So where are all the good competition yard grooms hiding then?!

Im a Part time groom, I also have a 5 year old son.

I work 2 1/2 -3 hours during the summer and winter anything from 3-4-4 1/2 hrs.

I start at 9.30 after ive taken my son to school and finish at lunch time. I only live about 8 miles away from the yard and my horse is on a livery yard half way between home and work so easier for me :)

Im very lucky that if i need to bring my son with me I can but he usually stays in the car with a portable dvd player or his DS and his 'work' lunchbox. To be fair I dont take him everyday and my boss doesnt mind but i do always ask first!

I basically do the yard and get horses ready for hunting in winter and working hunter, SJ etc during the summer. I have ridden a few times but my boss did state when I spoke to her on the phone that she doesnt pay people to ride her horses, she just needs the yard running.

I really like my job but could do with more hours...but then who doesnt want more money!! :D

Good luck and I hope you find someone soon
 
If I didnt work full time in a boring officey job and could afford to go part time I would work for you!! Worked for Tim Stockdale for 3 years so plenty of experience and not scared by stallions manly bits haha.

Just wish i could afford to go part time!!

Good luck hope you find someone soon :)
 
Move to Cambridge and I can recommend you someone. She is a student now so free all summer but worked for Andrew Nicholson before I knew her and then Val Gingell.

I'd have thought a uni student would be exactly what you want too. At least 'til you find someone more permanent. Not quite sure how you'd go about finding them mind you. How friendly are you with your horsey neighbours? Maybe one of their grooms could recommend someone for you?
 
I agree, all the PT people prob have kids so don't want to start so early (and are prob more inclined to call in sick when their kids are poorly!)

If you are serious about wanting a Uni student email the riding clubs direct with the job description. Most students won't be looking at horsey jobs for the summer because they are usually longer term, but will apply to a direct advert.

I'm assuming you are near one of the following Uni's but you'll be able to find emails via google if not...

Oxford Uni RC - info@ourc.co.uk
Oxford Brookes RC - sport@brookes.ac.uk
Reading Uni RC - http://www.reading.ac.uk/StUnion/Riding/web/index_java.htm

I used to work one (very long!) day a week to pay for my horses livery when I was at Uni. If it gives you hope I used to do 10 straw boxes in an hour - no rubber mat and horses in 24/7 Tuesday am to Sunday pm with only skipping out...
 
You sound like a great employer. Wish you were nearer. Daughter currently working on a comp yard (not live in). The standards are very high. There are about 22 horses and 2 full time grooms. she is supposed to do 11 hrs a day 6 days a week through the season but it is closer to 14 hours a day and at last count she has worked 12 days without a day off. I don't even want to know what her wages equate to an hour - they are also expected to stay overnight at the yard if the YOs are away at a show. Sadly she has become disillusioned and says she doesn't want to work with horses any more. I think it is not so much the job itself - she loves horses and is not afraid of hard work but the long hours and constant working with little or no time off takes its toll.
 
People are crying out/desperate for good grooms I get a weekly bulletin from an agency just so that I can keep tabs on what's on offer. A lot of jobs seem to get readevertised every few weeks; and that is jobs offering top wages, accommodation, etc etc.
Think it's an employers Market out there!
 
Can I ask where abouts in Oxfordshire you are? I'm a student at Moreton Morrell and am currently home for the summer. Trying to find somewhere local to keep me busy!
 
What area are you, on my phone so can't see. I have spent weeks looking for a position like this and people either want me to do full time with just over a day to myself or don't even want to pay :( I hate job hunting
 
If you find a good groom, let me know! I need someone in Oxon/Bucks and seem to be only attracting morons!!
 
We're on the Oxon/Berks borders, near Wantage.

Nice to hear we're not the only yard having issues finding a groom - there are just so many idiots out there that expect you to bend over backwards for them and what do you get in return..? Nadda :rolleyes:

Phone interviewed someone last night. Girl asked if there would be a lot of riding.. I said 'No, not initially, but there could be for the right person if they prove that they are hard working. Hacking and general exercise'.

Her resposnse: 'Well what do I get out of it then?'

:eek:

Seriously??
 
It doesn't help you much but it is kind of a valid question. ;)

If someone is serious about working with horses, they won't be taking a part time gig, they'll be a WP somewhere or, if they have the experience, working full time, likely with accommodation for themselves and/or a competition horse.

Obviously they get money out of it but if that's the criteria then Sainsbury's would be an easier choice, not least because they would have flexibility with regard to shifts or the option of working limited full days. As a big part of your target group would be women at home with their kids, an early start isn't going to ever work for them. Ditto teenagers without their own transport - they might be able to get dropped off one someone's way to work but how would they get home?

Another problem now is travel costs. Doing a couple of hours every day at roughly minimum wage would barely cover fuel etc. unless the person literally lived down the street. I travel a lot but I also charge accordingly to cover it. ;) When I was doing a part day for someone (not on the yard, only with the horses) they paid me virtually the same as they would have someone else for a full day to make it worth my while.

So the pool of people who can do the logistics of what you want is actually very small. And competent people would likely have their pick, I'm sorry to say, as so many yards are cutting down and want at least some of their people part time. (One yard near me ONLY has part time people now, or limited hour freelancers, so they don't have to pay the cost associated with full time workers. :( )

Don't get me wrong, I feel your pain. But those people we keep hearing about who "want to work" don't live in your neck of the woods and are not likely to be in a position to have a few free hours in their day at exactly the times you need.

Can you be flexible at all? Could someone come in after feeding etc. and do chores to help you out?

Sorry, not trying to rain on the parade but there ARE good people out there, but they are the people who are, in their turn, going to have conditions on what they can do and how much they have to make to do it.
 
TarrSteps said:
It doesn't help you much but it is kind of a valid question. ;)

If someone is serious about working with horses, they won't be taking a part time gig, they'll be a WP somewhere or, if they have the experience, working full time, likely with accommodation for themselves and/or a competition horse.

Obviously they get money out of it but if that's the criteria then Sainsbury's would be an easier choice, not least because they would have flexibility with regard to shifts or the option of working limited full days. As a big part of your target group would be women at home with their kids, an early start isn't going to ever work for them. Ditto teenagers without their own transport - they might be able to get dropped off one someone's way to work but how would they get home?

Another problem now is travel costs. Doing a couple of hours every day at roughly minimum wage would barely cover fuel etc. unless the person literally lived down the street. I travel a lot but I also charge accordingly to cover it. ;) When I was doing a part day for someone (not on the yard, only with the horses) they paid me virtually the same as they would have someone else for a full day to make it worth my while.

So the pool of people who can do the logistics of what you want is actually very small. And competent people would likely have their pick, I'm sorry to say, as so many yards are cutting down and want at least some of their people part time. (One yard near me ONLY has part time people now, or limited hour freelancers, so they don't have to pay the cost associated with full time workers. :( )

Don't get me wrong, I feel your pain. But those people we keep hearing about who "want to work" don't live in your neck of the woods and are not likely to be in a position to have a few free hours in their day at exactly the times you need.

Can you be flexible at all? Could someone come in after feeding etc. and do chores to help you out?

Sorry, not trying to rain on the parade but there ARE good people out there, but they are the people who are, in their turn, going to have conditions on what they can do and how much they have to make to do it.
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No worries - just greatful for other people's input really!

Don't get me wrong - I know that there are good people out there, we have one extremely good full time groom and we used to have another two extremely good people part time. However, their circumstances unfortunately changed (one got pregnant and the other injured her knee skiing!) and so they have left a hole in our workforce :(

Sadly with the hours we can't really be flexible - we need the yard done & dusted by 10am at the very latest - I know that this limits us, but can't really have it any other way.

The point of my post was really that I am just so gobsmacked at how many people there are out there who apply but really have NO clue what working on a competition yard is like. As Worried1 said, they think it's all glamour etc, and when they get to us and find out that even GP horses pooh, they're like 'This isn't what I signed up for!' :rolleyes:

We had SUCH an overwhelming response to the adverts that I put out, but the quality of people replying just doesn't seem great.

And yes, we're happy to pay travel at the normal business mileage rate...
 
I will throw another spanner in the works...

If you NEED the yard doing by that time in the morning, and if I was looking at your job, to be honest, unless I was desperate for the cash, I wouldnt be climbing out of bed at stupid o'clock to have finished work by 10/11?

If it was FT hours - different matter, but by being up so early, this would also limit hours I could work in the local pub, say.
 
i havery worked in the industry for over fifteen years on yards and i am seriously thinking about giving up. i have had more bad employers than good and sadly equine wages do not increase with the cost of living. in my last position i was in charge of several high value comp horses expected to be on call day and night and generally keep whole thing afloat for the same wages some kids earn working in supermarket. and generally employers drop you when it suits them etc. sorry to sound doom and gloom but my experience has generally been poor despite spending lots of time and money training etc. many of the really good 'career' grooms leaving industry for same reasonleaving the kids to it!
 
We're hiding up in Scotland - I know a few that would suit you up here!

Ditto what someone said about people thinking working on comp yards is glamorous - the amount of silly girls I've seen come and go on yards is unbelievable. Starts off alright as they can say they are working with 'so and so' but once they realise they have a head lass / manager to answer to and will hardly spend any time with rider and that they will ACTUALLY (for all the glory travesty it is!) have to muck out... they scamper :D

I've found the best workers I've had are the younger school age (15-17) ones who don't need the money, just really want to be around horses!

Hope you find someone :( think the fact it's so part time and so rigid it not helping.
 
Have you got space on your yard for their horse? Just thinking if its just a morning job, and there is someone who works elsewhere but has a horse, there maybe scope for someone who has there own horse and could so with a couple of extra hours training/help and a bit of cash which is part of the package of working for 3 hours or so a day....?
 
For us we have previously had PT staff happy to work around uni as we are close to Canterbury Christchurch, Greenwich and Hadlow Campuses. They have got their horse fix without having to fork out the cost of their own and most have thoroughly enjoyed training and working.

I am prepared to be shot down for this... I think we have created a generation who think mucking out is beneath them and after learning to ride on Doris who has been in the college riding school since 1982, you can just start working with us, jump straight on an advanced horse and do flying changes for 40 minutes in your daily lesson.

Now I am someone who was the first generation to go to university to do an equine degree but mine incorporated a year in industry where I was fortunate to work for Guy Landau and local well-respected event rider. I thoroughly enjoyed uni but I will admit I learnt the vast majority of tools of our trade working on my placements, not in a lecture room - aside from the theory for A&P and dissection!
 
I have had some great older part timers who started after school starting time I think you will struggle with the early start.
 
Your need for things to be done by 10am will also definitely be holding you back. Is there any way you could have someone come in, say from 9.30-1.30 to do the mucking out etc? A lot of ex-full time grooms with children would then jump at that chance.
 
I dont work in the equestrian industry, but to be honest, the problems you are encountering seem to be universal for employers, and most of my friends who run businesses say all the same thing. Before I start my rant I do need to say I dont have issues with part time employees, children, working parents or spaniels, so nobody please report me to ACAS.

First off, most part-time staff seem to be mums. They will all want to work around school hours, will want first dabs on holidays - usually wanting to book vast swatches of their leave during August, preventing other staff without children taking leave. If their child is sick they dont show up. The good ones will ring up and ask to book holiday, the bad ones just go sick, or just dont turn up. On top of that, they want to be paid massive amounts so that they can pay for child care (they do have my sympathy there though), even more than than the normal rate, and most have no shame in asking for it. Also, most of them seem to be claiming all sorts of tax credits, which are administered through employers payroll - more dam papework for our HR and Accounts department.

Now if they are older part-timers, usually ladies with grown up children who have flown the nest they are lets just say inflexible. No problem with them starting at 9.00 am etc, but they must, absolutely must be gone by 12.30 pm at the latest. Reason - they have a dog at home - its usually a spaniel called Archie (dont laugh, I have lost count of the Archies who have been owned by my part-timers in the past). They have to get home to let it out for a wee, and then to walk it. pllus then prepare husband's tea and have a glass or two of wine. Nine times out of ten they will refuse to work Fridays (in my profession, that can be a busy day), as they have a regular lunch date with a friend, or beauty treatment/hairdressers regularily.

We are very good employers, pay excellent salaries and have great conditions and we look after our staff, will actively recruit people with potential and help them reach their full potential, plus we have a very good career path, and some very nice benefits as well, and we still have problems getting part-time staff. Its usually easier to get full timers who actually want to work and have a career. However, we do have some lovely part-timers currently, who we want to keep. Oddly enough retired men make great employees as they want to work, have a great work ethic and dont have young children or spaniels. What about considering someone like this - I am partially jesting, it would be a nice healthy job for a grandad who was fit enough to work on a yard. They are also unfailingly polite and courteous and really want to do a good job - they are also mostly a lot of fun and the ones we have employed have taught your younger staff a lot of life lessons very well.

I absolutely and utterly do feel your pain though, and wish you luck in finding someone suitable, and I am sure that you will, just dont jump on the first person who you think might be suitable, if the gut feeling goes against it - the gut feeling is usually right, but I suspect you already know that.

In parting, just to show you how dam ridiculous people can be, we offered a Trainee's position to a young lady (18 years old), on a much higher salary than the original one on offer, with all her training for professional exams paid for, to a real bright spark who claimed to be desperate to work for us, she came for 2 interviews and spent half a day with us to see how she got on. I offered her the job today at a much higher rate than originally discussed (£4K per annum) She told me that as she lived in the next village to that particular branch of our business (about 5 miles away and well served by public transport and plenty of free car parking), it was 'too far out for her to get to work'. Oh god, I despair sometimes ........

Good luck with it!!!!!
 
seabsicuit2 said:
A lot of jobs seem to get readevertised every few weeks; and that is jobs offering top wages, accommodation etc there!
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Readvertised most likely due to nightmare employers and poor working conditions. I've left horsey jobs before because of such reasons and then I've seen them readvertised on a continuous cycle.
 
Can I switch the question slightly to OP? What sort of person would you expect to fill the role? I know that as a mum I couldn't do those hours because of the school run, but I daresay a pt job would be quite nice. And if someone could do those hours, might they not want a ft job? I'm actually trying to help, but just trying to think what type of person would do this job so that you can aim for that market. :)
 
SummerxStarsx said:
QR

I'm not a groom, let alone a qualified one but even I wouldn't do any of the above :(

I hope you manage to find someone soon!
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Eh?! So you wouldn't handle fit competition horses and muck out in a quick and precise manner? From what OP says she is advertising it sounds like a regular competition yard to me :confused:

wench said:
I will throw another spanner in the works...

If you NEED the yard doing by that time in the morning, and if I was looking at your job, to be honest, unless I was desperate for the cash, I wouldnt be climbing out of bed at stupid o'clock to have finished work by 10/11?
Click to expand...

When I was at my last competition yard we started at 7.30 and usually had the yard done by 10 - not that early?



OP shame you're up that way as I'm at a loose end and wouldn't mind being back in the yard world again!
 
There is nothing wrong with being a Mum in the Equestrian industry....
(Having 3 daughters has not managed to hinder me TOO much, running a 60 box livery yard or competing on the International circuit,without the help of Grooms or Nannies,Ladies and Gentlemen)
Peronally,I do my best work between 7 and 10am. (Kids go on the BIKE to school)
Shall I send you Char? She can work in the morning,ride her horses til lunch,then someone can put her on the walker til you are back from work!!!
With a bit of luck she might scramble you an egg and make some toast so you can get straight on a horse in the evening...
Oh,no! Bummer,she's only 15 :(
 
louisem said:
There is nothing wrong with being a Mum in the Equestrian industry....
(Having 3 daughters has not managed to hinder me TOO much, running a 60 box livery yard or competing on the International circuit,without the help of Grooms or Nannies,Ladies and Gentlemen)
Peronally,I do my best work between 7 and 10am. (Kids go on the BIKE to school)
Shall I send you Char? She can work in the morning,ride her horses til lunch,then someone can put her on the walker til you are back from work!!!
With a bit of luck she might scramble you an egg and make some toast so you can get straight on a horse in the evening...
Oh,no! Bummer,she's only 15 :(
Click to expand...

I agree there is nothing wrong with mums in the equestrian world, but I couldn't send my 9 year old child on a 10 mile trip down the A34 on a bicycle to school every morning so I could do a pt job. I'm sure there are many others like me, so that's why I was wondering what type of person Ali was looking for. :)
 
''No, not initially, but there could be for the right person if they prove that they are hard working. Hacking and general exercise'.
' that rings alarm bells to me. In the equestrian worls that normally means no, and there never will be!
 
This would be the perfect job for me :-( I would love an early start and finish as I would then be able to concentrate on my own horses etc in the afternoon, I'm lucky in that I don't need to work full time, I'm not fussed about riding employers horses and I have always worked with fit competition horses and my last place was also a stud so seen all the 'bits' etc ;-) it's a shame I'm too far away but were there's one there will be others OP
 
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