Why is finding a groom so difficult?!

I remember an instructor at a college complaining that the students couldn't be relied upon to turn up at the weekends when they were supposed to be working.

As for the young person earning £50 pw plus keep for horse for a day week. Is that legal?
Even if you take off the cost of horse livery, what does that work out per hour. There is a Minimum Wage.
 
Booboos said:
............ last college student I spoke to said she did 4.5 days of theory and 0.5 of a day practical at a yard because the college couldn't find enough placements for its students!
Click to expand...
If the College can't find free placements , there is NO DEMAND, so really they are producing people who are going to be unemployed.
I might expect students to go get their own placement, not that difficult for the right person, as for Colleges, most students round here only go to College two or three days per week, so they can study [sic] or work [do nothing] to pay for the course.
 
Last edited:
Miss L Toe said:
If the College can't find free placements , there is NO DEMAND, so really they are producing people who are going to be unemployed.
I might expect students to go get their own placement, not that difficult for the right person, as for Colleges, most students round here only go to College two or three days per week, so they can study [sic] or work [do nothing] to pay for the course.
Click to expand...

Actually the reason many cannot find placements is down to insurance. Employers liability insurance is expensive. I used to take on several work experience pupils each year - between 3 and 6 for a week or two weeks. I have kennels, cattery, grooming & horses so get a lot of requests.
A friend with a grooming school had a 16 year old slip and fall against the tub while mopping the floor. The ambulance chaser letter arrived a couple of weeks later.
I then stopped taking any students and saved myself a lot of stress & several hundreds of pounds p/a in insurance premiums. Unfortunately the knock on effect is that students don't do a week or two to find out if the career choice suits them prior to college.

I've never heard of unpaid trials - an audition and demonstration of ability of course and then a paid trial period.
 
kittenkent said:
I have to say, i'm quite surprised and also a little offended that everyone is writing off college students.
Click to expand...

^^^this

i also did 2 years at equine college and although i agree that a lot of the students shirked any responsibility and probably couldn't cope with or care enough about their work, we're not all like that :(

i would die for a job like the one OP offers, and if it wasnt for the fact i've just had a baby (well 10 weeks ago) i'd definitely be applying if i was in that area

saying that all college grads can't work on a yard or be given any responsibility is a gross generalisation, please don't tar us all with the same brush :D
 
Miss L Toe said:
I might expect students to go get their own placement.
Click to expand...

we had to find our own placements if we cared where we went, which i admit many didnt...in fact several students ended up working on the college yard because they didnt care enough to find anything else.

i went off and contacted moorcroft (the racehorse retraining place) who were incredible, i did 3 weeks there just before easter and loved it so much i gave up the easter holidays 2 stay there and carry on.

i obviously proved i could do the job as they offered me a job to start as soon as i finished college, i took them up on it and stayed until i got married and moved away :D
 
Hi everyone,

Im really sorry you havent found someone you can trust to help you out, your groom that walked out should be ashamed of herself!

I have to go on a bit of a defensive, or think of it as being positive for you. I went to uni and did my degree in equine science over 3 years I also worked as a groom. I had my set hours and fit poopicking riding, owning my own horse, studying and a social life. It was hard work but working whilst at uni gave me "life experience" that studies dont give. If you combine practical experience and studies it can be the making of a brilliant groom.

After uni I worked on a yard for 3 years with 24 horses often only having one other person to work with, I was supposed to be 5 1/2 days but was often 7. I was left in sole charge of liveries and hunters and loved every single minute from the good bad and ugly times.

There are people out there that will work their socks off, it is for the love of horses, so you will weed out the wannabes and the hard workers will appear.

Also I did a 2 day trail unpaid and I for someone out of uni, beggars cant eb choosers and I had to prove I was capable.

Good luck OP xxx:)
 
We only take on reliable people, most of whom we have known years already. Tbh OH and I have ended up doing most of it ourselves as people get lazy very quickly and it's just not worth the risk unless you really know someone. To keep those really good people we pay a decent wage.

I wouldn't give someone short term work, the liveries wouldn't like it and neither would we.

I wouldn't employ a college student with no work experience... why have they not got off their backside before then?! I was working for free in a yard as an 11yo in return for taking one of the horses out (a rarity that they'd remember) and then worked at a decent yard at 14 for free and then owned my own horses. And have had paid jobs continually since 14.
I'd turn up every day on time and work my butt off. Even students working in other industries would show willing to work. Stunned me when I found out one of my brothers friends at 28yo had never had a job as "hadn't needed to before" I'd not touch him with a barge pole regardless of qualifications.

Even out of the equine industry, previous work shows willing to work, cmmunicate with people, general experience etc. If someone took the time to contact us and tell us why they had the interest etc (show general willing) then that would also be a plus. At my last job on a farm we took on regular work experience college students. The main percentage of them would turn up late (if at all), show great disinterest in anything where they weren't cuddling something and turn up looking a state... then wonder why we didn't give them a glowing report!

Pan
 
marydoll said:
Personally i wouldnt want to work somewhere they take the p like that.
If youre good enough to trial, youre good enough to be observed and paid
Click to expand...

I've had several jobs where I've been paid minimum for a trial period, at the end of the period when I got the job they'd pay the difference on top of the trial and put me up to a decent wage. The trial period had get out clauses on both sides if either of us didn't think it was right (this wasn't in the equine industry though)

Pan
 
You can't expect someone to come out of college to know everything: they should know at least the basics (i.e. how to look after a horse on a day to day basis) but you cannot expect them to have much experience (they may never have been able to have their own horse before). It is always a learning curve in the beginning as they learn how you like to have things done, but that goes for any employee as each employer likes things to be done a certain way.
 
Puzzles said:
You can't expect someone to come out of college to know everything: they should know at least the basics (i.e. how to look after a horse on a day to day basis) but you cannot expect them to have much experience (they may never have been able to have their own horse before). It is always a learning curve in the beginning as they learn how you like to have things done, but that goes for any employee as each employer likes things to be done a certain way.
Click to expand...
I went to College [sp], after a year as a working pupil, before that I had been hanging around a RS since age 12, this hanging around included pig keeping, one goat, some hens, fencing, painting, stacking bales, bruising oats, cooking pig swill, tractor driving, checking fences, breaking Shetlands, bringing horses to and fro bareback, and once every three weeks I had enough pocket money for a hack out [7 shillings and sixpence] By the age of 16 I was allowed to ride all new horses, and hack the starter's horse to Hamilton Racecourse [now the M8], it was all great fun ,and we never knew anything about H&S, but survived it all.
To those who go to College for a qualification, great, but that is only the start, they need to be a lot more resourceful if they want a job in today's environment.
Personally I would never employ a College leaver if they had no other practical experience, it indicates lack of enthusiasm, probably laziness!
 
Last edited:
First thing Bad luck on your grooms how very rude of her to leave and if the other had a problem with your stallion then she should have spoken to you about it!!

I was an equine college student for 4 years (2 courses) and i learnt loads. When i went i had only ever ridden trekking cobs (nose to tail types) and my own horse who ived out. By the end of my 2nd year i had pasted my BHS stage 2 and PTT. I could also muck out, hay and water 3 in 45min, every1 swept the massive yards. It gave me lot of experincec riding and caring for different horses and they also pushed me to do other stuff such as dressage writing etc. When i did my work experince i was encourage to go to a big dressage yard and eve had my end of year theory exams sent there so i could stay for longer. I do understand how there are many college leaers out there who are a waste of space but we are not all bad. i think it really depends on what college they went too.

I wouldnt do free trail either. I might go to a comp for a few hours to help but wouldnt work for free a reduce rate yes but not for free.
Also im just starting up as a freelance groom and riding instructor as i have got fed up of employers expecting e to work extra hours for nothing. That said I think 7 with only 5 in every easy to do. As you would only need to excerise a day as one could always have a day and with hopefully ride and lead and lunging this should be done easily.
I have worked in competition yard where there was the rider and 2 grooms and we would do 18-20 between us and when the boss was away and would take the other groom with them you would be left to sort out and exercise the rest.

i hope that you find some1 soon who you can depend on. There are some great grooms out there
 
Have to agree - unpaid trial is a no-no.

Only way I would perhaps do it if yard was local, and if it was for a day or so. Other than that, it would just look to me as though the yard was after free labour for a couple of weeks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top