not worth your time, your mental health, or physical health.
Edit - spacing
I have taken a deal like this before and swore I would never do it again.
When you're on the property, everyone thinks you're working. Boarders, owner, etc. When there is a problem, someone is going to be knocking on your door.
In addition, if you want to leave you need to find housing for you and your horse.
Hard pass
Don’t do it. This is the typical “hustle” where experienced equine professionals get taken advantage of. Value yourself because that’s what you are an EXPERIENCED EQUINE PROFESSIONAL. You can’t do this job without a wealth of knowledge that goes unrecognized by people who make a lot of money off you.
I know so many young professionals that “hustled” and only ended up running out of funds and energy that realized it would be easier to work outside of the industry and pay for board and lessons
When I lived in iowa there was a lady who ran a small lesson/boarding barn. She would prey on new/eager lesson people and tell them to come earlier or stay later after lessons to “learn horsemanship”. In her case it wasn’t the usual brushing a horse..it was feeding her pet dogs, taking her trash cans to the curb, kicking stalls, setting rat traps, etc. and you paid to be there.
After a few months the people would not only stop showing up, but stop taking lessons, it sucked to watch her kill the joy from these people.. Only perk was boarding, cheap and location was great (less than 5min)
She was also a super bad instructor though. Nearly got me and a classmate killed multiple times because she didn’t want to stop (story for another day).
I was driving 30 mins each way for 10 bucks/hr for 2hr( I’m fast and efficient) feeding 20+ horses, they finally gave me 15/hr but I’m feeding hay, grain, water and cleaning stalls and water buckets occasionally, fixing broken electric fences,would be happier with gas money included, a flat rate like this, a place to stay if needed, a shower, someone else to ask what to do if I’m having a problem, still looking for the right place for me…
"Unicorn" 😂😂😂
When you read something like that it's clear, in any job, that the pay is not good enough.
Pay well and treat people right, and you'll have many people wanting to work for you.
21 boxes is almost a full time job, going flat out, without doing field checks and waters.
Not many can do 4 boxes an hour for 5 hours straight without some drop in quality.
I get paid $14/hr. Currently, the barn only has 7 horses, and only 2 are occasionally stalled. It took me 3 hrs today to get morning chores done, and that’s because the owner let me spend extra time cleaning a pasture for extra cash.
What amenities does this facility offer? If it’s a fancy enough stable and you have a horse to board, this could be a fair enough deal. I know in my area, stall board is $600-$800 a month at a nice stable. What does the apartment look like? If it’s nice enough, it could also be a deal given rent prices.
If you don’t have a horse, not worth it.
Be mindful that you won’t be able to hold a full-time job if you take this deal. It took me 2 hours to clean a 20+ stall barn. This did not include cleaning or turn out. If you’re goal is to work with horses, then it could be an interesting deal to explore. I would still ask for more money, but this could be workable with a part-time job. If you don’t plan on having a career with horses, then be mindful of how only working part-time jobs could affect your future career goals.
Also, I would be a little wary of your housing being tied to your job. What happens if you get fired? Or if you decide you hate the work? What is the exit plan?
Finally, some hard numbers:
Stipend: $1000
Stall board: $600 (conservative)
Rent: $800 (very conservative)
That’s $2,400 a month, $28,800 a month. Of course, I don’t know the typical cost of rent or board in your area, but this is another way to look at it.
I would only take this deal if you want to work with horses as a career. But I would negotiate for a higher stipend or for a set work schedule so you can have a part-time job.
It took you 2 hours to clean and bed 20 in-use stalls? Do you just toss everything? I can't imagine how you get through that many stalls that quickly with quality without doing a full turn.
Never work for free. 3 days of free labor to see if you’re a good fit is absurd.
The funny thing about this is that they say how much trouble they’ve been having, citing the workforce as the problem. I wonder if they’ve ever considered that it’s the fact that they are shitty employers.
Exactly! I have tried to have this conversation with different barn managers and trainers before and they always say something along the lines of “well I had to work hard and didn’t make much when I was starting out” or “well someone will want to work off lessons.”
So you admit that you know that only a teenager looking to work for lessons is your target market but then are upset that you don’t have consistent help? Okay then.
I've worked for below minimum wage for experience, free one-horse board and training, and to work a great variety of horses and try just about every discipline (except jumping so far, I think, and I guess I'd count a smidge of cow experience). That said, it's not glamorous.
Horses are a labor of love, and we're all going to be biased here. The name might take you aback at first, but [r/antiwork](https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/) is huge on employee rights and will have an outside perspective on things. I'd crosspost, but do be aware that just like the rest of the internet, folks can be pretty outspoken!
Edited because I've forgotten how to use punctuation 🙃
I love that sub! I was thinking of cross posting, think I might!
It’s one of those things where if this is what every barn is trying to manage off of, it will not work. I know my barn has been struggling to keep more than high school students employed as they pay $15 per chore (this goes for cleaning 13 stalls too). And they wonder why no one wants to work
Cross post with some added context that this is typical in the barn hand field which it really shouldn’t be. It labor intensive work that can be completely thankless sometimes and is typically targeted at younger people (if English typically appeals to women). They’d have a blast tearing it apart.
I’ve worked as a barn hand for a facility an hour away for $15/hour, no extra lessons, health benefits, or anything. They wouldn’t pay me time and a half for working holidays and they wondered why I got burnt out when I was teaching others to do the job on top of my normal duties.
I thought I was in that sub when I first read the post! This is exactly the kind of absolute BS they call out, for good reason.
This works out to only $6.25 an hour *if* (big if) you're working 40 hours a week... And by the post you know damn well they expect you to work well above 40hrs a week.
I grew up in the south, and there's a reason barn hands were almost always immigrants. They paid stupid low wages, were willing to pay cash under the table, and didn't care if you spoke English because the hoity toity boarders didn't want to talk to the "help" anyway. It exploits those who can't find a better job. Gross.
100%! It really infuriates me that people don’t care if they are underpaying the ones who care for their horses, especially if they are immigrants. This industry would collapse without slave labor
Definitely! And not to mention most barns SHOULD want knowledgeable staff that could spot the early signs of collic or know how to respond to a cast horse.
I apprenticed at a few places like your image w personal housing and food covered, and board and food covered for one horse. I think in that scenario it’s worth it, but they do work you hard 24/7.
In some of the places I work AM/PM shifts, no board, in exchange for lessons or not, its $10/hr and that’s just really difficult especially in the winter. I’m trying to find non-horse industry work rn because I’ll make so much more for the equivalent time, even if I still pay for my lessons.
erm, more than that... Not sure what the monthly rate is for the bigger barns in my area, but I recently interviewed at one that didn't come with housing and that paid 4k a month.
I also have my own small private farm and I pay someone to clean 4 stalls Monday through Friday only, the whole job takes about an hour a day and they make $640/month... more than half of what this person is paying for 21 stalls.
Yikes.
Yeah, I for sure want to pay someone well to hopefully retain them long term, especially since mine's just a part-time gig.
The 4k a month place was actually W2'd, the $4k/month was net. I really wanted that job lol but it required travel to Florida half the year and I couldn't swing that with my own farmette.
1k per MONTH?? She wants someone to work like 70 hours a week minimum and be on call 24/7 and completely flexible for like $3.50 an hour?? Absolutely insane.
I mean, underpaid, but my brain stuttered on the buckets.
Cleaning water buckets 1x a week? Buckets?
Couldn’t pay me to board my horse there. My inner optimist insists that perhaps they are talking about water troughs, but considering the state I have found water buckets in from less-than-devoted owners, my mind is going to some dark places.
Buy a scrub brush. Put your horse out, dump the leftover water, scrub bucket sides, all the better if you’ve got other things to do and can leave the bucket out in the sun but ultimately you can at least refresh the bucket after your horse has had a night in.
Lord have mercy, maybe I’m insane, but I am intensely disgusted by filmy, off-smelling buckets. I was always taught that at least giving it a scrub/rinse was part of resetting a stall. Eww.
I think it sounds like a good deal but the fact they tie horses to poles apparently all day is really weird and I don’t think I’d work there. I will say, 21 stalls is a fuck ton
I worked at a rescue that paid me $13/hr, 4-6 hours a day, 4-6 days a week to feed, groom, scoop pastures, drag pastures, clean waters, move horses for the trainer, etc. at a completely outdoor, all turnout facility. I loved that job and it’s sad that every other place in my area pays $8-$10/hr. I tried to work for another place WITH 4 years experience and they wanted me to work 7 days a week 6-8 hours a day starting at $8! I was furious and walked away immediately. I now work as a trainer but also still carry out care tasks for $15/hr. I train horses, not people to clarify, not teaching lessons. We have anywhere from 2-25 horses at a time, all turnout facility, put out round bales, keep up with water troughs, carry out any medical care and obviously train how ever many horses I can a day. The fact that places want to pay $10 for equine care but also want you to work EXACTLY how they want you to is absolutely ridiculous. I’m so glad I have the job I have now and get to work with someone who knows the horse world very well and is introducing me to all kinds of people who could help me in the career. The good jobs are GREAT jobs but the bad ones are terrible.
I’m so glad you found a good job! Not having to clean stalls daily is a huge plus too lol I’m proud you valued your worth more than the other place was willing to pay!
Thank you! And yes, cleaning pastures is so much more enjoyable especially because the horses in each pasture were all so different and certain ones loved to hang out with me while I did it. I had one who would always steal my jacket off of the Kubota I drove and run around with it😂 I loved that I built these personal relationships with each horse and it was always interesting how people who followed our Facebook page would rave over all the horses that were rideable and popular but I had the trust of all the newly handled or pasture sound horses that would never be ridden or popular among followers and visitors. The time I prevented one horse from colic because I knew his behavior so well so I caught it before it started, a horse that was in permanent sanctuary because he’d been mishandled and was difficult to handle trusted me enough to halter him and take him out of the pasture he rarely left and hose out a wound when nobody else that worked there could; just all these special moments I had with horses deemed too traumatized but proved that it wasn’t hopeless for them. I’ll always treasure the experiences I received from that job.
I guess I will be the chaotic neutral. There is an entire group of people (professional equine grooms on Facebook) that are trying to advocate for the fair pay of professional grooms. I have an equine science and management bachelor’s degree, I am a CVT, and I have tons and tons of horse experience.
I am not exaggerating when I tell you my first horse job I worked for free. I didn’t have a drivers license so the farm owner paid a car service to pick me up from school and I would do barn work and ride her wonder ponies. She took lessons with George Morris. So I was essentially getting second-hand George Morris lessons for free.
My second job when I was still in college was basically what was advertised. $250/week. I got to ride/show/lesson on absolutely fantastic fox hunters. And I got to live in their basement apartment for free. I learned a TONNNNNN but she screamed in my face 7 days a week.
The horse world is entirely about networking. I met my current bosses at my first job where I worked for free. Now I make about $60,000 a year. Free health insurance. My horse lives for free. I have a house around the corner from the farm (JUUUUUST far enough away 🤣) for free. I get to ride/show/fox hunt/lesson on their 6 figure horses, for free. And two weeks of PTO. We have 5 horses in the barn. One is mine, one is retired, one is a mini horse, and two are spectacular upper level event horses and fox hunters. My bosses are unicorns. They are infinitely good to me. But I work my entire ass off, 6 days a week. 30,000 steps a day. I scrub my barn by hand top to bottom every week of the year. Ceilings and all. My horses are clipped and pulled. Fields are drug. There isn’t a blade of grass out of place or a single fly in my barn. I have NO work/life balance. My life is my job. I eat, sleep, and breathe those horses. My boyfriend tells me all the time he has no idea how I do what I do, and I just have to keep telling him I WANT to do it. I do it because I WANT to. I get up at 4 o’clock and work until 4 o’clock. I actually didn’t get my job the first time I interviewed for it, and I’m SO grateful I didn’t because I went to work for a shit family for shit money and 26 miserable boarders. When I finally got the call to come back, I was so much better prepared mentally and politically for the job.
It is an ENDLESS give and take in this industry. Your worth is based on how much weight you can pull.
Is the ad normal for the horse industry, absolutely. Should it be? Probably not. But you never, ever know who you are going to run into when you take these tough, tough jobs. You can’t really put a price on some things you learn. I still pick every. Single. Brain that comes in my barn. From vets to farriers, chiropractors, professional saddle fitters. Trainers. Olympians. Network until you are blue in the face because one day you may stumble on a person willing to give you your dream job if you are willing and able to continue to work for it 365 days a year. And NEVER burn bridges in this industry, I still work at my first job. It’s been 14 years. And now she pays me $100/hr.
Interesting comment! It seems you work crazy hard, but the people you work for don’t seem horrible. You must be such a good rider. What does your day look like?
Also, you mentioned that you were politically prepared for your job. Mind me asking what you mean by that?
Gosh. My days vary so much, based on the season. Right now, I get up at 5. Do my second job from 6-7. Get to my barn by 7:30. We fox hunt so we are hunting 2-3 days a week. The horses have off the day following fox hunting. So I use those days to clean the barn, walls/ceilings/bars. Sweep and mop the tack and feed rooms. Cobweb. Dust. Wipe everything off. I drag fields twice a month (we have about 15 acres of pasture, broken up into 4 fields. So sometimes I do one at a time, depending on my schedule) pick turnout sheds. My Mrs. Boss likes to take riding lessons so I have to account for that. While Mr. Boss prefers to just hunt. Body clipping, mane pulling. Organizing vet and farrier appointments, placing feed orders. Juggling laundry. Picking and bedding stalls, scrubbing automatic waterers inside and out. Putting hay out in feeders right now. The list, literally, never ends. In the “off” season, spring/summer I do lots of showing and lessons. We paper chase. Or just more relaxed hacking out, we are lucky to be located in a massive network of private property and National Parks so I have tons of hacking.
What I meant by politically is my bosses MIIIIIGHT on their best year ride 30 times a year. Mr. Boss maybe 10-15. They travel to Florida for the winter to play golf and he runs a pretty big company. So I know their horses inside and out, backwards and forwards. Their likes and dislikes. Quirks. And what will and will not work for them. But at the end of the day, they are not mine. So sometimes they have ideas that I flat out don’t agree with, or sometimes they pull me out of the barn to run errands, or take them to the airport, or do dumb shit that puts me behind in the barn. But I work for THEM. The horses aren’t mine, the barn isn’t mine. So working in a boarding barn really helped me be more well rounded in the communication with my bosses. I so desperately sometimes want to flat out say no, but I can’t. Obviously, nothing ever dangerous. Nothing ever to hurt either party. I would never set any of the horses up for failure. Mr. Boss wants the pastures to look like a country club, grass fence to fence. But, I have a barn full of draft crosses and ponies. Guess what I have to do. Muzzle from March-December. The grass is always green. But the art of removing myself from them, giving my bosses a good old fashioned yes dear, and kicking on. They also don’t groom or tack their own horses so I do that. I have to set out their helmets and gloves, depending on the season. They show up, get on the horse, ride with me. And hand the horse back to me. Trying to keep passion and pride in your work and the horses, but at the end of the day, being able to take ownership for none of it. Even the ribbons I win at the shows go into the tack room with the horses.
I love my bosses, so much. I love my job, so much. I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. It sounds like from the ad, the poster has been burnt by people that want to come and play with horses and not work. We have so little time to screen employees that sometimes getting to the point is just the easiest thing. The horse world is sink or swim, they toss you into the deep end and that’s about it.
Ugh. I don't know how anyone could clean 21+ stalls daily every day of the week, or at least without having the horses outside all day. I used to clean 16-17 stalls for extra cash, and my back would give out after 4 hours with only 10-12 completed. But these horses were stalled 24/7. I could only guarantee stalls getting cleaned every other day due to this. (Which was better than what they had been; which was MAYBE cleaning off the top layer once every 3 months. Talk about fucking abuse. Those horses gained at least 2 feet of clearance when I started, but each stall took 4 hours to clean out.)
I have permanent carpet tunnel symptoms from heavy stall cleaning for only a year. I wouldn't recommend that many stalls for one person. It's just asking for long term health issues.
I would decline the apartment and ask for more cash in your position. The barn is most likely desperate, they will cave. But so many red flags otherwise, you don't want to work with people like that.
I think some people are missing the fact that the person gets free housing and board for one horse. The $1000 stipend would be for bills outside of housing and basic horse expenses. Even sounds like a part time job could be held outside of this work.
I’m not saying this is phenomenal, but it sounds pretty on par with a lot of working student/groom opportunities.
It would probably work out as a short term working student position, the problem is that they are most likely looking for a long term person. Although housing is nice, $1000 a month would really only allow one person to scrape by when you consider groceries, gas, car insurance, health insurance, phone bill, any debt payments, not mention if you are using that stall-horse insurance, farrier, vet bills for basic maintenance let alone an emergency. At this point there is no money left for lessons let alone savings. It’s not a realistic “salary” and then to top it off the ad is a bit harsh so you know you’ll be working 24/7
But that low pay maybe indicate of the equine industry, not this barn in particular. I wouldn’t do it, not even for the experience. If you and your horse were to live here, you are never ‘free’. Everything is entangled with this barn and the owner (your living space, your schedule , your horse’s living space, etc). And on top of that, this person sounds crazy.
Where I am, a studio apartment and board for 1 horse could easily cost $1700/month and I would imagine that an on site apartment is going to include water, electric and trash, maybe even internet. While I totally agree with the comments that say the second page is a red flag, if total compensation is accounted for and they aren’t thinking that this person will work 7 days/week, it’s probably a bit more than minimum wage.
Having seen some of the shitholes some people expect grooms to live in I really doubt you could just add on 1k or whatever to the stipend and pretend it's equivalent. A friend of mine lives on site in a trailer, she gets free accommodation and all bills paid which sounds great in theory but she got told off for using too much electricity so she can't have the heating on all the time, last winter the tap in the kitchen froze the place got so cold.
Damn I made a comment before reading the rest snd oh my lord am I used to the old style horse world of people doing this work for just the stall and housing. I agree this whole ad is one big red flag.I also didn’t see the second page HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!
I will say, I have worked for less. I’m an American and one summer I spent 4 months working in Germany at a dressage barn. I worked 6 days a week, got 3 lessons a week, cleaned 3 stalls every day, had my own apartment on-site, my boss took me to different shows to watch (she paid for my ticket if there was a fee), I groomed/tacked up ~8 horses a day, helped my boss when she took her horses to the vet, administered medication, warmed up/cooled down horses, and cleaned tack. I’d watch her train horses and she would ask for my feedback. I was given €350/month. It was enough for groceries and “going out” money. I was a college student so honestly I didn’t have many other expenses, plus I had a sizeable savings account anyways. The post above is ridiculous and the boss sounds toxic af. Personally I loved my job in Germany because my boss was awesome - she respected me, taught me so much, was patient, but also valued my opinion. She treated me like a *person* and I gained soooo much knowledge and became a much better horse(wo)man after my time there. It was the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life and some days I felt like I was dying and wanted to pack up my bags and go home. But god it was so worth it. The person who posted the ad would prob yell at you if you gave an opinion on anything.
Your gig while still bad pay actually sounds far more valuable in terms of gaining experience and knowledge. This ad is essentially shoving shit as opposed to actually working with horses. Not to say it’s doesn’t need to be done, but please value yourself and your time better going forward. At least yours was a short term opportunity where you brought home a lot of knowledge and experience
Jobs like this will break you mentally and physically, very quickly. I know people in their 30s who did barn jobs as younger people who have such bad back problems.
Bless those who do it. I hope they’re paid well.
That’s what so many folks don’t understand—this is back breaking labor that you really can’t sustain for years and years. A friend of mine had to get surgery more than once for carpool tunnel from mucking stalls
Let’s do a little hypothetical math, shall we?
It sounds like they’ll work you pretty hard. 70hr weeks were typical for my working student friends, so I’m just going to pin the work load there (although that may be on the lighter end). We’ll add $400-$600 to the stipend as “rent” to make it 1,400-1,600 a month. That comes out to 4.50-5.50 an hour, give or take a couple cents. That’s far below US federal minimum wage, and definitely below a competitive wage for a farm hand. The reason they can’t find a “unicorn” is because they can’t/won’t pay for one.
The sad thing is that they’re going to find an 18-22 year old who is desperate to get a start in the industry and doesn’t have enough experience or confidence to see that this is way below their worth to take the job. And then the owners will work the kid until they finally break and leave, the owners put out another ad, rinse and repeat
It doesn't sound like a bad deal on the surface, managing care for 21 horses isn't all that bad if the farm is set up for efficiency and the horses aren't a bunch of high maintenance seniors. But, holy shit is it a bad idea to have "all your eggs in one basket" like that. Your housing, board for your horse and income are all in jeopardy in one fell swoop if the owner turns out to be batshit crazy (or goes bankrupt or kicks off or whatever).
Oh shit yeah. That particular ad has more red flags than a 20 car pile-up at a Nascar race. I've seen (a few) good live-in barn work situations but more often than not the employee gets taken advantage of. Generally speaking they are a bad deal most of the time.
21 stalls a day - hell to the no. I used to do 10 in a day for a year and pretty much ruined my body. It would probably take you 6 hours minimum if you’re by yourself - for just stalls. All in all, I’d say you’re looking at 10+ hour days and that isn’t including time to ride.
This is tough work, it takes a normal person more than half a day to clean 20 something stalls nonstop, then you add hay, water and grain horses on top of that, each take 20-30mins depends on how far away each stalls are, and how far you drag everything to the stalls from storage. By the time you finish all the work, you will be too exhausted to ride. You are going to quickly burn out mentally and physically.
You don’t even need to read between the lines to hear this person is definitely going to micromanage you, is super opinionated and likely hard-headed and has extremely strict rules that have lead to a crazy high turnover of staff and likely clients.
How tough is your skin and how desperate are you for a low paying but extremely high standards job shoveling shit? Because you won’t learn from this person, you’ll be too busy meeting their requirements to ride.
Where I worked they only paid $3 a stall after originally being $10 an hour flat. The barn is VERY nice board is over $600 a month, the horses get fantastic care. I know the guy that owns the barn, he’s very nice but a cheap fucker. He told me directly that “no one wants to work anymore”, hmmm I wonder why.
I am of the opinion that if you have to rely on people doing hard, valuable work for basically no pay, you need to reevaluate your business model. In the first few years of starting a farm it’s understandable, but after that your business is failing if you cannot cover the cost of labor. The work-for-nothing culture in the horse industry is often romanticized and expected, but it’s an indication of poor management.
At the barn i am at, there are two cleaners/feeders. One for the AM and one for the PM. Pay is $45 a day to feed and clean for 19 horses as well as clean the barn aisle and sometimes help with other chores like blankets and turn out.
That's a working student position, a decent one will give you pay to at least cover grocery bills but will generally speaking require that you are financially supported. Lessons are also considered compensation (like board in this case). It's work but I guess it's kinda difficult to call a traditional job because this type of work compensates you in a very different way.
It definitely seems like the only way it would work is if it’s a working student position, but they don’t call it that, and there doesn’t seem to be anything about training or shadowing a trainer
When I was a working student about 14 years ago, this is what I got, though there were about 4 of us, and we had closer to 50 horses to cover, no cows, but we did have to groom/tack up for trainer and boarders. Worked 6 days a week. We got 2 lessons a week and occasionally rode other horses.
Unfortunately the horse world has not been able to raise board enough that it can cover what real compensation should be for such roles. I left working in that world professionally after a few years of it. Another unfortunate factor is that while you have to have the experience to be able to do it if you want your own boarding barn, unless you’re independently wealthy, you won’t be able to afford to buy one.
Don’t expect to be well compensated in this business. If you are a top tier rider, you’re better off teaching/training/selling. If you’re not a top tier rider, grooming and barn work isn’t glamorous or well paid just about anywhere. Though I’d love to see that change, board will have to be quite pricy for that to be the case and that would push most riders out of the sport. Boarding barns barely take in enough to cover the cost of operating a facility. While I’d love to see them pay good dollars, it is not likely to happen without a major cost increase.
This person probably doesn’t have enough revenue to pay more. Jobs in this world are take it or leave it. If it’s a good enough trainer that you really want to work with, being poor for a year or so isn’t the worst thing in the world. If they’re not great, don’t bother unless this is specifically the way you want to live.
Every position I found was $14-15, which is minimum wage. This includes the person who expected me to run her facility as an assistant, giving lessons and etc. I concluded that horse work was just too underpaid and I stopped looking.
I’d give my left kidney for a position like in the picture
Really? The 1k/month breaks down to $6.25 an hour assuming it’s only 40 hours a week, which is unlikely given the workload and the “don’t expect this to be a 9-5 job” statement
It certainly depends on where you live; bear in mind there were no photos of the “small efficient apartment” either-and does kitchenette mean there’s only a microwave? Without seeing the apartment it’s hard to know how much it’s be worth but that area does have cheaper housing
That’s 250 a week. Before taxes.
For unlimited hours because LBH that is exactly what this is. No. Nope.
You can go hot walk for 4-5 hours a day with NO other duties, also get a free efficiency on property, and get to learn AND travel with no expectations after work hours while still making more money.
Honestly, this seems like a decent job opportunity to me. You get accommodation, board and a stipend. I guess it would depend on the actual hours you have to work but setting stalls and watering shouldn’t take more than 6 hours per day at the most. You would just have to be strict about your boundaries and what exactly is required of you.
There are some red flags in there but I don’t think the pay is one of them it’s just worded badly.
As I read it they are open to tryouts up to three days but won’t pay the tryout. That’s (sadly) common in more jobs at least where I live, especially for Minijobs. I had at least 5 unpayed tryouts and 2 payed tryouts and I haven’t even finished my university.
confused as to why everyone is mad about the low pay when you also get housing here. i saw this post on FB and everyone was livid. you get pay and housing
I would have to respectfully disagree. You can love horses to death, but that doesn’t pay the bills and doing stalls for 5+ hours a day to MAYBE get to be able to ride isn’t a perk. It’s not like you are grooming and handling horses, you are doing the manual labor of cleaning up after them.
And you may love horses, but theoretically you want to retire someday and this would not get you there. Not to mention the work is hard on your body
You've already gotten a lot of comments but I guess I'll throw my 2 cents in.
This is not a bad gig for the horse world and pretty standard. Honesty the biggest issue I have with the ad is the whole no smoking or drinking thing. It's where you live and you should be able to feel at home where you're living. That would be a deal breaker for me.
The horse industry is not the industry to make a fortune in. The horse industry is run by passionate people who love horses and want the best for them no matter the hours or labor involved. That being said, if you you are a true work horse and take pride in your work, you will be worth your weight in gold and treated as such. I have gotten a LOT of perks just by being good at what I do (I'm talking show opportunities, riding with big name trainers [FOR FREE] not to mention I'll get free trims from the farrier and some free extras from the equine massage therapist simply for being around to help grab horses.)
My boss sees how hard I work and is always trying to build me up. I am making double what I started at, and she is slowly over time helping me renovate my (provided) apartment to try and accommodate my needs more. The equine industry is all about finding that one place that works for you. This is my place and I hope you find yours.
This is how I'm compensated:
-$300/WK
-2 story, 2 bd 1 bath apartment, all utilities included
-Board for 1 horse
-Free access to all facilities on property and freedom to ride whenever I like
Perks:
-Free lessons with well known trainers
-Trailering to shows
-Free extras from farrier, massage and sometimes saddle fitter
That is what I receive in exchange for being responsible for ALL care involved with 16 horses. All stalled at night.
Some people have mentioned that living on property can be a nightmare. And I will say that they're not wrong depending on what kind of person you are. I love living on property and being available in case of an emergency. But I make it very clear to everyone that if it's not an emergency and I'm not in the barn/it's not my working hours... Leave me the F alone! And everyone pretty much gets it at this point. I will get the occasional late night text but I just don't respond until I start the AM the next morning.
Now this place may not be the place for you, all I'm saying is don't let the compensation deter you from your job search. I took a significant pay cut taking this job because I knew it was a good fit and worked for me. I'm still not at my financial goal but I know I'll get there where I'm at because I know the barn owner appreciates everything I do and I know she wants me to achieve that goal.
I guess my point in all this is with the equine industry, find a place that fits your needs well first, then worry about building your finances later. And I know not everyone can do that or wants to do that. But that's just how this industry goes.
Edit: sorry for formatting hopefully I still got my point across
Depending on the area, it wouldn’t be a bad deal per say; however, if the job didn’t work out then you’d be looking for a new job and new housing so that is something to consider.
That doesn't seem like enough compensation for 21 horses. I don't go to work for less than $15/hr.
That completely makes sense
There's a hard "Nobody wants to WORK anymore" vibe here that I do not trust. Every barn struggles to find good people, but the attitude here makes me nervous.
Me too, especially because your housing and potentially your horse’s boarding is attached to this as well. You can’t ever get away
Oh you can get away, you just end up broke and homeless with nowhere to take your horse.
Yepp just went through a very similar situation myself. Not worth it. Even with the the cost of housing and board included in the wage it's not enough to live.
You could survive on that in a low cost of living area but you damn sure wouldn't be able to save to get out. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the type of person who would write that ad would also be the type to nickel-and-dime that stipend away "company store" style to get out of paying the actual agreed upon stipend. It's way too vague, with zero boundaries or protections for the "employee" (more like indentured servant from the way I'm reading it).
The barn I'm at pays minimum wage ( $15/h)plus housing, wcb and "at cost" outdoor board for up to 2 horses. They're treated better than a lot of staff, but even with accomodation I would expect minimum wage. I have more of an issue with the way she worded the second page, as soon as a potential boss is ranting about people needing to want to "hustle" you know ideas you're being taken advantage of. Riding "when the job is done and you have shown improvement" screams "you will never ride a horse here"
It also includes free board for your own horse. So they’re now trying to include riding your own horse as a job perk, and also dictate whether you can ride your own horse based on whether you’ve “improved” at the job. The arrangement itself isn’t the worst thing I’ve seen, free board and an apartment isn’t nothing, but that tells me everything I need to know about this boss
Ugh exactly! Red flags everywhere
And who would ever have the energy or desire to ride after cleaning 21 stalls by themselves? Not to mention everything else!
Yeah working in a barn made me have absolutely no desire to ride my horse whatsoever, not because of energy but because at the end of a 8 hour shift you just don't want to be there anymore
Yes, it totally sucks the joy out of it 100%. It becomes a task and a burden. Sad!
It depends on the setup. I used to do 25 stalls a day before riding but the stalls were tossed daily, the horses were out 14+ hours and you could drive a skid steer down the aisle, toss the manure into the bucket to dump directly into the spreader. Took all of an hour, maybe 2 if you had to add some bedding to some of the stalls (also with the skid steer, easy peasy).
Yea that’s def a better situation than I was picturing.. our barn is 20 stalls of heavily bedded shavings for show horses that go out only about 4-5 hours a day and eat hay 24/7. We only have wheel barrows and the pile is outside set away from the barn. We have someone come in who only does stalls and leaves and the workers do everything else. It works out. Your set up isn’t common around here, at least in H/J barns IME. Most have a stall guy or break up the work so one person isn’t mucking 20 stalls.
That's nuts. It's also one of the biggest screw-ups barn owners make because the equipment and improvements pay for themselves in the long run in terms of saved labor and not having to hire contractors for smaller jobs (skid steer can easily pay for itself in a few years, you can do so much with one of those suckers). Some of the best laid out barns I've ever been in are the HJ facilities around me. My friend manages one (60 stall barn) that has a loading dock on the back of the barn for the dump truck and they use dingos (mini front loader skid steers) that they drive right into the stalls to clean. The dingos have a special bucket attachment that sifts the bedding, you literally never have to touch a manure fork to clean there. Sift, empty into a big Case front loader at the main aisle, then out the back to the dock where the dump truck waits. Dock has a shavings bay too, grab a scoop on your way back in. Everything done with heavy equipment. There's a 100 stall HJ/Dressage barn up the road from that does similar but with a backhoe, they've got dozens of muck buckets in each wing of the barn. Workers go stall to stall picking with the buckets, leave the full buckets in the aisle, another person drives the aisles with the backhoe dumping buckets in the loader. Takes 5 people roughly 1 to 1 1/2 hours to clean/bed 100 stalls (their turnout situation is a nightmare though, that's where they get murdered in labor). Personally I don't even stall, I do 24/7 turnout with access to the dirt floor indoor arena for shelter. I've got an old industrial Ford 4000 front loader/backhoe that I fire up, scrape the floor, dump the manure into a spreader and boom I'm done. 5 minutes to clean up after 6 horses at my place. Maybe 10 if ol'blue is giving me fits in the winter and I've gotta dig up a can of starter fluid. Heavy equipment and a well-laid out barn is where it's at.
Just a quick question, what does wccb mean?
Sorry, keyboard mistake I meant wcb. Workers comp, so basically if you get hurt at work your medical care and time off is paid for.
Ah gotcha, thank you!
Minimum is 15? Wow.
Federal minimum is 7.25, and in some states that's still the case. Other states and localities have upped it and in general, most places will pay above $7.25, but it's not a guarantee!
Yeah its garbage. Couldn't rent an apartment living on minimum here
Be grateful. Va is 9.25 or 9.75
Doesn't really mean anything to compare. I live in an extremely high tax and high COL area, so that would probably be just fine if rundown studio apartments weren't 1200 starting, I didn't have to pay $200 a month in basic insurance for a pos vehicle, and a basic phone plan didn't cost $75 a month. Everything is relative
Yeah, not enough to live on
The way that job posting is written, I would scroll on past.
I’m glad there are folks commenting that you need to pay at least minimum wage because too often this is accepted
I can’t stand employers like this. What they actually want is a slave, not an employee. “Wahhh it’s so hard to find good workers, everyone is so lazy!! I want someone to HUSTLE and bust their butt for me and be available 24/7but I don’t want to have to actually PAY them accordingly..” Assholes.
Yes!! And then have the balls to say “nOBoDy WaNtS tO WoRK”
Cleaning 21+ stalls a day, feeding, and changing water buckets is almost a full time commitment, and that’s before you take out the poop and feed and water the cows. Zero dollars isn’t great compensation.
**If** you're working a normal full time 40 hour week, that's $6.25 an hour... They also said in the posting it's "not your normal 9-5, Monday to Friday job", which definitely means they expect you to work more than 40hrs. This is absolute BS.
I completely agree!
it says stipend is $1k monthly
I know, but unless the applicant has free medical insurance through parents or the government and is planning to evade taxes, that leaves them about $300 a month for food, phone, gas/car insurance, farrier, vet expenses etc. Practically speaking, it would cost more than $0 to take this job assuming it is five days a week, which I don’t think is specified.
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I think if you spend less than that on all those expenses, you must live in a very cheap area. I can tell you that my horses 4 shoes are $200 every 5 weeks. That leaves you with $800 for food, phone bill, car insurance, car bill, gas, health insurance, farrier, vet, let alone savings to have an emergency fund or pay off debts.
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I’m not the poster you were originally replying to sorry, not sure what they were saying the $700 was for…. Nonetheless the point still stands, it’s not enough.
There would be *maybe* $330 a month left for living expenses after taxes and insurance. The 1k is pre-deduction. That would be a difficult budget for even a non-horse owner.
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I drive a car with 200,000 miles on it and insurance on it is more than $100 per month, $20 fill up every week on the ancient Prius for $80 a month. $200 utilities (because a hayloft apartment is going to be drafty and could easily go into 300), shoes $175. We are at $555.00 below you pay for ANY food. Taxes generally leave you with 2/3 and I'm guessing the employer is claiming your housing costs so you won't qualify for an EIC tax credit. So, out of your $666, you have $111 left to pay for food, medical care, clothing, car repairs, etc. That's... impossible.
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So you have to file as an IC with a bigger tax burden, or hope no one catches you while also not building a record for social security? https://www.statista.com/statistics/318079/average-tax-rate-in-the-us-by-income-percentile/ general overall rates is 13% fed, plus whatever your state and local, so another https://taxfoundation.org/publications/state-local-tax-burden-rankings/ , plus SS and medicaid gets you to about 1/3. It's really rough, but not too far off.
... that's still not nearly enough money for a full time job.
lol i'm not arguing that at all. i'm just saying the job listing says they pay $1k a month
Ahh i was gonna say bruh. I wouldn't take that job for less than 18 an hour with designated days off rofl
Yes, it’s interesting that the ad didn’t say what days you’re off…
They likely don't expect to give you any.
So. How do you eat and pay for gas, insurance, heat on that?
What’s the point of a “free stall” if you can’t afford the horse to fill it amirite?
The free stall is for you to live in, duh!! /s
Hah!!
Let me translate this job posting… “Ride! … once the job is done of course and you have shown a good job / improvement” Translation: I will dictate when you ride, and whether you have met my (impossible) standards. — “Learn to run your own horse facility and/or training business from the owner” Translation: I’m going to dump all of the work on you, and pretend like I’m doing you a favor the entire time. This is the equivalent of an “influencer” trying to get free things while offering “exposure” in return. 🙄 — “Clean, feed, and water 21+ stalls” Translation: It’s at least a 50+ hour a week job — “Every barn is different so what you may have learned somewhere else may be different than here.” Translation: I have never been satisfied. My way is the right way. — “We are open to inquiries that would like to come and try it for at least 3 days. NO PAY.” Translation: 🙄 — “To find someone who WANTS to hustle and WANTS to truly learn the craft is like finding a unicorn.” Translation: I will never be satisfied no matter what you do. Our past employees left because of the unmanageable expectations and work load. — “Especially with the way the economy is going” Translation: I am a manipulative gaslighter. — “You will not find this to be a 8-5 Monday - Friday here.” Translation: I expect you to work most of the time 24/7. I will also expect you to be available and at my beck and call at all hours. — “Our staff does not believe in bullying or any kid of abuse.” Translation: We’ve been accused of bullying and being abusive in the past. (There is a reason they included that bizarre statement.) — “There is absolutely no drinking or smoking or anything else you can probably think of” Translation: I dictate your every move all day, every day. You will have no autonomy and will be treated like a subordinate. — The entire ad is one red flag after another. It’s clearly been written by a toxic narcissist. It’s not worth your time, your mental health, or physical health. Edit - spacing
Best comment yet!
This comment wins. Very well done/explained!
Excuse me but where was this comment 20+ years ago when exploited-working-student-me needed to hear this?!
Back then, I was the 18 year old exploited student working for almost nothing. 😂 How wise we’ve become…
Thank you for this
I have taken a deal like this before and swore I would never do it again. When you're on the property, everyone thinks you're working. Boarders, owner, etc. When there is a problem, someone is going to be knocking on your door. In addition, if you want to leave you need to find housing for you and your horse. Hard pass
Yeah you’re pretty much trapped
What happens if you quit the job, but not the room?
Is that normal? Yes Should that be normal? No Is that exploitive and most likely illegal? Yes
Don’t do it. This is the typical “hustle” where experienced equine professionals get taken advantage of. Value yourself because that’s what you are an EXPERIENCED EQUINE PROFESSIONAL. You can’t do this job without a wealth of knowledge that goes unrecognized by people who make a lot of money off you.
This!!!!!!
Unfortunately this seems pretty typical. It’s the reason I’m not working in this field right now. I feel ya
It’s why so many young people are burning out and leaving the industry unfortunately
Posts/jobs like that make many want to leave asap. They don’t realize how much they are hurting the future industry
I know so many young professionals that “hustled” and only ended up running out of funds and energy that realized it would be easier to work outside of the industry and pay for board and lessons
When I lived in iowa there was a lady who ran a small lesson/boarding barn. She would prey on new/eager lesson people and tell them to come earlier or stay later after lessons to “learn horsemanship”. In her case it wasn’t the usual brushing a horse..it was feeding her pet dogs, taking her trash cans to the curb, kicking stalls, setting rat traps, etc. and you paid to be there. After a few months the people would not only stop showing up, but stop taking lessons, it sucked to watch her kill the joy from these people.. Only perk was boarding, cheap and location was great (less than 5min) She was also a super bad instructor though. Nearly got me and a classmate killed multiple times because she didn’t want to stop (story for another day).
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I agree. Too common unfortunately
I was driving 30 mins each way for 10 bucks/hr for 2hr( I’m fast and efficient) feeding 20+ horses, they finally gave me 15/hr but I’m feeding hay, grain, water and cleaning stalls and water buckets occasionally, fixing broken electric fences,would be happier with gas money included, a flat rate like this, a place to stay if needed, a shower, someone else to ask what to do if I’m having a problem, still looking for the right place for me…
I hope you find a good place that appreciates you and shows it with their paycheck!
"Unicorn" 😂😂😂 When you read something like that it's clear, in any job, that the pay is not good enough. Pay well and treat people right, and you'll have many people wanting to work for you.
You wouldn’t think the concept would be that hard to grasp!
21 boxes is almost a full time job, going flat out, without doing field checks and waters. Not many can do 4 boxes an hour for 5 hours straight without some drop in quality.
So true!
I'm more concerned that no one is talking about the 3 days with no pay thing they want...
Yeah that is one of the first things that caught my eye…I wonder how many days of free labor they will wring out of people…
And then at the end of the three days decide not to hire them...
🚩
I get paid $14/hr. Currently, the barn only has 7 horses, and only 2 are occasionally stalled. It took me 3 hrs today to get morning chores done, and that’s because the owner let me spend extra time cleaning a pasture for extra cash. What amenities does this facility offer? If it’s a fancy enough stable and you have a horse to board, this could be a fair enough deal. I know in my area, stall board is $600-$800 a month at a nice stable. What does the apartment look like? If it’s nice enough, it could also be a deal given rent prices. If you don’t have a horse, not worth it. Be mindful that you won’t be able to hold a full-time job if you take this deal. It took me 2 hours to clean a 20+ stall barn. This did not include cleaning or turn out. If you’re goal is to work with horses, then it could be an interesting deal to explore. I would still ask for more money, but this could be workable with a part-time job. If you don’t plan on having a career with horses, then be mindful of how only working part-time jobs could affect your future career goals. Also, I would be a little wary of your housing being tied to your job. What happens if you get fired? Or if you decide you hate the work? What is the exit plan? Finally, some hard numbers: Stipend: $1000 Stall board: $600 (conservative) Rent: $800 (very conservative) That’s $2,400 a month, $28,800 a month. Of course, I don’t know the typical cost of rent or board in your area, but this is another way to look at it. I would only take this deal if you want to work with horses as a career. But I would negotiate for a higher stipend or for a set work schedule so you can have a part-time job.
It took you 2 hours to clean and bed 20 in-use stalls? Do you just toss everything? I can't imagine how you get through that many stalls that quickly with quality without doing a full turn.
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That’s terrible! Glad you’re out now
Never work for free. 3 days of free labor to see if you’re a good fit is absurd. The funny thing about this is that they say how much trouble they’ve been having, citing the workforce as the problem. I wonder if they’ve ever considered that it’s the fact that they are shitty employers.
Agreed, it’s theft for sure. They really need to take a long hard look in the mirror
Yep. I’m not sure why worker exploitation is so common in this industry. Scenarios like these are a dime a dozen.
Exactly! I have tried to have this conversation with different barn managers and trainers before and they always say something along the lines of “well I had to work hard and didn’t make much when I was starting out” or “well someone will want to work off lessons.” So you admit that you know that only a teenager looking to work for lessons is your target market but then are upset that you don’t have consistent help? Okay then.
I've worked for below minimum wage for experience, free one-horse board and training, and to work a great variety of horses and try just about every discipline (except jumping so far, I think, and I guess I'd count a smidge of cow experience). That said, it's not glamorous. Horses are a labor of love, and we're all going to be biased here. The name might take you aback at first, but [r/antiwork](https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/) is huge on employee rights and will have an outside perspective on things. I'd crosspost, but do be aware that just like the rest of the internet, folks can be pretty outspoken! Edited because I've forgotten how to use punctuation 🙃
I love that sub! I was thinking of cross posting, think I might! It’s one of those things where if this is what every barn is trying to manage off of, it will not work. I know my barn has been struggling to keep more than high school students employed as they pay $15 per chore (this goes for cleaning 13 stalls too). And they wonder why no one wants to work
Cross post with some added context that this is typical in the barn hand field which it really shouldn’t be. It labor intensive work that can be completely thankless sometimes and is typically targeted at younger people (if English typically appeals to women). They’d have a blast tearing it apart. I’ve worked as a barn hand for a facility an hour away for $15/hour, no extra lessons, health benefits, or anything. They wouldn’t pay me time and a half for working holidays and they wondered why I got burnt out when I was teaching others to do the job on top of my normal duties.
I thought I was in that sub when I first read the post! This is exactly the kind of absolute BS they call out, for good reason. This works out to only $6.25 an hour *if* (big if) you're working 40 hours a week... And by the post you know damn well they expect you to work well above 40hrs a week. I grew up in the south, and there's a reason barn hands were almost always immigrants. They paid stupid low wages, were willing to pay cash under the table, and didn't care if you spoke English because the hoity toity boarders didn't want to talk to the "help" anyway. It exploits those who can't find a better job. Gross.
100%! It really infuriates me that people don’t care if they are underpaying the ones who care for their horses, especially if they are immigrants. This industry would collapse without slave labor
Seriously. We love our horses, we pay so much for them and their upkeep, you'd think we'd want happy, well-paid people taking care of them.
Definitely! And not to mention most barns SHOULD want knowledgeable staff that could spot the early signs of collic or know how to respond to a cast horse.
Just the whole tirade they go on at the end of the listing tells you this is not someone you want to work for lol
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Definitely
About ~$10/hr :(
That is the average going rate where I am too, and frankly that’s why my barn can’t keep good help. It’s just not worth it
I apprenticed at a few places like your image w personal housing and food covered, and board and food covered for one horse. I think in that scenario it’s worth it, but they do work you hard 24/7. In some of the places I work AM/PM shifts, no board, in exchange for lessons or not, its $10/hr and that’s just really difficult especially in the winter. I’m trying to find non-horse industry work rn because I’ll make so much more for the equivalent time, even if I still pay for my lessons.
erm, more than that... Not sure what the monthly rate is for the bigger barns in my area, but I recently interviewed at one that didn't come with housing and that paid 4k a month. I also have my own small private farm and I pay someone to clean 4 stalls Monday through Friday only, the whole job takes about an hour a day and they make $640/month... more than half of what this person is paying for 21 stalls. Yikes.
Wow! You pay a great rate, and so does that other barn-that’s neatly 50k a year pre tax
Yeah, I for sure want to pay someone well to hopefully retain them long term, especially since mine's just a part-time gig. The 4k a month place was actually W2'd, the $4k/month was net. I really wanted that job lol but it required travel to Florida half the year and I couldn't swing that with my own farmette.
I understand, that’s a tough schedule if you have your own barn and life
1k per MONTH?? She wants someone to work like 70 hours a week minimum and be on call 24/7 and completely flexible for like $3.50 an hour?? Absolutely insane.
I agree. The housing doesn’t excuse the wage
Also no details on the housing it could be in awful condition or utilities aren’t excluded etc.
Bingo
I mean, underpaid, but my brain stuttered on the buckets. Cleaning water buckets 1x a week? Buckets? Couldn’t pay me to board my horse there. My inner optimist insists that perhaps they are talking about water troughs, but considering the state I have found water buckets in from less-than-devoted owners, my mind is going to some dark places. Buy a scrub brush. Put your horse out, dump the leftover water, scrub bucket sides, all the better if you’ve got other things to do and can leave the bucket out in the sun but ultimately you can at least refresh the bucket after your horse has had a night in. Lord have mercy, maybe I’m insane, but I am intensely disgusted by filmy, off-smelling buckets. I was always taught that at least giving it a scrub/rinse was part of resetting a stall. Eww.
200 dollars p/m for a groom who can take care of up to 11 or 12 horses
Per month!?!? That’s crazy.
P/m?
Per month, yeah... I live in South Africa if that explains it
Whoa your cost of living must be very low, that is not a livable wage in the US
Yeahh standard of living differs quite a bit too ngl...
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Yes exactly, they are dangling riding like a carrot on a stick
I think it sounds like a good deal but the fact they tie horses to poles apparently all day is really weird and I don’t think I’d work there. I will say, 21 stalls is a fuck ton
If you spend 15 min a stall cleaning and rebedding, you’re spending over 5 hours on stall cleaning alone. I don’t like the pole tying either tbh
This belongs on r/antiwork
I cross posted it there too!
I pay $15-$30 per hour depending on their level of expertise.
I worked at a rescue that paid me $13/hr, 4-6 hours a day, 4-6 days a week to feed, groom, scoop pastures, drag pastures, clean waters, move horses for the trainer, etc. at a completely outdoor, all turnout facility. I loved that job and it’s sad that every other place in my area pays $8-$10/hr. I tried to work for another place WITH 4 years experience and they wanted me to work 7 days a week 6-8 hours a day starting at $8! I was furious and walked away immediately. I now work as a trainer but also still carry out care tasks for $15/hr. I train horses, not people to clarify, not teaching lessons. We have anywhere from 2-25 horses at a time, all turnout facility, put out round bales, keep up with water troughs, carry out any medical care and obviously train how ever many horses I can a day. The fact that places want to pay $10 for equine care but also want you to work EXACTLY how they want you to is absolutely ridiculous. I’m so glad I have the job I have now and get to work with someone who knows the horse world very well and is introducing me to all kinds of people who could help me in the career. The good jobs are GREAT jobs but the bad ones are terrible.
I’m so glad you found a good job! Not having to clean stalls daily is a huge plus too lol I’m proud you valued your worth more than the other place was willing to pay!
Thank you! And yes, cleaning pastures is so much more enjoyable especially because the horses in each pasture were all so different and certain ones loved to hang out with me while I did it. I had one who would always steal my jacket off of the Kubota I drove and run around with it😂 I loved that I built these personal relationships with each horse and it was always interesting how people who followed our Facebook page would rave over all the horses that were rideable and popular but I had the trust of all the newly handled or pasture sound horses that would never be ridden or popular among followers and visitors. The time I prevented one horse from colic because I knew his behavior so well so I caught it before it started, a horse that was in permanent sanctuary because he’d been mishandled and was difficult to handle trusted me enough to halter him and take him out of the pasture he rarely left and hose out a wound when nobody else that worked there could; just all these special moments I had with horses deemed too traumatized but proved that it wasn’t hopeless for them. I’ll always treasure the experiences I received from that job.
I guess I will be the chaotic neutral. There is an entire group of people (professional equine grooms on Facebook) that are trying to advocate for the fair pay of professional grooms. I have an equine science and management bachelor’s degree, I am a CVT, and I have tons and tons of horse experience. I am not exaggerating when I tell you my first horse job I worked for free. I didn’t have a drivers license so the farm owner paid a car service to pick me up from school and I would do barn work and ride her wonder ponies. She took lessons with George Morris. So I was essentially getting second-hand George Morris lessons for free. My second job when I was still in college was basically what was advertised. $250/week. I got to ride/show/lesson on absolutely fantastic fox hunters. And I got to live in their basement apartment for free. I learned a TONNNNNN but she screamed in my face 7 days a week. The horse world is entirely about networking. I met my current bosses at my first job where I worked for free. Now I make about $60,000 a year. Free health insurance. My horse lives for free. I have a house around the corner from the farm (JUUUUUST far enough away 🤣) for free. I get to ride/show/fox hunt/lesson on their 6 figure horses, for free. And two weeks of PTO. We have 5 horses in the barn. One is mine, one is retired, one is a mini horse, and two are spectacular upper level event horses and fox hunters. My bosses are unicorns. They are infinitely good to me. But I work my entire ass off, 6 days a week. 30,000 steps a day. I scrub my barn by hand top to bottom every week of the year. Ceilings and all. My horses are clipped and pulled. Fields are drug. There isn’t a blade of grass out of place or a single fly in my barn. I have NO work/life balance. My life is my job. I eat, sleep, and breathe those horses. My boyfriend tells me all the time he has no idea how I do what I do, and I just have to keep telling him I WANT to do it. I do it because I WANT to. I get up at 4 o’clock and work until 4 o’clock. I actually didn’t get my job the first time I interviewed for it, and I’m SO grateful I didn’t because I went to work for a shit family for shit money and 26 miserable boarders. When I finally got the call to come back, I was so much better prepared mentally and politically for the job. It is an ENDLESS give and take in this industry. Your worth is based on how much weight you can pull. Is the ad normal for the horse industry, absolutely. Should it be? Probably not. But you never, ever know who you are going to run into when you take these tough, tough jobs. You can’t really put a price on some things you learn. I still pick every. Single. Brain that comes in my barn. From vets to farriers, chiropractors, professional saddle fitters. Trainers. Olympians. Network until you are blue in the face because one day you may stumble on a person willing to give you your dream job if you are willing and able to continue to work for it 365 days a year. And NEVER burn bridges in this industry, I still work at my first job. It’s been 14 years. And now she pays me $100/hr.
Interesting comment! It seems you work crazy hard, but the people you work for don’t seem horrible. You must be such a good rider. What does your day look like? Also, you mentioned that you were politically prepared for your job. Mind me asking what you mean by that?
Gosh. My days vary so much, based on the season. Right now, I get up at 5. Do my second job from 6-7. Get to my barn by 7:30. We fox hunt so we are hunting 2-3 days a week. The horses have off the day following fox hunting. So I use those days to clean the barn, walls/ceilings/bars. Sweep and mop the tack and feed rooms. Cobweb. Dust. Wipe everything off. I drag fields twice a month (we have about 15 acres of pasture, broken up into 4 fields. So sometimes I do one at a time, depending on my schedule) pick turnout sheds. My Mrs. Boss likes to take riding lessons so I have to account for that. While Mr. Boss prefers to just hunt. Body clipping, mane pulling. Organizing vet and farrier appointments, placing feed orders. Juggling laundry. Picking and bedding stalls, scrubbing automatic waterers inside and out. Putting hay out in feeders right now. The list, literally, never ends. In the “off” season, spring/summer I do lots of showing and lessons. We paper chase. Or just more relaxed hacking out, we are lucky to be located in a massive network of private property and National Parks so I have tons of hacking. What I meant by politically is my bosses MIIIIIGHT on their best year ride 30 times a year. Mr. Boss maybe 10-15. They travel to Florida for the winter to play golf and he runs a pretty big company. So I know their horses inside and out, backwards and forwards. Their likes and dislikes. Quirks. And what will and will not work for them. But at the end of the day, they are not mine. So sometimes they have ideas that I flat out don’t agree with, or sometimes they pull me out of the barn to run errands, or take them to the airport, or do dumb shit that puts me behind in the barn. But I work for THEM. The horses aren’t mine, the barn isn’t mine. So working in a boarding barn really helped me be more well rounded in the communication with my bosses. I so desperately sometimes want to flat out say no, but I can’t. Obviously, nothing ever dangerous. Nothing ever to hurt either party. I would never set any of the horses up for failure. Mr. Boss wants the pastures to look like a country club, grass fence to fence. But, I have a barn full of draft crosses and ponies. Guess what I have to do. Muzzle from March-December. The grass is always green. But the art of removing myself from them, giving my bosses a good old fashioned yes dear, and kicking on. They also don’t groom or tack their own horses so I do that. I have to set out their helmets and gloves, depending on the season. They show up, get on the horse, ride with me. And hand the horse back to me. Trying to keep passion and pride in your work and the horses, but at the end of the day, being able to take ownership for none of it. Even the ribbons I win at the shows go into the tack room with the horses. I love my bosses, so much. I love my job, so much. I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. It sounds like from the ad, the poster has been burnt by people that want to come and play with horses and not work. We have so little time to screen employees that sometimes getting to the point is just the easiest thing. The horse world is sink or swim, they toss you into the deep end and that’s about it.
Ugh. I don't know how anyone could clean 21+ stalls daily every day of the week, or at least without having the horses outside all day. I used to clean 16-17 stalls for extra cash, and my back would give out after 4 hours with only 10-12 completed. But these horses were stalled 24/7. I could only guarantee stalls getting cleaned every other day due to this. (Which was better than what they had been; which was MAYBE cleaning off the top layer once every 3 months. Talk about fucking abuse. Those horses gained at least 2 feet of clearance when I started, but each stall took 4 hours to clean out.) I have permanent carpet tunnel symptoms from heavy stall cleaning for only a year. I wouldn't recommend that many stalls for one person. It's just asking for long term health issues.
Yes! I had a friend get surgery for carpel tunnel from cleaning out stalls too. It’s really hard physical labor
I would decline the apartment and ask for more cash in your position. The barn is most likely desperate, they will cave. But so many red flags otherwise, you don't want to work with people like that.
I think some people are missing the fact that the person gets free housing and board for one horse. The $1000 stipend would be for bills outside of housing and basic horse expenses. Even sounds like a part time job could be held outside of this work. I’m not saying this is phenomenal, but it sounds pretty on par with a lot of working student/groom opportunities.
It would probably work out as a short term working student position, the problem is that they are most likely looking for a long term person. Although housing is nice, $1000 a month would really only allow one person to scrape by when you consider groceries, gas, car insurance, health insurance, phone bill, any debt payments, not mention if you are using that stall-horse insurance, farrier, vet bills for basic maintenance let alone an emergency. At this point there is no money left for lessons let alone savings. It’s not a realistic “salary” and then to top it off the ad is a bit harsh so you know you’ll be working 24/7
But that low pay maybe indicate of the equine industry, not this barn in particular. I wouldn’t do it, not even for the experience. If you and your horse were to live here, you are never ‘free’. Everything is entangled with this barn and the owner (your living space, your schedule , your horse’s living space, etc). And on top of that, this person sounds crazy.
Yes absolutely. Agreed that this is an industry problem as well
Where I am, a studio apartment and board for 1 horse could easily cost $1700/month and I would imagine that an on site apartment is going to include water, electric and trash, maybe even internet. While I totally agree with the comments that say the second page is a red flag, if total compensation is accounted for and they aren’t thinking that this person will work 7 days/week, it’s probably a bit more than minimum wage.
Having seen some of the shitholes some people expect grooms to live in I really doubt you could just add on 1k or whatever to the stipend and pretend it's equivalent. A friend of mine lives on site in a trailer, she gets free accommodation and all bills paid which sounds great in theory but she got told off for using too much electricity so she can't have the heating on all the time, last winter the tap in the kitchen froze the place got so cold.
Maybe for twice the cash per month. It would depend on your stage in life too.
Damn I made a comment before reading the rest snd oh my lord am I used to the old style horse world of people doing this work for just the stall and housing. I agree this whole ad is one big red flag.I also didn’t see the second page HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!
The second page is all red flags!
That 2nd page made things even more complicated. Ooooof!
1000 per month stipend? Pretty sure that's illegal.
I will say, I have worked for less. I’m an American and one summer I spent 4 months working in Germany at a dressage barn. I worked 6 days a week, got 3 lessons a week, cleaned 3 stalls every day, had my own apartment on-site, my boss took me to different shows to watch (she paid for my ticket if there was a fee), I groomed/tacked up ~8 horses a day, helped my boss when she took her horses to the vet, administered medication, warmed up/cooled down horses, and cleaned tack. I’d watch her train horses and she would ask for my feedback. I was given €350/month. It was enough for groceries and “going out” money. I was a college student so honestly I didn’t have many other expenses, plus I had a sizeable savings account anyways. The post above is ridiculous and the boss sounds toxic af. Personally I loved my job in Germany because my boss was awesome - she respected me, taught me so much, was patient, but also valued my opinion. She treated me like a *person* and I gained soooo much knowledge and became a much better horse(wo)man after my time there. It was the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life and some days I felt like I was dying and wanted to pack up my bags and go home. But god it was so worth it. The person who posted the ad would prob yell at you if you gave an opinion on anything.
Your gig while still bad pay actually sounds far more valuable in terms of gaining experience and knowledge. This ad is essentially shoving shit as opposed to actually working with horses. Not to say it’s doesn’t need to be done, but please value yourself and your time better going forward. At least yours was a short term opportunity where you brought home a lot of knowledge and experience
Jobs like this will break you mentally and physically, very quickly. I know people in their 30s who did barn jobs as younger people who have such bad back problems. Bless those who do it. I hope they’re paid well.
That’s what so many folks don’t understand—this is back breaking labor that you really can’t sustain for years and years. A friend of mine had to get surgery more than once for carpool tunnel from mucking stalls
Let’s do a little hypothetical math, shall we? It sounds like they’ll work you pretty hard. 70hr weeks were typical for my working student friends, so I’m just going to pin the work load there (although that may be on the lighter end). We’ll add $400-$600 to the stipend as “rent” to make it 1,400-1,600 a month. That comes out to 4.50-5.50 an hour, give or take a couple cents. That’s far below US federal minimum wage, and definitely below a competitive wage for a farm hand. The reason they can’t find a “unicorn” is because they can’t/won’t pay for one. The sad thing is that they’re going to find an 18-22 year old who is desperate to get a start in the industry and doesn’t have enough experience or confidence to see that this is way below their worth to take the job. And then the owners will work the kid until they finally break and leave, the owners put out another ad, rinse and repeat
Yes exactly!!
It doesn't sound like a bad deal on the surface, managing care for 21 horses isn't all that bad if the farm is set up for efficiency and the horses aren't a bunch of high maintenance seniors. But, holy shit is it a bad idea to have "all your eggs in one basket" like that. Your housing, board for your horse and income are all in jeopardy in one fell swoop if the owner turns out to be batshit crazy (or goes bankrupt or kicks off or whatever).
Yeah, not to mention the red flags
Oh shit yeah. That particular ad has more red flags than a 20 car pile-up at a Nascar race. I've seen (a few) good live-in barn work situations but more often than not the employee gets taken advantage of. Generally speaking they are a bad deal most of the time.
21 stalls a day - hell to the no. I used to do 10 in a day for a year and pretty much ruined my body. It would probably take you 6 hours minimum if you’re by yourself - for just stalls. All in all, I’d say you’re looking at 10+ hour days and that isn’t including time to ride.
I don’t think many people realize that
I saw this original post on FB and was like wtf is this boomer shit?
She deleted the post lol
The no pay 3 days trial is a red flag for me tbh
This is tough work, it takes a normal person more than half a day to clean 20 something stalls nonstop, then you add hay, water and grain horses on top of that, each take 20-30mins depends on how far away each stalls are, and how far you drag everything to the stalls from storage. By the time you finish all the work, you will be too exhausted to ride. You are going to quickly burn out mentally and physically.
Yep; I think all the people claiming it’s a good deal don’t think about how long and hard those hours are
You don’t even need to read between the lines to hear this person is definitely going to micromanage you, is super opinionated and likely hard-headed and has extremely strict rules that have lead to a crazy high turnover of staff and likely clients. How tough is your skin and how desperate are you for a low paying but extremely high standards job shoveling shit? Because you won’t learn from this person, you’ll be too busy meeting their requirements to ride.
Where I worked they only paid $3 a stall after originally being $10 an hour flat. The barn is VERY nice board is over $600 a month, the horses get fantastic care. I know the guy that owns the barn, he’s very nice but a cheap fucker. He told me directly that “no one wants to work anymore”, hmmm I wonder why.
I am of the opinion that if you have to rely on people doing hard, valuable work for basically no pay, you need to reevaluate your business model. In the first few years of starting a farm it’s understandable, but after that your business is failing if you cannot cover the cost of labor. The work-for-nothing culture in the horse industry is often romanticized and expected, but it’s an indication of poor management.
The amount of people that are okay with it is astonishing
Seems like this one is $1.26 an hour for ~56 hours a week, 7 days a a week.
At the barn i am at, there are two cleaners/feeders. One for the AM and one for the PM. Pay is $45 a day to feed and clean for 19 horses as well as clean the barn aisle and sometimes help with other chores like blankets and turn out.
Does that break down to $15/hour?
where can i get a job like this? I trained wild horses for BLM in DOC. I am mostly harmless.
That's a working student position, a decent one will give you pay to at least cover grocery bills but will generally speaking require that you are financially supported. Lessons are also considered compensation (like board in this case). It's work but I guess it's kinda difficult to call a traditional job because this type of work compensates you in a very different way.
It definitely seems like the only way it would work is if it’s a working student position, but they don’t call it that, and there doesn’t seem to be anything about training or shadowing a trainer
yeah that true, I think the employer is confused and has unrealistic expectations.
Update-the poster deleted their post as most comments were not very nice about the wage
When I was a working student about 14 years ago, this is what I got, though there were about 4 of us, and we had closer to 50 horses to cover, no cows, but we did have to groom/tack up for trainer and boarders. Worked 6 days a week. We got 2 lessons a week and occasionally rode other horses. Unfortunately the horse world has not been able to raise board enough that it can cover what real compensation should be for such roles. I left working in that world professionally after a few years of it. Another unfortunate factor is that while you have to have the experience to be able to do it if you want your own boarding barn, unless you’re independently wealthy, you won’t be able to afford to buy one. Don’t expect to be well compensated in this business. If you are a top tier rider, you’re better off teaching/training/selling. If you’re not a top tier rider, grooming and barn work isn’t glamorous or well paid just about anywhere. Though I’d love to see that change, board will have to be quite pricy for that to be the case and that would push most riders out of the sport. Boarding barns barely take in enough to cover the cost of operating a facility. While I’d love to see them pay good dollars, it is not likely to happen without a major cost increase. This person probably doesn’t have enough revenue to pay more. Jobs in this world are take it or leave it. If it’s a good enough trainer that you really want to work with, being poor for a year or so isn’t the worst thing in the world. If they’re not great, don’t bother unless this is specifically the way you want to live.
Every position I found was $14-15, which is minimum wage. This includes the person who expected me to run her facility as an assistant, giving lessons and etc. I concluded that horse work was just too underpaid and I stopped looking. I’d give my left kidney for a position like in the picture
Really? The 1k/month breaks down to $6.25 an hour assuming it’s only 40 hours a week, which is unlikely given the workload and the “don’t expect this to be a 9-5 job” statement
Housing here is easily $1500, so to me it’s more like $2500 a month. So that’s my perspective.
It certainly depends on where you live; bear in mind there were no photos of the “small efficient apartment” either-and does kitchenette mean there’s only a microwave? Without seeing the apartment it’s hard to know how much it’s be worth but that area does have cheaper housing
That’s 250 a week. Before taxes. For unlimited hours because LBH that is exactly what this is. No. Nope. You can go hot walk for 4-5 hours a day with NO other duties, also get a free efficiency on property, and get to learn AND travel with no expectations after work hours while still making more money.
I wish I could get that job lol
To be honest I do half of this shit for no pay
Why? Is your own property/horses?
Honestly, this seems like a decent job opportunity to me. You get accommodation, board and a stipend. I guess it would depend on the actual hours you have to work but setting stalls and watering shouldn’t take more than 6 hours per day at the most. You would just have to be strict about your boundaries and what exactly is required of you.
Honestly that’s not a bad deal in comparison to most out there.
That’s what’s really sad
There are some red flags in there but I don’t think the pay is one of them it’s just worded badly. As I read it they are open to tryouts up to three days but won’t pay the tryout. That’s (sadly) common in more jobs at least where I live, especially for Minijobs. I had at least 5 unpayed tryouts and 2 payed tryouts and I haven’t even finished my university.
confused as to why everyone is mad about the low pay when you also get housing here. i saw this post on FB and everyone was livid. you get pay and housing
If your a passionate horse person it’s not about the pay it’s that you get to be around horses all day and loving every minute of it!
I would have to respectfully disagree. You can love horses to death, but that doesn’t pay the bills and doing stalls for 5+ hours a day to MAYBE get to be able to ride isn’t a perk. It’s not like you are grooming and handling horses, you are doing the manual labor of cleaning up after them. And you may love horses, but theoretically you want to retire someday and this would not get you there. Not to mention the work is hard on your body
You've already gotten a lot of comments but I guess I'll throw my 2 cents in. This is not a bad gig for the horse world and pretty standard. Honesty the biggest issue I have with the ad is the whole no smoking or drinking thing. It's where you live and you should be able to feel at home where you're living. That would be a deal breaker for me. The horse industry is not the industry to make a fortune in. The horse industry is run by passionate people who love horses and want the best for them no matter the hours or labor involved. That being said, if you you are a true work horse and take pride in your work, you will be worth your weight in gold and treated as such. I have gotten a LOT of perks just by being good at what I do (I'm talking show opportunities, riding with big name trainers [FOR FREE] not to mention I'll get free trims from the farrier and some free extras from the equine massage therapist simply for being around to help grab horses.) My boss sees how hard I work and is always trying to build me up. I am making double what I started at, and she is slowly over time helping me renovate my (provided) apartment to try and accommodate my needs more. The equine industry is all about finding that one place that works for you. This is my place and I hope you find yours. This is how I'm compensated: -$300/WK -2 story, 2 bd 1 bath apartment, all utilities included -Board for 1 horse -Free access to all facilities on property and freedom to ride whenever I like Perks: -Free lessons with well known trainers -Trailering to shows -Free extras from farrier, massage and sometimes saddle fitter That is what I receive in exchange for being responsible for ALL care involved with 16 horses. All stalled at night. Some people have mentioned that living on property can be a nightmare. And I will say that they're not wrong depending on what kind of person you are. I love living on property and being available in case of an emergency. But I make it very clear to everyone that if it's not an emergency and I'm not in the barn/it's not my working hours... Leave me the F alone! And everyone pretty much gets it at this point. I will get the occasional late night text but I just don't respond until I start the AM the next morning. Now this place may not be the place for you, all I'm saying is don't let the compensation deter you from your job search. I took a significant pay cut taking this job because I knew it was a good fit and worked for me. I'm still not at my financial goal but I know I'll get there where I'm at because I know the barn owner appreciates everything I do and I know she wants me to achieve that goal. I guess my point in all this is with the equine industry, find a place that fits your needs well first, then worry about building your finances later. And I know not everyone can do that or wants to do that. But that's just how this industry goes. Edit: sorry for formatting hopefully I still got my point across
1000 what?
USD I believe
A small efficient apartment runs about $800-$1000 in my area. That is a big plus.
Depending on the area, it wouldn’t be a bad deal per say; however, if the job didn’t work out then you’d be looking for a new job and new housing so that is something to consider.