Question for all Grooms

[EmmasMummy]

that is terrible poor you! I remember a yard job I had years ago and got £3.00 an hour and thought that was bad I was positively rich compared to you.

I was only 14..........didn't know any better, they put me down as being an agricultural apprentice. TBH I was just happy to be riding some really nice warmbloods! Even if they were 17.3hh 3yr olds...

 

[Mooseontheloose]

Having horses is a lifestyle choice. Why should workers be expected to subsidise their cost by working at less than the min wage, often in harsh conditions, and without time to have a reasonable break?
I've worked in the horseworld all my life, (now beyond retirement age but can't afford to!) from unpaid saturday girl to reasonably paid professional. If you can't afford to provide proper pay and working conditions Have Fewer Horses FFS. Ten to do properly takes all day, and there'll always be unseen circs that make it impossible to do in that time.

 

[SecretAgentBilly]

Unless you're 16, that's well under NMW!!

Oh I know, I'm 18 so it's not as far under as it would be if I was older but still pretty rubbish. But to begin with I wasn't working as many hours as I had help. Now they have increased and I'm expected to do increasingly more for very little money. So I've handed my notice in as I also need the time to concentrate on my a levels (I'm in my last year) and I just can't stand it anymore!

 

[zaminda]

Its sad because there are well paid jobs out there. I always find the ones who moan about staff are usually the worst, the person a friends daughter did her last apprenticeship with was a complete nightmare, and she is a regular in H&H, which always makes me chuckle when I read what she has to say!

 

[TTK]

When I was a professional groom back when all stables were run by ex-cavalry men &. The like, each groom had a maximum of 5 horses (not turned out - city horses). Their care & their tack plus yard duties were considered to be a full time job. But a lot of time was spent on the horses' welfare, grooming, strapping, etc.

What's with looking after so many horses, I think the owners are compromising on their welfare - and that is not the groom's fault.

 

[Merrymoles]

I think one of the problems with being solo is that you really can't do more than one job at once and that makes you a lot slower.

I worked at a stud farm and we had up to 28 horses at a time to be done by two of us, plus the stud groom who oversaw, and we were always done by lunchtime. However, it was set up to be efficient. The broodmares were never rugged so we just turned them out in the morning while we had a routine with the youngstock where we tacked one up and then the stud groom took it for exercise while we both sorted the box, hay etc. When it came back, one washed down while the other tacked up the next to go, that went and its box was done and so on and so on. They were straw boxes (and the foaling boxes were enormous!) but we mucked out on to a tractor trailer so no trips to the muckheap until the end (and I learned how to reverse a tractor and trailer into a narrow barn). If the youngsters were a while being exercised, we'd do the broodmare boxes in between. Hay went into hayracks so no haynets - we would literally split a bale and chuck it up, and every horse had a bale of straw a day, whether needed or not.

What I am saying is that working alone would have been so much harder and more time-consuming and I feel for you. My morning routine for two is down to a fine art but it can still take up to an hour to sort both (long walk to field and one of them is a swamp monster with his bed) and I rarely do rug changes and never boots etc.

 

[Goldenstar]

When I was a professional groom back when all stables were run by ex-cavalry men &. The like, each groom had a maximum of 5 horses (not turned out - city horses). Their care & their tack plus yard duties were considered to be a full time job. But a lot of time was spent on the horses' welfare, grooming, strapping, etc.

What's with looking after so many horses, I think the owners are compromising on their welfare - and that is not the groom's fault.

I agree when I started out we did three horses four once we had been knocked into shape ( trained a bit ) .
The horses where done well very well the place was immaculate horses not posh where hacked and did some training most days the concept of the duvet day ( excuse for leaving a horse in a stable all day ) did not exist .
I am glad my first training was like that it's stood me in good stead all my horsy life
As for what's with it economics and a lack of respect for what a good groom does .

 

[TTK]

I agree when I started out we did three horses four once we had been knocked into shape ( trained a bit ) .
The horses where done well very well the place was immaculate horses not posh where hacked and did some training most days the concept of the duvet day ( excuse for leaving a horse in a stable all day ) did not exist .
I am glad my first training was like that it's stood me in good stead all my horsy life
As for what's with it economics and a lack of respect for what a good groom does .

agreed