How much do you charge for grooming?

[Amber_C]

This is a topic that I find to be a very interesting one. How much do you typically charge for grooming over a weekend?

I have groomed at show barns for the past five years, doing both local shows and A shows. I do full grooming, so every and anything. What is expected of me is; horses are we do almost all set up on the prior day (haying, buckets, setting up the front, shavings, unloading hay and shavings. usually get paid $20 from this), feed in the morning, given all forms of medications (either with feed or at separate times), lunging or hacking is done in the morning (usually finished before 6:30), all tack is brought out and cleaned as needed, we are either texted or given a schedule and have horses all tacked up before riders come down (either waiting on mounting block or at the ring), cleaning stalls (usually five+ a day), general cleaning, refilling waters, horses come back and are bathed, ice packs and boots placed on as needed, blanketing (if needed), and horses are wrapped at the end of the day.
Rinse and repeat.
Essentially, none of these clients have to worry about anything except showing up on time (which some even have problems with this). Nobody does much of any handling with the horse except for us. We do the full grooming experience. Most horses are ridden in multiple classes, so I would say a horse is untacked and retacked three times in a day. Tipping is not enforced, usually most people will not tip. Per horse, for three days, we are typically paid $90. This used to be less, but we got them to raise it a tiny bit more. Yes, and I’m saying we as I work alongside someone else. And yes, it’s $90 per horse for three days and that $90 is then split between two people. They pay for one person, not two as they should pay for. Even then, the chaos of splitting 12+ horses between two people when full grooming feels not always worth it.

So, I’d like to see what everyone else pays or charges. Do you tip? Is it full grooming or partial? I always like to hear people’s sides from grooming.

[Scribbler]

I’m a little lost on your calculations. However I will say that from an employment point of view, you are working full out full time for a very long day. It’s skilled labor and it’s important that it be done right.

When you divide your total pay by the number of hours worked you should get a reasonable hourly rate of pay. Where I live the minimum wage is $11 an hour, so I would think that here, if you weren’t making at least $15 an hour overall then you are better off getting a job in a restaurant.

There are of course two separate issues. One is total pay and one is workload. Your pay might be OK but your workload might be undoable. There might be a tradeoff where in order for the pay to be reasonable the operation needs to be understaffed. This isn’t sustainable.

Who gets to set the fees? I expect it is the trainer not you. It is in the interest of the trainer to charge the clients less for grooming knowing that you will still work really hard for little pay.

If you want to change this you need to sit down and crunch the numbers. How many hours do you work, how much do you get paid, and what’s your effective hourly rate?

Also you need to know in your own mind what outcomes you want. Are you about ready to quit grooming and go get a restaurant job if things don’t change? Or are you emotionally invested in the horse show scene?

Also are you considered a very good worker in
grooming or are other people better able to handle the workload and pressure?

All of these factors will determine what conversation you have with the trainer and whether it is worthwhile for both of you to explore ways of changing the situation, or if it’s just time for you to move on

it may be an economically impossible situation where the clients won’t pay substantially more for these services and the business model requires self exploitation by the trainer and employees. This is not uncommon in the horse world. Indeed it may be the basic business model.

[mh97]

I have groomed in a bunch of different situation, each one is unique. Generally for me, pay is a base rate of $100/day. I typically would be caring for anywhere from 3-7 horses by myself. Tips in addition to the base pay when clients are on full service (so I am tacking their horses, doing stalls, grooming, bathing, cooling out etc). Tipping is generally $10 per day showing per horse. But, I generally don’t expect tips if I am grooming for clients that are not on full service (so they do their own stalls, and I just provide assistance with tacking, cooling out, etc and hacking horses in the AM).

[Amber_C]

@Scribbler

I’m a little lost on your calculations. However I will say that from an employment point of view, you are working full out full time for a very long day. It’s skilled labor and it’s important that it be done right.

When you divide your total pay by the number of hours worked you should get a reasonable hourly rate of pay. Where I live the minimum wage is $11 an hour, so I would think that here, if you weren’t making at least $15 an hour overall then you are better off getting a job in a restaurant.

There are of course two separate issues. One is total pay and one is workload. Your pay might be OK but your workload might be undoable. There might be a tradeoff where in order for the pay to be reasonable the operation needs to be understaffed. This isn’t sustainable.

Who gets to set the fees? I expect it is the trainer not you. It is in the interest of the trainer to charge the clients less for grooming knowing that you will still work really hard for little pay.

If you want to change this you need to sit down and crunch the numbers. How many hours do you work, how much do you get paid, and what’s your effective hourly rate?

Also you need to know in your own mind what outcomes you want. Are you about ready to quit grooming and go get a restaurant job if things don’t change? Or are you emotionally invested in the horse show scene?

Also are you considered a very good worker in
grooming or are other people better able to handle the workload and pressure?

All of these factors will determine what conversation you have with the trainer and whether it is worthwhile for both of you to explore ways of changing the situation, or if it’s just time for you to move on

it may be an economically impossible situation where the clients won’t pay substantially more for these services and the business model requires self exploitation by the trainer and employees. This is not uncommon in the horse world. Indeed it may be the basic business model.

I totally forgot to put times in. So, usually I’ll get to show ground around 4:30 am and leave around 10 pm. I think it’s usually 18 hours a day. We are expected to have everything completely finished before someone arrives to the park. Trainer sets the fees. It was hard enough to get them to raise it by $10 last time we tried. We are what I would consider a good pair. We have multiple barns always asking for us to groom for them instead, but in the end it comes down to how many clients they bring and the difference we could possibly make in a weekend.

[c0608524]

Just to throw some numbers out there…

12 horses @ $90 - $1080
between two people - $540 per person
for three days - $180 a day
at 18 hours a day - $10/hr.

$10/hr. Less than minimum wage in many places. It doesn’t sound worth it when you can make similar money in a less stressful environment.

[Caligirl83]

Each client pays our groom $100/ day per horse for full grooming, plus tips. He charges $75/ horse setup fee for the warmup nonshowing day. If he has more than 6 horses he hires another groom but the clients do not pay more. This is the same at the big A shows or unrated shows (our unrated shows are often A show quality at the same facilities before or after the A shows). We are in Southern California.

[joiedevie99]

Last I spoke with our show grooms, they were making $100 day + tips. Housing and a small stipend for breakfast/lunch (or a bracelet to eat at the buffet tent) were also provided. This is for 4-6 horses.

[Amber_C]

@Caligirl83

Each client pays our groom $100/ day per horse for full grooming, plus tips. He charges $75/ horse setup fee for the warmup nonshowing day. If he has more than 6 horses he hires another groom but the clients do not pay more. This is the same at the big A shows or unrated shows (our unrated shows are often A show quality at the same facilities before or after the A shows). We are in Southern California.

Wow! That’s a huge difference. Almost makes me want to move to CA. :lol:

[kenyarider]

In the PNW I have always paid over $75 per day per horse and now it’s $90 per day per horse. Grooming consists of bathing, tacking, lunging, bandages, and may be tack cleaning (not always). Stall cleaner and feeding is $25 per day. I am ABSOLUTELY expected to tip and normally tip one day’s pay. Groom does 3-4 horses, stall cleaner as many as trainer says. So for me, $120 groom/stall, trainer $70 per day. Expensive so when I can I do my own grooming/stall. California is more. Where on earth are you?

[worth_the_wait08]

@Amber C

We have multiple barns always asking for us to groom for them instead, but in the end it comes down to how many clients they bring and the difference we could possibly make in a weekend.

Will the other barns pay you more? I think it’s likely if they’re asking for you specifically. Unless they’ve heard you’ll work for peanuts, in which case you may need to do some bargaining/self promotion.

[Amber_C]

@kenyarider

In the PNW I have always paid over $75 per day per horse and now it’s $90 per day per horse. Grooming consists of bathing, tacking, lunging, bandages, and may be tack cleaning (not always). Stall cleaner and feeding is $25 per day. I am ABSOLUTELY expected to tip and normally tip one day’s pay. Groom does 3-4 horses, stall cleaner as many as trainer says. So for me, $120 groom/stall, trainer $70 per day. Expensive so when I can I do my own grooming/stall. California is more. Where on earth are you?

I’m in GA. We’ve just over the last year convinced them to go up to $30 per day per horse… Used to be less

[Amber_C]

@worth_the_wait08

Will the other barns pay you more? I think it’s likely if they’re asking for you specifically. Unless they’ve heard you’ll work for peanuts, in which case you may need to do some bargaining/self promotion.

Money is always a hard thing for me to discuss with others it seems. I never know what’s too much and what’s too little. All of the surrounding barns at the shows that groom have grooms that don’t speak english and, although I can speak some Spanish, I can’t speak enough to ask them and see what they make.

[Jax]

Agree with everyone saying $100/horse/day is about what you should expect. Stall mucking not included, braiding not included, everything else probably in there. Show days are always long but 4:30 am to 10 pm sounds insane. Maybe I’ve just been out of it too long?

I also heartily agree with @Scribbler’s advice. The math literally doesn’t work in your case (from the sounds of it), never mind that you’re working twice as hard for the (pitiful) money.

[Amber_C]

@Jax

Agree with everyone saying $100/horse/day is about what you should expect. Stall mucking not included, braiding not included, everything else probably in there. Show days are always long but 4:30 am to 10 pm sounds insane. Maybe I’ve just been out of it too long?

I also heartily agree with @Scribbler’s advice. The math literally doesn’t work in your case (from the sounds of it), never mind that you’re working twice as hard for the (pitiful) money.

We are typically expected to have everything finished before 6:30-7. Usually, 12+ horses are going to the show. Out of those twelve horses, I’d say 8-10 need to be lunged every morning. All stalls are cleaned before any arrives, wraps rolled, isle-ways are cleaned, meds given, etc. That’s why we are usually there so early. Sometimes we get out earlier, but usually 9 or 10.

[Amber_C]

Now, here’s another fun question I have.

I recently have gotten contacted by two barns to groom for them during the week as part-time. It would be probably either 7-12 or 8-12, that way I can still do my afternoon job. I’ve been asked how much I would charge and honestly I have no idea. It would primarily be untacking, tacking, lunging, etc. It’s at a top dressage facility or hunter jumper facility. What’s a basic pay typically? $15 per hour?

[Jax]

@Amber C

We are typically expected to have everything finished before 6:30-7. Usually, 12+ horses are going to the show. Out of those twelve horses, I’d say 8-10 need to be lunged every morning. All stalls are cleaned before any arrives, wraps rolled, isle-ways are cleaned, meds given, etc.

So here’s my thing: at this price point they don’t get the fancy perk of all these things being done before clients get there. There’s obviously a logistical argument for having everything done and out of the way before clients arrive. But seriously, you pay bargain basement prices for grooming = you don’t get to roll up the show and expect everything to be pristine at 6:30 am.

(Now I’m not addressing the possible differences between what you’re paid per horse and what clients are paying per horse - maybe they are paying the prices where they should expect those things, but I’m assuming not)

[Bent_Hickory]

I’m not 100% certain, but I think two things might be being discussed here: 1) what trainers pay grooms; and 2) what trainers bill clients. In the mid-Atlantic, my understanding is that trainers bill their clients “daycare” at shows at the rate of $125-150 per horse/per day. My experience suggests that not all of that gets paid to the groom. I think the going rate here for grooms (not necessarily super high-end, FEI types) is $125-150 per day, plus hotel, plus some meals, plus any tips. I’m assuming that none of these numbers are relevant at the uber-BNT barns.

With your math, you’re making $180 per day which is well above what I see trainers paying grooms around here.

[OneTwoMany]

@Bent Hickory

I’m not 100% certain, but I think two things might be being discussed here: 1) what trainers pay grooms; and 2) what trainers bill clients. In the mid-Atlantic, my understanding is that trainers bill their clients “daycare” at shows at the rate of $125-150 per horse/per day. My experience suggests that not all of that gets paid to the groom. I think the going rate here for grooms (not necessarily super high-end, FEI types) is $125-150 per day, plus hotel, plus some meals, plus any tips. I’m assuming that none of these numbers are relevant at the uber-BNT barns.

With your math, you’re making $180 per day which is well above what I see trainers paying grooms around here.

I won’t opine on whether $180 a day is the right figure or not.

I do agree with @Bent Hickory that what the trainer charges the client and what the groom receives are not 1-on-1 relationships. The trainer is not only paying the groom a salary, they are also covering the employer taxes and insurance and they are carrying overhead which needs to be considered in all service industries. If you don’t have a home farm (and the associated overhead) you often cannot have a business taking clients on the road. If there is groom housing at home, that expense (or lost opportunity cost) continues to be incurred while on the road. The list goes on and on.

It is a bit like going to the garage for service. They might charge $85 an hour for labor, but that doesn’t all go to the mechanic. There are other costs in the background that contribute to the $85 per hour figure.

The OP is asking the right question by saying “what do other grooms in my situation make”. The market dictates pricing. If there are 10 groom jobs at $180 a day and 15 grooms are willing to work for that rate, the OP will have a hard time finding work if she asks for more than $180 a day. If there are ample groom jobs available at $200 a day, then OP should raise her rates or change employers.

OP has the right idea. She needs to ask around and find out what other grooms are making in her locale. Perhaps she should take a Spanish-speaking friend with her when she asks around. OP should make sure to delineate between cash jobs that don’t include social security contributions and other employer benefits such as disability, unemployment, workers comp, etc. The cash paying jobs might net more $$ in the pocket, but the missing benefits might not be worth it.

[Peggy]

We pay the grooms directly so they get all the pay. If there are more than a few horses, he hires extra people and pays them from what we pay him. I have been at barns where we paid the trainer and they paid the grooms. I think current barn is $75/day plus tips (it’s been since last season that I showed). I’m pretty sure that the trainer bills us for groom expenses, such as food and hotel. But there usually isn’t a hotel involved—at one show series the groom lives close enough that he drives back and forth from home. At some shows he stays on the grounds in the utility trailer. It’s somewhat common for California grooms to sleep in grooming stalls.