horse care and riding lessons

[clanter]

Time is money, and riding instructors should not be expected to work “for free” just because horses are involved.

well most parents view riding lessons as just a very small step above a pony ride where the little pony is attached to a thing that goes around and around…their cute little off spring is set upon pony then does a few laps and they are handed their accomplished rider back …sometimes with the photo to prove the event took place rather than a ribbon… hum, a ribbon would be a nice addition

[NoSuchPerson]

@SuzieQNutter

My last comment was me thinking about us teaching to pick out hooves and always go down. I have always done this and always taught this. Then I read on this forum about 2 people picking towards themselves and slipped and gashed opened their arms.

And this illustrates my point. Yes, I pick hooves downward. Except sometimes, in order to get everything out of the back of the cleft toward the heel, you need to reverse and come upward. I believe that in general, you can’t make a pronouncement that any one way is the only proper way to do anything and then suggest that anyone who doesn’t do it that way is ignorant, or hasn’t been properly trained.

I’m sure if you look through my posting history you will find examples of me not following my own advice, but really, I do try to say “this is how I do it and this is why,” without saying that other ways are wrong. Unless, of course, it’s something like tying your horse’s lead rope around your waist.

[skyy]

After a lengthy meeting with the barn owner, we’ve decided to push back lessons a half hour on Saturdays so the instructor can get here (and be paid) a half hour early to prep; hire a weekend barn manager who, in addition to some random barn chores, will pre groom lesson horses and assist the lessonettes with grooming and tacking; make a hard and fast rule about lessonettes having to attain and show a certain level of competency before being able to come early to groom and tack. This is the one that is going to PO the parents!

[trubandloki]

@skyy

After a lengthy meeting with the barn owner, we’ve decided to push back lessons a half hour on Saturdays so the instructor can get here (and be paid) a half hour early to prep; hire a weekend barn manager who, in addition to some random barn chores, will pre groom lesson horses and assist the lessonettes with grooming and tacking; make a hard and fast rule about lessonettes having to attain and show a certain level of competency before being able to come early to groom and tack. This is the one that is going to PO the parents!

How do they learn to groom and tack if they are not allowed to come early to groom and tack?

I can see having a rule about them not being allowed to groom and tack with out supervision, but not being able to come early to learn is crazy.

[Wanderosa]

@skyy

Thank you all for your input. I do appreciate it. I don’t directly supervise the instructors (meaning that I am not their "boss) and i can’t (mentally or physically) stay at the barn 14 hours M-F and 8 hours ea Sat and Sun to watch/supervise the lessons. I am on my way to being burnt out but I think it’s a good sign that I really do still care!

Part of the problem is what Findeight has said - we have few kids who have time to hang out at the barn after their lesson. They are off and running right after their lesson, or they are 7 years old and their parents want to leave them at the farm all day. Our older kids who could help with lessons would love to hang at the barn but they work, do other sports, have gobs of school work, etc. Or, they have money and have no need to work off extra lessons. And with a volunteer program of working off lessons, how do you get them to commit to being there every Sat (or whatever)?

I know that if instructors aren’t willing to do what needs to be done they shouldn’t be instructors…however, that again is easier said then done. We have finally, after a lot of searching, hired an additional instructor that has a brain and wants to use it, actually wants to teach and needs the money, and is enthusiastic! I am very excited about her. The others are not particularly motivated by money and can’t spell work ethic. The kids seem to like them though. We are not a big lesson program so even if one instructor taught all of the lessons it wouldn’t be a full time job. And because we aren’t a big program and there are 50 other barns within 20 miles, telling students to conform or leave isn’t good for business. I think our instructors have an easy job (compared to some other barns) - their lessson horses are always in, they don’t handle money, they don’t schedule, if there is an issue with a parent they don’t deal with it, they don’t do barn chores, etc. They just teach.

As for grooming - all of our horses go out in clothes and their legs get hosed when they come in. But this is Pennsylvania where it seems that for the past 9 months, it precipitates every 3 days. The mud this winter is indescribable because the ground won’t freeze and stay frozen. All of the horses come in with mud on their bellies, in their manes, on their heads, etc. My only option is to not turn out in the sacrifice paddocks and I won’t do that. They need to go out.

I take good care of my lesson horses - they all get regular vet, farrier, and dental work. Some of the olders are on pentosan or equioxx to keep them comfortable. They are fed high quality grain and hay. None of them do more than 2 lessons a day (unless the 3rd lesson on a Saturday is a walk/trot only).

All of that info was written not as an excuse but to give you insight into my situation.

You just have to accept that the weather this past year has been unprecedented and roll with it, to a degree. I’m at a barn with a bunch of UL eventers that regularly hosts clinics with Olympians. There’s more dried mud on horses than usual. There’s only so much you can do when just walking in from the paddock results in mud spatters on their bellies. They look like Jeeps that went off road! Lol

[Palm_Beach]

@skyy

And with a volunteer program of working off lessons, how do you get them to commit to being there every Sat (or whatever)?

There is no such thing as a “volunteer program” of working off lessons. That is a barter system, those kids are employees, and they need to be on the books as such, and compliant with all local labor laws. :no:

[arlosmine]

Implement a new standard of expectations immediately.
The parents all need to receive a brief and well worded note on actual paper, explaining the value of horse care in the child’s equine activity. You can site such things as “responsibility to an animal”, “bonding”, “improved safety with improved horsemanship”… Make it a general announce, and no one will be singled-out.
Set a date for the new policy, and have some one hired to catch all the students up on what they need help with. The instructors need to be in the same page and SEND THE KID BACK to grooming area to fix problems before being able to continue.

I tell ALL beginners on my program that the lessons start with getting a horse or pony out of the stall. Then we groom and tack. The first lessons have a grand total of about ten minutes on the horse, and I help with the process to speed things along.

The students EARN riding time by learning handling/grooming/safety. When I can watch them enter a stall, halter a horse or pony,meet them to the cross ties safely, then they have earned coming early enough to groom. Then the lesson starts with tacking. Then they get more saddle time. This evolves to include students tacking mostly on their own, with me just helping with the bridling, since that takes the most time to learn how to do well, and has the most possibility for problems.

I examine tack and grooming first thing in every lesson. if the kid shows up in the ring with tack or grooming issues, they go back out and fix it. Sometimes I may take pity and fix things fast in the ring, but that’s usually just a one time thing.

my experience is that parents will support horsemanship as part of the lesson program if you don’t give them a choice. It’s expected from the start.
I have a sign on my schedule board stating that school students are expected to come half an hour early and stay half an hour after lessons to properly care for the horses.
It is actually an HOUR OF “FREE” HORSE TIME that they don’t have to pay for…

if if some one has an issue with any of this, I don’t want them around my horses in the first place.

[rhymeswithfizz]

Pony Club! The PC curriculum is not just for kids anymore and will give you a structured path for the horse management skills that your students need, with the goal of becoming fully independent. There are set safety and grooming standards – no need for you to reinvent the wheel. You can add the horse management curriculum as part of your lesson program and likely boost your revenue too.

Consider becoming a Pony Club Riding Center, which caters really well to lesson program type of barns:
https://www.ponyclub.org/Discover/StartClubCenter.aspx

Not sure where you are located, but I’m the regional supervisor for the Rocky Mountain Region and can help direct you to the right person to talk to, if you are interested. You may also be able to tie in with another local club.

[S1969]

@Palm Beach

There is no such thing as a “volunteer program” of working off lessons. That is a barter system, those kids are employees, and they need to be on the books as such, and compliant with all local labor laws. :no:

Right. This is the second time you have made this point. Are you a labor attorney?

90% of the posters on COTH grew up as a “barn rat” and did this type of barter work, and claim to be better for it. More and more barns aren’t doing this because of fear of being sued if someone gets hurt. Not sure that they often get hit by DOL for not paying minimum wage or making sure kids have working papers.

[Palm_Beach]

@S1969

Right. This is the second time you have made this point. Are you a labor attorney?

90% of the posters on COTH grew up as a “barn rat” and did this type of barter work, and claim to be better for it. More and more barns aren’t doing this because of fear of being sued if someone gets hurt. Not sure that they often get hit by DOL for not paying minimum wage or making sure kids have working papers.

It’s illegal. And yes, kids get hurt and the barns are legally obligated to pay for injuries to their employees at work. Why should the kid’s parents have to pay for medical bills because you are doing something shady?