how much does a good groom earn?

[martinka]

Can anyone shed some light on how a groom gets paid please?
i.e. if an advert say £250 per week plus accommodation, does it mean the £250 is what you get as net earnings (after tax etc)? And if an accommodation is provided, say a flat, is it all paid for or are you responsible for a council tax, any bills etc?

 

[SNORKEY]

Hi, I was paid £500 a month with free accommodation, which was horrid, and I was allowed to keep both my horses there as well, including feed.
When I left I looked back into working with horses and I must of done quite well where I was, as all the others where offering about £100 a week with no horse and some had accommodation.
I think the very top grooms for eventers etc are only on about £10-12k with accommodation.
Working with horses just doesn't pay, hence why im now a mortgage advisor!

 

[competitiondiva]

£250 a week OMG as head groom (a few years ago now!!) I was on £120 per week with accomodation (not nice accomodation!) and keep for my horse there. That wage would be gross, plus I had to pay heating, electric, telephone line and bills. I ended up with no free money so now keep horses as a hobby!!!

Even if you have to pay all the above £250 is still a good wage for a groom from my experience!!!

 

[xxmariexx]

best groom job i had was when i was 17, 120 per week plus a nice mobile home accom(no bills) one of my horse free and the other free stuff but not livery, earned extra money doing the diy's horses if they needed help and had no car so no outgoings, that 120 was mine to spend! now i get on average 900 a month after tax ect but with no accom and no free horse, but working at a bourding school's yard so have the advantage of set hours (29) !!

 

[MrsMozart]

Back in my day (okay, we're going back a few years... about thirty to be exact-ish), I worked seven a.m. 'till seven p.m. six days a week and got paid £20 a week plus cooked two course lunches every day. I lived at home (needless to say!).

At the time, a pint of lemonade in the pub was 15p.

Ah, the good ol' days

 

[Simsar]

I must have found the best job then(after having some really crap ones). I'm on £850 per month, 5 1/2 days a week, with a lovely 2 bedroom oak beamed cottage, all bills paid, holiday pay and my boss is really flexible about days of for shows etc, and keep two horses here for nothing. She really does bend over backwards for me too even offering to pay the lorry diesel to show for me sometimes. They are out there they just take years to find!!!!

Forgot to say only 4 RETIRED horses to do!!

 

[punk]

JAMMY!!!

Although I do think that some people are there that appreciate their grooms!!

Few and far betweeen though IMO!!

I don't have a groom as such, as can't afford to, but I do have a WONDERFUL girl who works part time, and I pay her £9 per hour, plus she keeps a pony here for free. However, she is responsible, experienced, pleasant, helpful and can drive the lorry! She also lives in a very nice cottage of ours on site, (which she pays rent for), and has several other jobs.

All in all we are both very happy, and think we are very lucky.

Hasn't always been this way though - have had some very bad experiences over 25 years!!!!!!!

 

[Paint it Lucky]

Martine that sounds like a fairly good offer, as long as the accomodation is nice (beware of mouldy old caravans) then you will still have a reasonable amount of money left.

In my experience horsey bosses often find ways to get out of paying tax so be carefull of this. Also how many days a week is it and how many horses are you responsible for and how many hours in a day? Horse jobs can get quite tiring especially if it's sole charge of a number of horses and you're expected to work long hours 6 days a week. maybe post some more info? And definately go have a look round and meet the people before you commit, you can get a good idea of what they really want from you then and also go with gut instinct, I have had a couple of awfull groom jobs which if I'm honest I had a bad feeling about from the start but still went along with. If they only give you vague answers to your questions then be very wary, they probably have something to hide. Also make sure you see te accomodation and check what facilities it has, I have lived in places before with no heating and no water (the pipe supplying it broke and YO couldn't be bothered to fix it, after a few weeks of having to go onto the yard just to get a drink, having to go to the gym just to have a shower and not being able to flush the toilet! - I had enough and left). So please be carefull.

Saying that there are also some great jobs out there so hopefully yours is one of them!

 

[CobGal]

I am still registered with Career Grooms from when I was job hunting last year.

I get daily emails of their current vacancies and some of the wages shocks me - My first horsey job was 7-6, 6 days a week for £40 a week with a fortnightly lesson.

To see grooms vacancies now at £20k + is great!

 

[Happy Horse]

My best job was from 1995-2001. I worked 5.5 days a week from 8-4.30pm had a free very nice cottage and my horse kept all in free of charge. I got £110 per week after tax. Looking back I was actually very well off!