What do they teach them at collage.

Charem I'm not saying all students are lazy and useless. Sorry if I offended you :o We have actualy had a couple of girls who went to college who were very good workers. :) It just seems we are having a run of bad ones at the mo :(

blazingsaddles an hour per stable :eek: We have atleast 6 each to do every morning in under 2 1/2 hours ;) In that time we also have to turn out and sweep the yard, and we turn the banks everyday.
 
I went to Writtle college and we were allowed 2 hours to muck out 3 stables. They were shavings (which always take me slightly longer then straw because I get so fussy with them :o) we also had to muck out with the Horses tied in the stable. We had the same Horses every week. 2 of mine would stand like a rock, which made mucking out very easy as they stood were I positioned them. The other however, took longer as he would not stop fidgeting! I always finished within the 2 hours though.
 
LauraWheeler said:
We are looking for a new member of staff at the yard I work at and we've had a couple of people come for a trial day who have been to a nearby equine collage. But they can't muck out :eek: I have to go round and redo the stables :eek: They struggle to put rugs on. Heck they can't even hold a broom properly :rolleyes:
I never went to collage and lurnt on the job and judging by the examples of students i'm seeing I'm glad I did my training on the job ;)
Don't get me wrong they are lovely girls who have been coming up and i'm shore they could do the job (It's only mucking out and sweeping) But I don't have time to teach them. I show them how to do one stable but they just don't get it.
But it's left me wondering. What do they actualy teach you at collage?
Or maybe it's just the one near us ;)
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to spell for a start :rolleyes:
think this has subject been done to death.
 
amy_b said:
to spell for a start :rolleyes:
think this has subject been done to death.
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Clearly they don't teach manners though eh? Assuming you are a graduate from an equine college of course and that is why you are being huffy.

2 hours to muck out 3 stables is, umm, a bit unrealistic on a working yard isn't it? I think there were days I did 3 stables in 20 minutes. :eek:
 
I for one don't assume college students are lazy as a group, but ime they are given too much time to do stuff at college. Which makes it difficult on a yard when you expect 3x more done in the same time.
 
It's a running joke round here!

Cutting out and sticking pictures together to make a new picture???! :D

On a serious note, the degree students have very little to do with actual 'yard work' but have excellent knowledge of their specific subject, well the theory of it, they may not even have a need to know how to ride!

Those on NVQ type courses from what I have experiened first hand have been pretty shocking, I wouldn't employ someone that had just been to an equine college, although someone that had done an NVQ though an apprenticeship would be a totally different matter! I've seen students improve ten fold though on job learning!

Plus, have you ever tried to drive round the country lanes surrounding the equine college at about 5pm, bloody nightmare! The number of close shaves from teenagers on the wrong bloody side of the road it's a wonder no one is killed!
 
jesstickle said:
Clearly they don't teach manners though eh? Assuming you are a graduate from an equine college of course and that is why you are being huffy.

2 hours to muck out 3 stables is, umm, a bit unrealistic on a working yard isn't it? I think there were days I did 3 stables in 20 minutes. :eek:
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Well, I expect my groom to feed, turn out and muck out 11 horses in 4 hours and I thought that generous time allowance... maybe I am a slave driver after all :confused:
 
I regularly did my two in about 15 minutes including water, bedding down, hay and sticking a feed in when they were on livery. I'm amazed at 2 hours for 3 beds, that is just not feasible on a "real" yard.
 
martlin said:
Well, I expect my groom to feed, turn out and muck out 11 horses in 4 hours and I thought that generous time allowance... maybe I am a slave driver after all :confused:
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Sounds ok to me. Are you hiring? ;) I am sick of being locked indoors at the moment and am quickly reaching that conclusion horses are a lot less stressful when they belong to someone else. When they are your own they are just a huge millstone round the neck!! :D
 
jesstickle said:
Clearly they don't teach manners though eh? Assuming you are a graduate from an equine college of course and that is why you are being huffy.

2 hours to muck out 3 stables is, umm, a bit unrealistic on a working yard isn't it? I think there were days I did 3 stables in 20 minutes. :eek:
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Yes very unrealistic, if you want to go work on a busy yard.

Pretty much everyone was finished within the hour and started on the haynets. However I sometimes took longer, because I had a very messy Horse, that did not stand still and had to work around him, if he was being ridden in the mornings, I would rush to his stable to muck out whilst he was out. I was one of the first finished then :p.
 
I went to one of the colleges that has been mentioned. I'm glad to report I was one of the better ones! I was often asked to 'help others' that found mucking out difficult - it must have been their nails! ;)
I went on to be head girl at an event yard, have taught many a child to 'muck out' during RS stable management lessons and even some of my 'pupils' are now head girls too!!
But, I knew an awful lot before I even started, unlike some who had hardly ever touched a horse and complained when a horse did a poo and it was smelly!

As for time it takes to muck out, I'm still recovering from my mornings work... 14 stables, including 4 mares and foals full muck outs, ... just under 3 hours. I don't have a choice to be slow, I have to do it and quite rightly my boss expects it to be done.
 
Trust me, we were not given an hour per stable, think between 6 of us it was a max of two hours to do morning yard. We had a yard of 40ish, say roughly 12 out rest in. All fed, hayed, mucked out, rugs changed, horses brought in/put out and yard tidied before lectures at 9.30. The quicker we got it done the longer we had for breakfast before lectures. If we had BHS exams on we would start earlier to get horses plaited too. If there was a comp on two people would have to go up and help around 8.30.

I don't know how the other colleges worked but at mine we didn't have a lot of time for sitting around twidling our thumbs!
 
Yup, when I was looking for a sharer had 2 girls from our local equine college come to view him and gave both of them a weeks trial.

They were REALLY novicey riders (think couldn't even canter, awful basic position) and as far as stable management went.....they honestly didn't have a clue :eek: His stable was still filthy even after being mucked out, rugs and tack went on wrong, were nervous and pussyfooted around him on the ground, struggled to put headcollar on etc.

I was genuinely surprised as thought coming from an equine college they'd know their stuff. But no!
 
LaurenBay said:
I went to Writtle college and we were allowed 2 hours to muck out 3 stables. They were shavings (which always take me slightly longer then straw because I get so fussy with them :o) we also had to muck out with the Horses tied in the stable. We had the same Horses every week. 2 of mine would stand like a rock, which made mucking out very easy as they stood were I positioned them. The other however, took longer as he would not stop fidgeting! I always finished within the 2 hours though.
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I find that astonishing, i can muck out three and school 2 or hack out in that time. 3 if i ride and lead 1
 
MaryDoll, If I had the 2 good Horses and the fidgety Horse was out being ridden, I would finish within 45 mins (that included, full muck out, banks dug out, water feeder cleaned, Feeds bowls and nets removed, bed re done with banks, emptying the wheelbarrows and sweeping outside the stables, all this with the Horses tied up inside) If the fidgety Horse was in, it would take me about an hour and 10 minutes as I spent most of my time moving him backwards and forwards! :o
 
Charem- admittedly that's better than 3 in 2 hours, but its still only 6/7 horses each in 2 hours, & a quarter of them are out so would have ( or should have ) their stables ready from night before. To me, I'd say half that time is more realistic.
 
littlelegs said:
Charem- admittedly that's better than 3 in 2 hours, but its still only 6/7 horses each in 2 hours, & a quarter of them are out so would have ( or should have ) their stables ready from night before. To me, I'd say half that time is more realistic.
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mucking out was the quick bit, it was going to and from fields, changing rugs, picking out feet and so on that took time. Especially if a certain little bay decided he didn't want to be caught ;)

I am certainly much much quicker at mucking out now than I was then, but hey im also much quicker at plaiting, tacking up, grooming ECT...funny that. Practice makes perfect and all. Give the college kids a chance, tell them from day one what is expected of them and you may just be suprised.
 
martlin said:
Paid sick leave?!!! Are you mad? :D Do you think you are irreplaceable or something? There are thousands of immigrants waiting to do your job for £2 per hour, just remember that :p
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lol! I think even sick leave without pay is a rarity in this industry. Spent many a day at work in a cast/with a limp/stitches and the like. Don't know what these bloody lorry drivers are moaning about!?
 
See what your saying but morning stables to me mean rugs etc anyway not just mucking out. I'm all up for giving someone a chance, but its common to be looked at like you're mad if you expect more. I think the colleges should be starting at that level but over the first 6 months should be pushing for industry standard, rather than leaving it as a nasty shock upon leaving.
I just think in general if you take someone who's spent the same amount of time in a job versus college the worker will have experienced more & be ready to start. As a co-worker in a grooms job you have little patience for anyone adding to your workload, & as a head groom or manager you get the flack from the grooms.
It's not a personal attack, I just think if a college is telling students they're qualified for the real world, they should make sure they are. Off topic but yours is by way the closest to the real world I've heard!
 
Casey76 said:
I suppose it depends on what you mean by "muck out" ;)

What I class as mucking out is a lot different to what others think it is, and I've had to learn to grit my teeth here in France.

I'm totally envious of the choice of bedding you have too, in the UK.
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Sorry, but this really made me laugh! I completely understand because I my yard in France they don't actually even get the 'muck out' they just put new straw on top!!
 
Equine colleges can provide a load of information and experience. But the students have to go and look for it. It doesn't just get plonked in your lap. I went to college, went in with nothing, came out with a wealth of information across the board, spent 12 months in there being "chief assistant" for the equine vets - lameness work ups, teeth, treating various ailments and all kinds of injuries. I also made the most of being on site for a competition venue, and had as many lessons from different instructors as my pennies would stretch. I also made sure I got my name down for every single visiting clinic.

I learned about their feed/bedding ordering and general yard management. There was a lot of volunteering and ending up doing the rubbish jobs around the yard, but left college going from no competition experience to competing BD, had my stage 4, nvqs, and went on to a job on a dressage yard as a yard manager.

The opportunities are there in colleges to be taken, but I think that people expect that because they are in a college they should just get given these things, rather than having to look for them

If you go in lazy and unmotivated, you will come out lazy and unmotivated :D
 
And that I agree with, working pupils are far better prepared than a student. I've always said that if I could go back to when I left school I would have gone in as a working pupil. Problem was then I had just moved across the country, i didn't know anyone in the industry, I was uber shy and i didn't even know there was such an option as a WP!

I've had first hand experience of students from a head girls point of view too...the good uns and the bad uns! Its frustrating to see those who are less work inclined shall we say bring down everyone else hence my commenting on this post.

I think another problem, that I mentioned before is colleges having to run things in line with H&S. Of course on not suggesting we throw the book out the window completely but the one thing I really noticed on leaving college was that you didnt wrap yourself and everything around you in cotton wall.

The college system is far from perfect, but then there is so much to cover in two years. Every sphere, let alone yard has their own way of doing things and that's another reason why a WP is better prepared.

Don't worry I know your replies are not a personal attack, we're having a good healthy debate :D
 
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