Primary School Teacher and Horses.

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NightOwl

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Just wondering if any fellow H+H forum users are primary school teachers and own a horse at the same time? Do you have the time to do both? I'm training to be a primary school teacher and find it difficult while on placement and thats just a share but love the job! I also love horses however.
 
Teachers don't work any longer than anyone else that works ft so perfectly do able. And while I'm not saying they don't have other work to do in holidays, the work they do can often be done at a time that suits from home rather than having to be somewhere at specific times.
 
My friends who are teachers are often the ones who manage to ride at night when the evenings are getting shorter. They often are home before people in other jobs (not always, but quite often). I think its a job that works well with horses...
 
I teach reception/year one children and it works for me. :D.

It means that you have weekends free, the holidays to play out, I ride after work in the lighter months. (march to October) because I don't have an arena on our yard.

You WILL have to be organised though, ESP when on teaching practice and in the first couple of years after qualifying because the paper work will try to take over your life. Make sure you kep a work/life balance.
 
A lot of paperwork as teaching though but I suppose this will settle as I've been teaching longer. I have to produce so much paperwork as a student teacher the only time I get to myself is sleep!
 
It wasn't too bad when I didn't have my own kids too! Now I'm not sure my horse knows who I am! I generally spend my evenings ferrying children around and have to finish my work when they go to bed - so I'm usually still working at midnight. I've been doing it 20 years too!
 
Janette said:
I teach reception/year one children and it works for me. :D.

It means that you have weekends free, the holidays to play out, I ride after work in the lighter months. (march to October) because I don't have an arena on our yard.

You WILL have to be organised though, ESP when on teaching practice and in the first couple of years after qualifying because the paper work will try to take over your life. Make sure you kep a work/life balance.
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Just had a reception practice and loved it! :D I'm very organised. To get the balance I was forced to be. Still feel like i'm drowning in it sometimes though. I just look into the future 2 or 3 years after qualifying when hopefully it'll be easier!
 
hoggedmane said:
It wasn't too bad when I didn't have my own kids too! Now I'm not sure my horse knows who I am! I generally spend my evenings ferrying children around and have to finish my work when they go to bed - so I'm usually still working at midnight. I've been doing it 20 years too!
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The class teacher on my last placement had two children and spent nearly every evening in the week running them around to something - even with OH help! I don't know if I could cope.
 
mmm - judo 3x a week - and they don't do the same sessions. Piano, swimming, cubs etc I also pop to yard to skip out and do feeds but no time to ride. I generally leave work around 5-5.30 but before I had kids would often be there still at 8!
 
I am a college teacher so my marking and exam prep etc workload may be more/less than yours. I find autumn and Spring terms horrid. I'm in early as its the busiest time of year but still have horse to turn out and soak hay. I get to work at 8:10 which is 45min from home so I leave house at 7 and turn out on my way. I finish teaching at 4. Leave work at 4.30 and sort horse on way home usually vetting to yard about 5.15 and by then its dark and mucking out needs doing. The marking as bad at the start of the year I usually do a class a night which for a class of 30 takes about hour and 30min so I need to make sure I'm home for 7pm to ensure time to mark, eat and shower and devote at least half hour to OH. Summer term is Brill (after Easter holidays) as most of my students have gone on study leave so no marking or lesson prep and then its the summer holidays.... so if you can make it through first two horrid terms the last is easy!
 
hoggedmane said:
mmm - judo 3x a week - and they don't do the same sessions. Piano, swimming, cubs etc I also pop to yard to skip out and do feeds but no time to ride. I generally leave work around 5-5.30 but before I had kids would often be there still at 8!
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Hers were like this as well. Kids eh? Thats what time I normally leave on placement but would have stayed longer was I not told to go home by class teacher! I'm happy to take work home and do it in front of the TV home though.
 
shadowboy said:
I am a college teacher so my marking and exam prep etc workload may be more/less than yours. I find autumn and Spring terms horrid. I'm in early as its the busiest time of year but still have horse to turn out and soak hay. I get to work at 8:10 which is 45min from home so I leave house at 7 and turn out on my way. I finish teaching at 4. Leave work at 4.30 and sort horse on way home usually vetting to yard about 5.15 and by then its dark and mucking out needs doing. The marking as bad at the start of the year I usually do a class a night which for a class of 30 takes about hour and 30min so I need to make sure I'm home for 7pm to ensure time to mark, eat and shower and devote at least half hour to OH. Summer term is Brill (after Easter holidays) as most of my students have gone on study leave so no marking or lesson prep and then its the summer holidays.... so if you can make it through first two horrid terms the last is easy!
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wow sounds hectic! I won't know when my busy times are until I'm teaching full time I suppose. How many times do you ride in a week during your busiest terms?
 
I agree it's perfectly possible and even enjoyable before you have children to factor in. But you do need to be organised. I spent a lot of time at after school activities and meetings, before I went part-time. Also remember you can be off site for PPA time (which would give you extra riding time), though I have yet to hear about a head who is happy about that. You do get long holidays, but they are not flexible, so you can only compete at the weekends or evening during term time.

I used to ride before school in the winter and was the last into school - usually by about 8.15am (and I think I often had straw in my hair and the aroma of horse, even though I left mucking out till after school). It did mean that the horse could be kept fit enough to hunt. There was only a couple of weeks I couldn't ride because it was too dark.

Now with children, who I have encouraged to ride, there is no way I could do the job full time - I would be a rubbish teacher. We have 2 horses and 2 ponies and most of the work and riding falls to me in the winter, because the children leave early and get home late. But that is OK, because for primary, the Autumn and Spring terms are quieter. The summer term when reports need writing is a killer for me, but the horses are out full time.

Good luck.
 
Janette said:
You WILL have to be organised though, ESP when on teaching practice and in the first couple of years after qualifying because the paper work will try to take over your life. Make sure you kep a work/life balance.
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I'm a secondary teacher and agree with every word of this. I am lucky in that I only have to go to the yard once a day.

I set of to work at 6.50am as it is. I stay at work until 5.45pm and go straight to the yard. We have an indoor school which helps immensely and the boys are fed at lunch so they don't go too long without food.

I try not to do much work in the evenings beyond my ten hour day but I usually have some marking at the weekend to finish.

Summer is bliss :)
 
I'm a primary teacher- teach Year 6 and love it. IMO teaching and horses are a good mix. As some people have said already, you can get away from school earlier if you're prepared to take marking etc home. At the moment I ride and muck out before work. The holidays are a godsend. Yes, they're not flexible, but how many other jobs give you 13 weeks holiday? If you're organised its perfectly possible to get your planning etc done for the next term in a day or so. Don't listen to those teachers who say that they work all through the holidays!!!

I found that teaching practise was harder than having a FT job, as there was so much paperwork. When you're actually teaching, you find ways of doing things that are far more efficient. Obv your NQT year will be the most difficult but things get much less time- consuming as you get more experienced.

So, yes, perfectly do-able,and I must say,I love my job! Good luck!
 
I am a Graduate Teacher, with my final assessment in a week and a half (wish me luck!). I have been full time in the classroom all year and full time teaching for the last term. At the moment I get up at 4:00 to start the paperwork, get to school at 7:00 leave at 6:00 and work through till 10:00. I see my horses Friday, Sat, Sun.

Please someone tell me it gets easier... I am tired and miss my horses.
 
Two primary school teachers and one high school teacher on our yard. All manage just as well as anyone else with full time job in fact its a bit easier for them in school hols cos they have a bit more flexibility.
 
My Yo is a primary school teacher, although I remember his first year teaching well, lost his voice quite alot and was frequently found in the kitchen under piles of books. Apparently it does get easier as you find that all the lesson plans etc can be revamped instead of completing from scratch after a while, and you do get more organised, and as your confidence grows everything works much more smoothly. He has two horses, competes regularly, both are under five home bred and he broke them in, and he finds time to keep us lot in check. You can still find him occasionally sifting through end of term reports and sticking costumes for the Christmas production together during the holidays though:D
 
Having kids with lots of after school activities would affect your time with your horses whatever job you were in, wouldn't it, not just teachers...
 
I'm a secondary school teacher. As others have said, your NQT year is manic, but every subsequent year is easier. I've been teaching forever but have mine on full livery as I have extra-curricular 4 nights a week and then with parents' evenings / open evenings / meetings... I can't set up the routine that my mare thrives on.

It does get easier, trust me! :) And the holidays are just excellent!
 
I found that my kids took more time than the horse does. Luckily, I didn't have them at the same time or else I would never have seen the horse... :(
 
Kiristamm said:
I am a Graduate Teacher, with my final assessment in a week and a half (wish me luck!). I have been full time in the classroom all year and full time teaching for the last term. At the moment I get up at 4:00 to start the paperwork, get to school at 7:00 leave at 6:00 and work through till 10:00. I see my horses Friday, Sat, Sun.

Please someone tell me it gets easier... I am tired and miss my horses.
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Yes it does get lots easier! I am the mentor for Graduate teachers at our school and the amount of paperwork is unbelievable.This year's Graduate is part of the OFSTED sample, as the GT Programme are being inspected, so she's feeling the pressure. Good luck with your final assessment,you'll be fine :)
 
I just did a great long post - and it disappeared!

Basically I said that I seem to manage fine, although H is on working livery which works very well for me. It is possible to jiggle things to give you time when you need it, especially once you get your NQT year under your belt. I promise, it does get better!!

Good luck with it all!
 
Term time in autumn and spring term I would ride Wednesday and then weekends, now its summer term most days! :) if I lived closer to work I could cut out being stuck in a car 1.5 hour aday!
 
It does get easier!!! As many have said. When I was on a livery yard I paid to have horse turned out so I went up after work. Can't really teach stinking of horse!!! I tend to go straight to yard from work then do marking, planning etc when I get home. I find the horse is a good way to unwind after a stressful day!!! I get the odd day when I sneak out at 3.30 but am usually at the yard by 5.30.
The worst time is summer term - you want to be out riding but have reports to write!

Once I became a manager however I struggled a bit with the horse and had to get a sharer. I just had a baby and am going back part time in September. Couldn't be a mum and do the same job.
 
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