Anyone a groom/work on a yard?

[littlen]

I have seen a full livery yard assistant/groom and I was debating applying. I am worried though that I will hate it and also will be so sick of mucking out and seeing horses that I wont want to go and see my own

Also I have no idea if i would get the job as my background is in admin! (although i did yard work when I was about....15!!)

Bit of background, I lost my full time job last year. I have been working 12hours per week and am struggling to cope with so few hours. I also hate my job. I am however enrolled into university to start in september 2010 and I need a stop gap job!

 

[dingle12]

I am

and to be honest its turned into a job for me when i say that i mean i used to love going to see the horse but now i count down to my days off so i dont see them

i love going off competing so i stick at it

could you move your horse to the yard where the job is? is it just a livery yard?

 

[Lucy_Nottingham]

I work at a yard riding the YO's horses and some livery horses when they cant get down.
Its not every day, its about 50% of the week, and I love it!

I am at uni, so its a lovely break. However I dont have my own horse so I cant assess how it makes you feel about seeing your own horse.
although if I had the horse I ride at home up here with me....... and did this job, Id enjoy doing the work but then look forward to just playing on mine and enjoying spending time with him..........

But I might just be a big hrose obsesssed sop!

 

[TicTac]

I am in the same situation as you. I recently lost my 30 hour a week job as a Finance Assistant. However since then I have a 2 hour a day job as a personal groom. 5 hours book keeping on a tuesday and have been offered 12 hours a week working at a riding school ( over 3 day) I love my new working life. No I don't get fed up of my own horses and would rather do this than be stuck in an office again with a load of back stabbing, greedy people!

My advice would be to give it a go. The pay is not very good and it is hard work but you can always look around for something else while you are earning. Good luck

 

[Rana]

I used to work with horses, spent 10 years as a competition groom. I then decided to settle down and get married, mortgage etc, so went into admin work. Last year, I had had enough of office work, and we were financially secure, so I went back to working with horses. I lasted 3 weeks - had my rose tinted spectacles on!

Be prepared for HARD work and being treated like the lowest of the low. I'm not saying all employers are like this, and if you find a good one, you'll love it. But many aren't - they pay peanuts and expect 25 hours work in a 24 hour day.

Personally I did find that I ended up hating looking after my own horses because I was sick of looking after other peoples. I've had my horse on separate yards, and on the same yard I worked on - neither really worked better or worse, less travelling if you keep your horse where you work though. Outside of work, I didn't want to do anything horsey, I just wanted a break.

I'm much happier doing office work and having my horse on DIY. I help with other peoples occasionally (holiday cover etc) in return for favours or rides.

Anyway, don't want to put you off, but thought it worth sharing my experiences as it's not always as rosy as it appears to be

Good luck, whatever you decide x

 

[Paint it Lucky]

I am a groom and also have two horses of my own, at different yards, one is at the yard I work at and the other is at a diy yard 15 minutes away. It makes for a very long and tiring day! I'm up at 5.40am and don't get home until at least 6.30pm most days. I get the grand total of half an hours lunch break as my only proper rest in the day and work 5 and a half days a week. On my one and a half days off I spend a lot of time sleeping!

My job is tiring and hard, there are two grooms to look after 23 full liveries who have to be immaculate, as does the yard so it is pretty non stop. I do sometimes get a bit annoyed at the yard owners who swan in to ride in the mornings then swan off to do their own thing in the afternoon, leaving us a mountain of tack to clean and sweaty horses to brush off. But I could never get sick of the site of horses, and I actually quite enjoy mucking out (bizarrely). I think if you think you may get sick of mucking out then you probably will! But if it's only for a year it may not be that bad, and you can always leave if you can't stand it! But as others have said wages do tend to be low and you can be treated quite badly.

As for my own horses, keeping one at my work is not ideal as everything is always so busy I feel I rarely get to spend much quality time with him, though it is nice to have him around all day. But if you get a job with proper lunch breaks (an hour and a half), this is better as then there is time to ride and groom etc without feeling rushed, and even have a few minutes spare to sit down and eat your own lunch!. I like having my other horse at the DIY yard as atleast when I see him I can do things in my own time and not feel hurried by other people, though I do miss seeing him during the day!