Primary School Teacher and Horses.

I'm a full time infant school teacher and have 4 children, 2 dogs and a very lovely Friesian and I manage pretty well. I leave work at about 4 but take work home on a night for when the kids are in bed. Weekends and school holidays are fab. I think during your may year you can have a pretty full plate but it does calm down.
 
I'm secondary, but thought I'd reply anyway. PGCE and NQT year I had to have full livery - couldn't have managed otherwise over winter. After that, it got much easier.

Now on DIY - I go down twice a day and ride 5 days a week after school. If I'm stuck for time I'll lunge one of those days, but I make sure now I've always left school in time to be at the yard for 5pm, or 6 if there's a meeting after school which is roughly once a fortnight. I haven't done a winter yet on DIY though and know there's no way I'll be able to ride much - no lights at my yard, plus workload will increase as at the moment I use my Year 11 time to get more work done during the day.

Will be looking for a sharer with flexible working hours/part time towards the end of the summer to help me keep the little ginger one keep ticking over throughout winter.

Bottom line... It's doable, but you need to be organised and good with your time. I wasn't at all and soon learned I needed to be - in the last few years I've virtually undergone a personality transplant! Help - livery, loaner, sharer, willing OH - is also always useful.
 
I'm a member of SLT in an infants & nursery school. We often have meetings on 2 or more evenings after school. As others have said the paperwork load is horrendous in the early years of study/your career. Later on if you are well-organised and prepared to take work home and do it late at night, you can have the evenings to do things with your horses and you will be able to organise your work around the horses in the holidays.
Ours are at home now but we did keep 4 on DIY livery for many years. It does help if you've got family members who are also involved.
 
I am ks1 teacher and manage my horse fine! My 16 year old daughter has one too. I manage to ride 5-6 times a week and always leave early on a Friday. The other nights vary between leaving at 4.45 -6pm. In the winter ( when at local yard), I would get down for 5.30 to turn out and muck out and then school in the eve. However I have now moved to yard 10 miles away so will pay to have them turned out. It helps that my husband works away during the week so I don't have to worry about him. I always have 1 1/2 - 2 hours paperwork and preparation every evening and always spend Sun afternoon and eve planning for following week. The holidays are what keep me going and I really make the most of riding then!
 
Not really the place but I wanted to say that as of 12:35 today I have passed my final assessment!! :D Outstanding Obs and outstanding files!

I am ridiculously happy :D
 
I'm an assistant head in a primary school and my horse and dog are my salvation. I do my best planning in the morning whilst mucking out or walking the dog. Then I can forget about the cares of the day with a long hack or schooling session in the evening.
It's the work/life balance everyone harps on about. If you spend more time planning a lesson than you do teaching it then you're doing something wrong. Enjoy your work and enjoy your leisure. I also enjoy taking my pupils to the Norfolk show every year. I haven't quite convinced the Head to let me take them to Olympia yet, but I'm working on it!xx
 
Thanks for all the info/advice those guys! Its nice to see that people manage to juggle the paperwork and having horses! I couldn't imagine giving up either to be honest!
 
Kiristamm said:
Not really the place but I wanted to say that as of 12:35 today I have passed my final assessment!! :D Outstanding Obs and outstanding files!

I am ridiculously happy :D
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Well done you - you must be vastly superior to the student I had this year :eek:

Have you got a job yet? The first term will be the hardest - planning, marking, dark nights, Christmas - but just round the corner is Spring :)
 
I work at a primary school and have 3 horses all on DIY. I only stop at school late if I have meetings. I usually bring my planning, marking etc home and do this later in the evening when I have sorted the horses out. I find the biggest problem is arranging the farrier and vet because I am not allowed anytime off during term time.
 
It may be difficult when training ad it is with any career but I think once qualified s horse would fit in easily with a teaching carer.

Decent working hours and plenty of time off!
 
MrSpam said:
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.
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I'm a primary school head and am happy for teachers to be off site for PPA time! I say I don't mind what they use the time for as long as the work gets done :-))
Wonder how teachers would feel if I rode one morning a week tho. Am considering asking them before the winter comes!
 
I'm a primary school teacher with a horse on DIY and I agree with what others have said in that it does get easier the longer you do it. I still find it quite a juggling act, but it's do-able. I tend to leave work around 5.30/6pm and ride, get home around 8.30pm and then work until about 11pm.

I have days when I wonder why I do it, but they're few and far between. The way I look at it, teaching is a job that you could do 24/7 and still never do enough; having a horse makes me draw a line under my working time and is also a great way to switch off and forget about work.

I wouldn't have my life any other way :)
 
I have just moved yards and now DIY - there's a group of us though that share turnout and bringing in. I do after school and wkend evenings.
In the holidays I'll be able to do more and hopefully ride for longer once my friesian is sound.
I admit to buying plans off plan bee and hamilton and sharing other planning at school which gives me more time. Also - try not to spend too long in staff room and keep pupil records up to date - this will make reports easier.
Some of the problems I have had to think about carefully are parents evenings, residential trips and productions.
Generally you can tell the state of my mind by looking at my desk - at the moment the only space is where I put my coffee!

Top tip - do what you can for others when you can.
 
MrSpam said:
Well done you - you must be vastly superior to the student I had this year :eek:

Have you got a job yet? The first term will be the hardest - planning, marking, dark nights, Christmas - but just round the corner is Spring :)
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whooooo well done :D
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Yes I have a job at my school, I held out for a space to come up. It was a bit of a gamble, but I am pleased I waited. I am in Year 2 (trained in Yr 4 so a bit of a jump!)
 
abi31 said:
I'm an assistant head in a primary school and my horse and dog are my salvation. I do my best planning in the morning whilst mucking out or walking the dog. Then I can forget about the cares of the day with a long hack or schooling session in the evening.
It's the work/life balance everyone harps on about. If you spend more time planning a lesson than you do teaching it then you're doing something wrong. Enjoy your work and enjoy your leisure. I also enjoy taking my pupils to the Norfolk show every year. I haven't quite convinced the Head to let me take them to Olympia yet, but I'm working on it!xx
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This sounds wonderful. I get my best inspirations while doing something ore run/relaxing as well such as hacking. :D
 
TallulahBright said:
I'm a primary school head and am happy for teachers to be off site for PPA time! I say I don't mind what they use the time for as long as the work gets done :-))
Wonder how teachers would feel if I rode one morning a week tho. Am considering asking them before the winter comes!
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You sound like a nice head!
 
I'm at the end of a 3 year teaching degree and start my NQT year at a lovely school in September. For the first year at home my horse was on DIY and for the first term it was ok, but after that I struggled. To keep me sane and to keep her in a proper routine with turn out at the same time and more structured ridden work I decided to put her on full loan to a local equine college. This has worked perfectly for me as I really wanted/needed(!) to concentrate on my studies and it means that I haven't felt guilty for not spending the time with my horse.
I am planning to keep her there over my NQT year as I've heard that really is the most stressful and time consuming (if y3 wasn't bad enought!) and have a her back after that
 
NightOwl said:
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.
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Sorry to scoff at this as I can see you are genuinely concerned but you should try having a full time job - just 25 days holiday a year, young children and two equines! Best of luck with your chosen career! I know some on here to even longer shifts than I do ....

Can't paperwork be done in the evenings after horses?
 
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