When I was working in a barn, I made about $100 a day for morning/afternoon feeding, stalls and turning in/out for 4 horses. This was mixing/prepping feed, cleaning and often completely rebedding stalls(she liked her stalls immaculate), the horses were turned out while I did stalls in the morning and they came in right after. I picked stalls around them while they were eating dinner.
Oh No , we havenât great tip thank you findeightâŠ
Yes, my brother runs such a program and always has great, hardworking kids looking to earn $$ in his classes. Itâs a terrific place to look for barn helpers many of whom have farm experience, maybe not horse experience but they can be trained easily because they know large animals. $10/hr is about right. Your county USDA extension agent will know contact info for your FFA/vo ag programs, they work together often.
Another thing to keep in mindâŠthe worker must have horse experience and be good around themâŠnot just kind to themâŠbut have a good eye to be alert to any problems (colic, lameness, blankets falling off, etc).
Most teenagers donât have the experience to deal with any of that.
Also to the OP: the employee should be covered on the employerâs insurance to handle horses. I found out the hard way at a boarding/training place that their muckers were not covered to handle horses, and when mine got cast, I had to run across the street to another barn, and ask their guys to help.
thank you all for your responses. If we could hire One person for the job we would pay $12-$14.00 per hour , BUT they arenât reliable enough , which is why we use TWO ⊠One experienced person could do the whole job in 8 hours or less and do it well , just canât find anyone who is reliable enough to show up everyday⊠to top it off ⊠the people who apply who say they have experience canât even put a halter on a horse . As far as paying someone $30.00 per hour to do this job , that would be cost prohibitive , board would have to double with 20 horses it would cost aprox $500.00 per horse per month in labor costs alone , and I donât know anyone who would pay that for this type of work, it is general labor requiring no education, not even a high school diploma , As far as getting what you pay for , I would look to Washington and ask "are we getting what we pay for " pay does not always guarantee good results.
I used to clean stalls, feed and turnout horses (this was for about 6 years from like, 98 to '04?) and I did it in exchange for board. I did the morning turnout/feed for approx 20 horses 6 days a week and then for awhile cleaned 12 stalls those same 6 days a week but I think it changed to three days a week when I was only trying to work off 1 horseâs board instead of 2. It basically worked out to a dollar per stall and a dollar per horse fed/turned out. So if I was feeding/turning out 20 horses and cleaning 12 stalls in a day, that would have been $32 that day.
I was just thinking to myself the other day that the price for cleaning a stall hasnât changed in 10 years as I am now cleaning my horseâs stall in a totally opposite corner of the country to help make a dent in board a bit, and by cleaning it daily, I get $30 knocked off my boardâŠ
[QUOTE=MIKES MCS;7251155]
thank you all for your responses. If we could hire One person for the job we would pay $12-$14.00 per hour , BUT they arenât reliable enough , which is why we use TWO ⊠One experienced person could do the whole job in 8 hours or less and do it well , just canât find anyone who is reliable enough to show up everyday⊠to top it off ⊠the people who apply who say they have experience canât even put a halter on a horse . As far as paying someone $30.00 per hour to do this job , that would be cost prohibitive , board would have to double with 20 horses it would cost aprox $500.00 per horse per month in labor costs alone , and I donât know anyone who would pay that for this type of work, it is general labor requiring no education, not even a high school diploma , As far as getting what you pay for , I would look to Washington and ask "are we getting what we pay for " pay does not always guarantee good results.[/QUOTE]
You say the job requires no education but complain that people applying donât know how to halter a horse? Mucking stalls isnât the hardest thing in the world, but it is a skill, and doing it well and not wasting tons of shavings/straw takes time and effort. There is also skill required in leading a horse to/from turnout, determining if a horse needs to come in, or if it doesnât feel well, and in making/feeding hay/grain.
One totally serious suggestion-- try doing the job yourself for a week and then decide what you think fair pay is. Maybe that means upping board, and maybe that means cutting services offered. I donât know what your schedule is, but horses need someone 7-days a week, so this person/people will either not have a day off, or will have a single day off and swap with the other person you have working.
Your help probably isnât reliable or sticking around because there isnât any incentive, financially or otherwise, to do so.
[QUOTE=BigEqRls;7251337]
You say the job requires no education but complain that people applying donât know how to halter a horse? Mucking stalls isnât the hardest thing in the world, but it is a skill, and doing it well and not wasting tons of shavings/straw takes time and effort. There is also skill required in leading a horse to/from turnout, determining if a horse needs to come in, or if it doesnât feel well, and in making/feeding hay/grain.
One totally serious suggestion-- try doing the job yourself for a week and then decide what you think fair pay is. Maybe that means upping board, and maybe that means cutting services offered. I donât know what your schedule is, but horses need someone 7-days a week, so this person/people will either not have a day off, or will have a single day off and swap with the other person you have working.
Your help probably isnât reliable or sticking around because there isnât any incentive, financially or otherwise, to do so.[/QUOTE]
Um, I have mucked 30 stalls a day 7 days a week, turned out, feed (when we mixed our own and didnât just feed an all in one) shook out the hay instead of just thrown it, banked our stalls , (straw and shavings) scrubbed water buckets and Feed tubs daily, changed blankets , pulled bell boots ,ect⊠, this was considered a starting position in a barn , you worked your way up and aquired trainer or barn manager skills along the way and were PROMOTED into these positions which payed more . Mucking stalls and turning out horses is not SKILLED labor it is MANUAL labor ⊠compensation of $8.00 to $12.00 is appropriate for a job of this nature. You are confusing a Skill, something which takes hundreds of hours to master , with a task, something which requires minimal repitions to perform correctly. Training horses is a skill , mucking stalls is a task.
Call it a task, a skill or time spent in heaven ( what I thought years ago ) someone still has to survive. Teenagers have to go to school, study and are just plain not available every day. How does barn help live on Min wage??
But how much are BOs willing and able to pay them while still keeping board rates reasonable for the area, facilities and services offered? How much are boarders willing to pay for basic services?
[QUOTE=MIKES MCS;7251491]
Um, this was considered a starting position in a barn , you worked your way up and aquired trainer or barn manager skills along the way and were PROMOTED into these positions which payed more [/QUOTE]
Good point - is there an opportunity for advancement? If someone does their job excellently for $10/hour, reliably for some time⊠then what? Many barns lose people because the answer to âthen whatâ is ânothing.â If a better position is possible (either in terms of compensation or workload), or for the right person, some saddle time, that will help you greatly.
As others have pointed out, entry level retail jobs pay around $10/hour and most all of those have a chance for advancement and perhaps even benefits. You are likely looking for a person who is already horsey, so figure out some things that would make it enticing for them to stay. If you are going for FFA kids, offer some education beyond mucking and turning out - teach tacking, lunging, first aid, feed theory, etc.
I was paid $7.50/hr to do the following:
-arrive between 5-6am and hay 30 horses
- prepare feed and supplements and grain 30 horses
- water 30 horses
- water the large indoor arena
- sweep, dust and shake out the mats in the viewing room
- unlock all tack rooms and turn on all lights
- tidy up feed room
- turnout all 30 horses individually for 1 hr each, walked to their paddock, boots on if needed, bring them in after 1hr out - only 4 turnout areas so it was an act of epic organization daily
- record where and how long each horse was turned out on log book
- replenish supplement baggies
- 2nd feeding of hay for all 30 horses
- 2nd watering for all 30 horses
This was all to be completed by noon or one (so between 6-7hrs). You were the only one on staff to do these tasks, there was no assistance.
Let me tell you, I loved that job, but I left because the pay was not enough to keep me. I was dog tired at the end of the day (usually I came back for the 4-8pm shift as well, which included picking stalls as well as feeding and assisting with PM lesson students tacking up) and I was barely making enough to pay rent, keep the electric on and feed myself. Let alone gas to get me there, and then to pay taxes at the end of the year because they werenât taken out of my paycheck.
I am experienced, and was never scolded for any of the care I gave to the horses. I resented that job after a while.
Pay enough to attract and keep someone experienced that you can trust. Those people are out there.
Iâd say really proper stall cleaning takes hours to master. Itâs one thing to teach a person to just pick up the poo piles, but another thing completely if you want a thorough, neat job. I also agree with Dinah-do. Minimum wage is not what it seems. Single adults barely scrape by on it, nevertheless an adult trying to raise a family. If you want to hire an adult with not just the ability to do the manual work, but also the knowledge and real life experience to detect lameness, illness, or other problems, you need to pay them. Plenty of boarders would be willing to pay higher board fees if they knew the barn was staffed by such people.
Mike, when you pay people a fair market wage they tend to be reliable and stick around. When you try to pay people below market rate then you get the type of workers you have been getting. Your problem is of your own making. In this world you get what you pay for. If you want the kind of help that leaves stalls filthy, doesnât alert anyone to the fact that horses arenât drinking/pooping, have tree trunk legs, and/or decides to quit or not show up regularly then keep trying to pay what you are paying. If you want help that is smart, likes working for you and is reliable then you will need to pay them enough to live. Itâs just as simple as that. A lot of people have given you good advice here in this thread and you just turned around and said this is what you think the job should pay - well then pay that. And get used to having the kind of staff you are complaining about, because those are the only people who are willing to work for that wage.
[QUOTE=MIKES MCS;7251491]
Um, I have mucked 30 stalls a day 7 days a week, turned out, feed (when we mixed our own and didnât just feed an all in one) shook out the hay instead of just thrown it, banked our stalls , (straw and shavings) scrubbed water buckets and Feed tubs daily, changed blankets , pulled bell boots ,ect⊠, this was considered a starting position in a barn , you worked your way up and aquired trainer or barn manager skills along the way and were PROMOTED into these positions which payed more . Mucking stalls and turning out horses is not SKILLED labor it is MANUAL labor ⊠compensation of $8.00 to $12.00 is appropriate for a job of this nature. You are confusing a Skill, something which takes hundreds of hours to master , with a task, something which requires minimal repitions to perform correctly. Training horses is a skill , mucking stalls is a task.[/QUOTE]
Didnât you start this thread asking how much you need to pay to keep employees around? I think you may want to look at current living costs and rethink your attitude towards barn help. Does your barn offer many promotions?
[QUOTE=MIKES MCS;7251491]
Um, I have mucked 30 stalls a day 7 days a week, turned out, feed (when we mixed our own and didnât just feed an all in one) shook out the hay instead of just thrown it, banked our stalls , (straw and shavings) scrubbed water buckets and Feed tubs daily, changed blankets , pulled bell boots ,ect⊠, this was considered a starting position in a barn , you worked your way up and aquired trainer or barn manager skills along the way and were PROMOTED into these positions which payed more . Mucking stalls and turning out horses is not SKILLED labor it is MANUAL labor ⊠compensation of $8.00 to $12.00 is appropriate for a job of this nature. You are confusing a Skill, something which takes hundreds of hours to master , with a task, something which requires minimal repitions to perform correctly. Training horses is a skill , mucking stalls is a task.[/QUOTE]
I wonder how your boarders would feel if they knew you valued the care of their horses so little. As a boarder and former boarding stable owner, I would not consider anyone who actually handles a horse to be manual labor. I would expect that all people handling horses have knowledge of horse behavior, basic first aid of the horse and human, knowledge in basic training/discipline principles of horses, etc. I would expect them to be compensated (monetarily or otherwise) to treat my horse the way I would treat him. I wouldnât higher a baby sitter for my baby and say âall they have to do is put a diaper on and stick him in a swing; heâll sleep most of time.â Does that mean my babysitter is getting a cushy job and should just raid my fridge and watch my cable; we can call it even right? Heck no!
Perhaps it isnât your pay rate that is the problem, but your attitude towards your employees/potential employees that is the problem?
I was paid $100 a day (about 8-4pm) in a high end show barn. Mucked 6-8 horses (VERY deep bedding), turned out/in (LOTS of booting/blanketing), fed, cleaned tack groomed/tacked horses for the trainer/riders. I had a designated half hour lunch too.
Another lower end show barn I was paid $10/hr (about 7:30-4pm) and mucked 12-16 horses, turned in/out, general barn chores, fed, occasionally tacked horses.
I much preferred the level of work at the high end barn to the lower end show barn and was paid well for barn work. I think most of their workers were a little older and stuck aroundâŠnot teenagers, but some university students. The full time staff were in their late 20s+ and had stuck around (they get more than I did as a part-timer). The other barn was LOTS of work and although I stuck around a long time, they were always moving through workers.
[QUOTE=Manahmanah;7251543]
Mike, when you pay people a fair market wage they tend to be reliable and stick around. When you try to pay people below market rate then you get the type of workers you have been getting. Your problem is of your own making. In this world you get what you pay for. If you want the kind of help that leaves stalls filthy, doesnât alert anyone to the fact that horses arenât drinking/pooping, have tree trunk legs, and/or decides to quit or not show up regularly then keep trying to pay what you are paying. If you want help that is smart, likes working for you and is reliable then you will need to pay them enough to live. Itâs just as simple as that. A lot of people have given you good advice here in this thread and you just turned around and said this is what you think the job should pay - well then pay that. And get used to having the kind of staff you are complaining about, because those are the only people who are willing to work for that wage.[/QUOTE]
THIS!!
I managed a 30-horse show stable for about 7 years, not so long ago. Probably our biggest single concern on the entire farm was stall cleaning. :eek:
And there was a REASON the biggest single concern was stall cleaning: the barn owners were convinced that they could find randomly-sourced people to do the job quickly, quietly, and responsibly, and also be skilled enough to do individual turnout for all 30 horses (including boots and blankets), for VERY high-end, large show horses. These âunskilledâ laborers were expected to follow VERY detailed and somewhat anal-retentive practices and make ZERO mistakes.
And the horses were in their stalls for most of the day (poor turnout situation) so the stalls got very dirty and required pretty intensive cleaning, every single day ie, not a 10-minutes-per-stall pick-out.
Iâll tell you - there are people who are perfectly happy to do that work, but who really canât handle horses of that caliber.
All it takes is one loose horse for a simple mistake to cost 6 figures. In our barn, the stall cleaners handled the horses more than anyone else in the barnâŠyou decide how much you value that.
In the same area as you, we pay our help $10 an hour. When you include insurance and workmanâs comp costs (which I believe are necessary around horses, especially in a boarding barn), it comes out to about $14.50 an hour total that it costs us (including their wage). Our barn is very small, only 4-5 horses, so we give our help about 4 hours a day to get everything done (including blanketing/booting, turn-out, mucking stalls, feeding, water, turn-in, un-blanketing/booting, cleaning/dusting/vacuuming everything in the barn, etc.). They can go over those 4 hours if they want to, but they do only get paid for 4 since it can all be easily finished in that time frame. They donât feel rushed so they do an excellent job, and they donât get stressed about not finishing in time and staying over a little later than they are supposed to. It has worked out very well, as the same lady has worked for us since the barn was built over 3 years ago.
