Fleelance grooms - do you use one / are you one?

littlemisslauren

littlemisslauren

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Hi everyone, I dont post in here very often :)

I am currently working as a casual groom at a lovely college yard, but really need extra income, I am hoping to become part time at my yard but will still have extra days to fill and I am one of the odd people who loves being a groom!

I am thinking of putting ads up in tack shops etc as a freelance groom. I have worked as a show/ travelling/ stud groom before and I am currently in a position where I am responsible for the running of a yard for 18 horses. I can plait, but not the best at it, show prep anything, obvious stable duties, ride competantly on the flat and hacking - but I do not jump (wimp). I am confident lunging, long reining etc anything. I know the basics of Parelli (dont jump on me! I do not practice it myself!!) I have a good knowledge of health and injury management and should come with some dazzling references. I am not remotely qualified (Possibly will have a rubbish degree in Equine Sport Science in a couple of months but no BHS etc) My job was advertised as stage 2 or equivalent and they deemed me to be experienced enough to cope.

Would you hire me?? I have my own transport etc and will take out my own insurance.

Would you be put off by someone with no BHS quals?

How much do you pay/ get paid for freelance grooming? I'm not looking to ern much, just some extra cash to go in the pot.
 
I employ a freelance groom for 3 hours a day, weekdays for general yard duties and riding which is mainly hacking and I pay 8 pounds per hour. I find that people like me who have f/t jobs and horses at home often need a helping hand but don't have enough work for a f/t groom, so I think something like this could be ideal for you. My grooms have always developed a little 'community' of clients in the area and do 2-3 hours at one place, 2-3 hours at another, etc. combined with house-sitting when people are away.
 
£8 an hour! Can I come work for you?!
My current job is not very well paid but its a brilliant place to have on my CV so I want to stick it out, thats why I have decided going freelance for a while rather than searching for a full time position.

I have done some scouting about at yards but they are generally full of teenage girls who can afford to do it for next to nothing so I think people who have horses at home will be my best bet.

Thanks for your help :)
 
I used to be a freelance groom but decided I needed a 'proper job' (boo - its rubbish esp on a day like today, but does pay the mortgage....)

I had a p/t job at a competition yard in the mornings and would do other small jobs here and there. I charged £10 per hour for riding and £5 for other duties and this was 8 or 9 years ago. They were all very local - within a 2 - 3 mile radius and none were for one hour only.

My friend is now freelance and charges £15 for first hour and £10 for each hour after that to help travel costs.

She has a regular weekday customer similar to Booboos and others that she does 2 - 3 times a week and also has a lot of holiday/weekends away cover for people. She used to be of the 'get on anything/jump anything' sort but following being seriously mislead by a couple of clients and having a couple of falls and an incident on the ground with a horse, she is now rather more choosy about her clients - she can afford to be ebing high in demand.

I am qualified BHS but she isn't and it doesn't seem to stop her. Fair anough it shows you can pass an exam but unless you are getting up to the higher levels you could be one of the people who don't work with horses, don;t own their own horses and just do the college course and pass the exams on the college horses and may have much less 'real life' experience of the responsibility of having and caring for horses.

It sounds like what you do should be recommendation enough esp if you come with good refs!
 
As constructive criticism I would say stop being negative about yourself! If you're going to go freelancing you are going to have to sell yourself a bit better. There's a difference between being cocky and honest. College's have so many choices of people wanting to work for them (I know i used to work at one) and they chose you... and leave u in charge of 18 horses, that's no mean feat!

I think u are definitely employable but sell sell sell yourself cos other people with absolutely no idea of what they're doing will big themselves up and so should u!!! It's dog-eat-dog out there! Good luck and go for it!!!
 
Thank you! I am the kind of girl who needs a kick up the bum sometimes and do find it hard to big myself up. Think I will get my OH to write the add and I will proof read it!
 
littlemisslauren said:
£8 an hour! Can I come work for you?!
Click to expand...

:D Sure!!

Seriously though, my groom needs to pay for petrol to get to me, so that adds up and as this is not a full time job I would expect to pay more per hour. On the other hand, it is regular (she has been working for me for 4 years) and I have had to pay more for a 'one off' service.
 
I'm on DIY livery and wouldn't normally need a freelance groom as I like doing my own horse and my friends will help out when I go on holiday.

The time when i would pay a decent amount for a freelance groom is to have an experienced person who is willing to supervise my horse for vet and farrier visits. In my job there is no way that you can take a day off for the vets so if i need a vet I have real trouble asking people to do favours for me as everyone else works as well.

If I saw an ad in the tack shop for someone that was willing to do farriers appts etc I'd snap it up. I know its not as good as regular money but once you got known on a few big yards I think you'd be very in demand.
 
I'm really lucky to have a BHS qualified groom nearby who is quite happy to work on an occasional basis as and when. I really only need someone when I'm on holiday or for the odd weekend away. She is reliable and my horses like her and I'd happily pay her £8 to £10 an hour. She hasn't ever charged me anything! She does horses along the road from me who are stabled and as mine are out insists she can check them on her way to and from her other client.
As she won't charge me, I usually try to work out roughly what the bill ought to come to and get her a gift token for our local tack shop.
 
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