Why is finding a groom so difficult?!

D

dynasty

Active Member
Joined
28 September 2009
Messages
35
Visit site
I am at my wits end. I have now had 2 awful grooms on the trot the first one abandoned my horses in the field in December (they live in at night) when I was away with my husband and called me to say she was not coming back to work and that she had left them out as she thought they'd be ok till we got back!! The second one decided that my 3 year old stallion was getting a bit above himself, again while my husband and I were away (we have to travel a lot for work) and did not feed him for 3 weeks! He looked like an advert for the Brooke when I got back. Am I just unlucky. I have had grooms before, my first two were with me for 5 years a piece and my last one was with me 3 years before these two disasters. Where can I find someone who will love my horses as much as I do and look after them unsupervised!!!
 
That's shocking!!! Did you get references for these people? If not I'd make sure you do and perhaps ask if you can visit yards they previously worked at to be sure they haven't just given you friend to call who will say they were good when they weren't!
 
Where are you based?

I know of a very good groom ;)

In all seriousness, I'd get references.

Also see how willing they are, maybe an unpaid trial? I've always agreed to an unpaid trial to prove how keen/trustworthy/reliable I am.

I now do the odd bit here and there for the stud, but in example, I've just got back from Essex for them,.was handed the cash for the horses (£1600+}, trailer and my pay. I've only known them 6months.

Keep looking and be fussy, there are more people wanting a job ATM than there are people wanting staff.
 
dear me thats awful!! wish you were closer to me as id love another horsey job.
like tilda said next time get a couple of refrences and go through their previous jobs with a fine tooth comb :D
 
Tilda said:
That's shocking!!! Did you get references for these people? If not I'd make sure you do and perhaps ask if you can visit yards they previously worked at to be sure they haven't just given you friend to call who will say they were good when they weren't!
Click to expand...

Yes I did. One of the girls came to me straight from college and her references from the college were good although I have spoken to them since! Have totally lost faith in grooms as my boys are my family, I do not run a commercial enterprise and am so upset when awful things happen to them. If I could afford to I would give up my job and look after them myself but unfortunately my husband and I run our own business so its not possible
 
dynasty said:
Yes I did. One of the girls came to me straight from college and her references from the college were good although I have spoken to them since! Have totally lost faith in grooms as my boys are my family, I do not run a commercial enterprise and am so upset when awful things happen to them. If I could afford to I would give up my job and look after them myself but unfortunately my husband and I run our own business so its not possible
Click to expand...

my last horsey employer had the same problem, all the certificates but very little actual experience. i dont think they realise how much hard work it really is
 
You need to get a friend to call in every day you are away in the afternoon/ evening at different times I always have done this with new grooms.
I am very lucky my main groom is marvellous I trust her 110% but other I have had others who have needed keeping a check on.
Keep asking Round the right person is out there if its a nice job with good pay you will find them you have been unlucky recently ,look forward and put it behind you.
 
It is very difficult imposing on friends to check up on staff that I am actually paying to do the job tho this may have to be the way forward! I hope we are nice to work for, as I said previously some of our grooms stayed with us for several years. It is a 5 1/2 day week, nice accommodation with all bills paid, 7 horses (which includes 2 retired ones) good rate of pay etc. Try to do my best by my staff, just cannot seem to receive the same in return recently. I thought with the current job market people would be glad of a job opportunity. The one that did not feed my stallion has been out of work since I sacked her!
 
well either find someone older with a sense of responsibility, or up the pay/rewards/live in etc. or make sure you are around for the first 3 months to make sure things are done as you like them done.. OR find a good livery yard near you that can take your horses whilst you are away and unable to do them yourself... good staff are hard to find! young people from college dont do well if left on their own (?????) i would go for someone older, who is responsible and flexible! you def need someone am and pm, any good freelance grooms in your area? sorry if not more helpful!
 
mountainview22 said:
Also see how willing they are, maybe an unpaid trial? .
Click to expand...



Jeez there is no way I would do an unpaid trial :eek:. By unpaid I assume you mean they do an agreed amount of trial time with no pay, but they will be fully paid for it upon satisfactory competion of said trial period?Even if this was the case there is no way I would agree to it, especially not knowing the employer, they may just be after a free groom for a few weeks ;). I'm not for one minute saying the OP would do this, but in my experiance of the equestrian industry there are a few who would :mad:.

OP get references, go visit yards with horses on the prosective employee looks after, have a formal interview, and trial period (but I suggest a paid one ;)), and have a watertight contract drawn up.

Unfortunately some people are unreliable, and you cannot remove all risk, but hopefully by being as professional in your manner towards any prosective groom, you will impress on them the importance of the job. If the boss is a bit unprofessional, the groom can often follow suit.
 
Maybe look for someone a bit older, rather than college leavers. Ask for a CV and check up on references. Ask via word of mouth, hunt grooms for example if they are in seasonal positions will be finishing soon and will be looking for work.
 
Just read your post 7 horses 2 retired. perhaps the way forward is for a full time live in groom, with a reliable older freelance popping in. who does them the other 1.5 ddays? could they pop in for 2 hrs on a mon wed fri? to keep an eye on things? or is the 1.5 days yourself??
 
TBH, I would never get a sole 'head' groom straight from college, as really they are pretty young, and a lot younger than someone the same age who's been working with horses since 16/18. I can't believe that luck though, even if you were the worst employer (not saying you are) how coudl someone do that to horses is beyond me :confused:

There are great grooms out there, and I think that sounds like a doddle, live in 5.5 days a week and just 7 horses? easy peasy, we have 5 horses to look after before and after work! :)
 
ofcourseyoucan said:
Just read your post 7 horses 2 retired. perhaps the way forward is for a full time live in groom, with a reliable older freelance popping in. who does them the other 1.5 ddays? could they pop in for 2 hrs on a mon wed fri? to keep an eye on things? or is the 1.5 days yourself??
Click to expand...

I do the horses on the other 1.5 days as my travel is mainly weekdays. No freelancers in my area otherwise I would go down that route. Just struggling as not been in this situation before, guess I have been really lucky with my previous staff
 
Stick up a few stickers around the place saying "CCTV on the premises" - they'll assume they're being watched. After a while, if you decide you can trust them after all admit that you only put up the stickers 'to deter would-be theives'. Or actually install CCTV and send the feed to your work computer! This has been done in some nursuries so that parents can ensure their children are well cared for.
 
Stencilface said:
TBH, I would never get a sole 'head' groom straight from college, as really they are pretty young, and a lot younger than someone the same age who's been working with horses since 16/18. I can't believe that luck though, even if you were the worst employer (not saying you are) how coudl someone do that to horses is beyond me :confused:

There are great grooms out there, and I think that sounds like a doddle, live in 5.5 days a week and just 7 horses? easy peasy, we have 5 horses to look after before and after work! :)
Click to expand...

The girl I had from college was 24, she had worked at yards prior to going to college to obtain "formal" qualifications which was the only reason I took her as she was a bit older. Just shows what I know!!
 
dynasty said:
The girl I had from college was 24, she had worked at yards prior to going to college to obtain "formal" qualifications which was the only reason I took her as she was a bit older. Just shows what I know!!
Click to expand...

Ah, obviously just a slacker then! Hope things get better for you :)

My friend who grooms is far too OCD to never not do things properly, she's pretty annoying! :D
 
dynasty said:
It is very difficult imposing on friends to check up on staff that I am actually paying to do the job tho this may have to be the wayforward! I hope we are nice to work for, as I said previously some of our grooms stayed with us for several years. It is a 5 1/2 day week, nice accommodation with all bills paid, 7 horses (which includes 2 retired ones) good rate of pay etc. Try to do my best by my staff, just cannot seem to receive the same in return recently. I thought with the current job market people would be glad of a job opportunity. The one that did not feed my stallion has been out of work since I sacked her!
Click to expand...

I am sorry but I would not let a girl out of college look after my cat without supervision . A sole charge groom is a very rare and valuable employee , what do you do in the way of career development with your staff ? as my husband always tells me in his buisness you always have to budget time and cost to develop people that work far you and this has helped me a lot to keep good
grooms.
I don't see why it's difficult to ask friends to do this I have several friends that have done this for me at different times as much as anything it can give an inexperienced groom the confidence that they are not alone my grooms know my horsey friends and I always would say so and so will call in and see you and here's her mobile number if you need help quickly it seems think common sense to me, and I help my friends out too.
Even my head groom always knows my BF is at the end of a phone to help when I am away and she had to cope with a broken leg ( horse!) while I was away once and that would have been too much too expect anyone to cope with alone.
 
charlimouse said:
Jeez there is no way I would do an unpaid trial :eek:. By unpaid I assume you mean they do an agreed amount of trial time with no pay, but they will be fully paid for it upon satisfactory competion of said trial period?Even if this was the case there is no way I would agree to it, especially not knowing the employer, they may just be after a free groom for a few weeks ;). I'm not for one minute saying the OP would do this, but in my experiance of the equestrian industry there are a few who would :mad:.

OP get references, go visit yards with horses on the prosective employee looks after, have a formal interview, and trial period (but I suggest a paid one ;)), and have a watertight contract drawn up.

Unfortunately some people are unreliable, and you cannot remove all risk, but hopefully by being as professional in your manner towards any prosective groom, you will impress on them the importance of the job. If the boss is a bit unprofessional, the groom can often follow suit.
Click to expand...
This, some yards are definitely after a free days work (and some other non-equine businesses!).
 
How awful, can't believe people would just abandon your horses while you were away, that's disgraceful! :(
There are so many people desperate for a job at the moment so hopefully it won't be long until you find someone loyal & trustworthy who will care for your horses as if they were their own - it sounds like a great opportunity for someone, can't believe how unreliable/ungrateful some people can be!
 
I'm sure it must be very frustrating but there are good people out there. Are there external factors which might also affect why they're not staying long (I mean apart from them being irresponsible). For example, are there riding opportunities or room for them to bring their own horse? Are you very remote and they are without transport so no opportunity to meet and/or make friends? Is the accommodation independent so they can invite a friend over? If you and your husband are away a lot they may be lonely or bored.

Good luck with your search. Have you tried checking out websites like Yard & Groom.
 
Agreed, some will take the p!ss.

maybe a contract put in place?

Maybe I'm just too trusting "/

Or maybe they were going for the free day but I was soooo good they thought twice :rolleyes:
 
college conditions them as does the BHS to do 3.2 horses per day. do you need someone to ride or is it mainly stable work? perhaps an incentive to be able to compete IF capable? good luck. not easy for the special ones
 
Stencilface said:
My friend who grooms is far too OCD to never not do things properly, she's pretty annoying! :D
Click to expand...

:eek:Do I know you?!:p:cool:

I'm a groom (An OCD one at that) and it makes me so angry to hear of these people who decide to play 'groom' and then do half a job / neglect horses in their care.:mad:

In regards to employing college students.... I would always ask for a reference from the college yard or at least someone who has worked with them practically;)
 
I'm a groom (not working at the min as am taking time out due to baby) and have worked on all sorts of yards from stud work to hunters. I despair sometimes at the girls i have to work with and think it is odd that there are so many grooms around who actually don't seem to like horses. On the other hand though, it is hard to find a decent employer who doesn't treat you like a piece of dirt because you chose horses as a career. Grooms are often expected to work very long hard hours (which is fine and to be expected) without even a 'thank you'. At my last job, i had worked for the woman for over a year, serious hours, working hard and never gave her any reason to moan. I left when i became pregnant after giving 2 months notice and during that time she didn't speak to me and made me feel seriously unwelcome on the yard. When i actually left she didn't even say 'goodbye' never mind anything else!
 
charlimouse said:
Jeez there is no way I would do an unpaid trial :eek:. By unpaid I assume you mean they do an agreed amount of trial time with no pay, but they will be fully paid for it upon satisfactory competion of said trial period?Even if this was the case there is no way I would agree to it, especially not knowing the employer, they may just be after a free groom for a few weeks ;). I'm not for one minute saying the OP would do this, but in my experiance of the equestrian industry there are a few who would :mad:.

OP get references, go visit yards with horses on the prosective employee looks after, have a formal interview, and trial period (but I suggest a paid one ;)), and have a watertight contract drawn up.

Unfortunately some people are unreliable, and you cannot remove all risk, but hopefully by being as professional in your manner towards any prosective groom, you will impress on them the importance of the job. If the boss is a bit unprofessional, the groom can often follow suit.
Click to expand...

Unpaid trials seem to be quiet common, my daughter did a few days at one event yard for nothing then a 2wk trial where she still is for nothing. The first one she travelled to on the promise of being paid petrol, but this never happened & then she was informed their circumstances had changed so could not offer her a job at the end of it anyway! She now works 6 days but gets to keep her horse has a small wage of £50pwk towards food, farrier etc.
 
magic104 said:
Unpaid trials seem to be quiet common, my daughter did a few days at one event yard for nothing then a 2wk trial where she still is for nothing. The first one she travelled to on the promise of being paid petrol, but this never happened & then she was informed their circumstances had changed so could not offer her a job at the end of it anyway! She now works 6 days but gets to keep her horse has a small wage of £50pwk towards food, farrier etc.
Click to expand...

That's terrible I do two days trial after interview working with my other groom but it is paid when they are trained into our system and I try to get to know them then we work a month sometimes with me sometimes alone and more with my other groom if they are young or inexperienced them hopefully I have them Sussed and they understand the system and as I say eariler in the thread when I am away they always have someone calling in and the head girl to ring if they are worried I can't believe people expect two weeks work for nothing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top