Well…barns that go to Florida for the winter are A show barns and therefore have mostly horses at least halfway competitive on that level on the road and back at home. None of my barns did tough horses or projects but focused on nice horses aimed at the rated show rings.
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Sure, but if they’re halfway competitive (and not too old or otherwise wouldn’t thrive in that environment), I have a hard time believing they wouldn’t also be in Florida/on the road generating revenue for the program.
From a client standpoint, I wouldn’t be thrilled if I went to Florida and my trainer told me that Susie Amateur would be riding my horse that I’d left behind. Unless of course said amateur was already a part of the program. So no, I don’t think it’s realistic because most clients probably wouldn’t go for it to be honest.
I think a better option for you would be to reach out to any high school or college riding programs in your area to see if they might need horses exercised while students are away on break.
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Hijacking my own thread (kind of?) but I was recently talking to an underwriter at an insurance carrier (I own my brokerage’s Equine Risk market) and they mentioned that “a lot of their college program insureds allow students to bring horses home with them during breaks”??
I’d never heard of this but apparently it’s a thing?? Seems like a huge liability… (although I guess Susie Ammy could be as well)
Most barns are going to be like yours - everything that is staying home is in work through lessons or in-barn riders. It seems a lot of people posting here had the same thought.
I assume you’ve asked your trainer for help finding more saddle time? And it sounds like the best they can offer right now is maybe hopping on some ponies at the sister barn? That seems like a decent opportunity, and about the best you’re going to find unless your trainer can put you in contact with another program.
Either way, I’d lean on your trainer here. You may have some connections to other barns but depending on the type of connection, it might be just as strange to show up/message asking for ride time. Especially if they know who you ride with and haven’t heard from your trainer - it could be seen as an attempt to poach, which crosses some unspoken lines between pros. It’s one thing to come pay for rides, it’s entirely different to be looking for free rides.
Also, if you charge or receive any renumeration for rides, you are a pro and need to update your status.
Agree with this whole post, but especially this! Hopping on an extra horse at the home barn is one thing - scheduled rides are paid or paid for, usually.
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This is a sample size of one college only, but I know of one that will lease out their show team horses for the summer for a “donation” to the college/program - well-known program with A-show quality horses
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There are good show horses staying home because their owners cannot swing the complete winter circuit costs. Maybe go down for a few weeks in Feb but not Dec to March. Normally there is somebody there to keep them legged up, owners do it or they are on break.
Just don’t think there would be enough for other then a few, occasional rides when nobody else can do it and it would not be worth your time to persue it.
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Same.
It keeps the horses in work, and it cuts down on the labor and expenses for the college barn during the summer when they might have less staff/students on hand.
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Agreed, a flexible schedule is a huge help - I work for myself and set my own schedule so often get asked to cover a few rides because it’s easy for me to pop to the barn and ride a couple on very little notice when something comes up.
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Thirded, though in my case I know a barn that gets the occasional summer care lease from an NCAA program. The barn owner has an established relationship with the program though because she’s also done rehab board for them.
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And from an insurance standpoint, I would assume that these leases are like any private lease - signed contracts etc to cover liabilities
As someone who has been in this position of @TinFoilHat in the past …
If you’re a good riding ammy who is available to ride horses of the trainer’s or other AA’s with approval of the owners when needed - you’d have already been asked.
my old trainers used to have me hack schoolies, flat their sales horses for sale videos, and occasionally flat another AA’s horse with their explicit written approval in their board contract. they did not let me on the majority of their homebreds nor their main competition horses. I never once asked. They asked me by simply saying after an early Saturday morning lesson “Hey, do you have time to get on XYZ, I want to see if you can be the AA for the flat sale video - I can have Groom tack him up in 10 minutes & put him away.”
I also turned down hack and flat riding opportunities a few other AA horses bc I knew I did not like the ride / didn’t feel competent on said animal despite their owners approving me as a rider.
my current trainer is working with getting me back into shape after a near 3 year hiatus and a bad fall in January while also changing some old habits (dressage rider turned jumper who still sits her ass in the tack too much over fences) - so she does NOT ask me to hack her horses before or after my lessons.
She asks another AA or a good riding junior if her assistant isn’t available.
If it isn’t being offered to you / you aren’t being asked – then more often that not … you’re not needed.
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This is a thing. Students play a large part in the care of the horses at school. There is often not enough staff when the students leave to care for the horses, so the kids take the horses home.
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I think that the kinds of programs that effectively shut down northern operations for half the year aren’t really your target demographic here. Where you WILL find some interest is likely with people who own their own farms and meet trainers as needed. My friends who are in that position frequently have someone else who is roughly equivalent in skill set who comes out to hack their horses and it’s mutually beneficial. Winter months I think are more challenging since many of them don’t have lights in the ring and when it gets dark at 5, you’re much more limited schedule-wise, so if you have schedule flexibility you can likely find yourself some saddle time.
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Another thought, my lease contracts state the only person that can ride the horse is the one paying and the staff at the farm. Another amateur wouldn’t fall into those categories.
