I read about that in the paper and been following him for a while now. He’s relentless… at 72 still fighting like no other 
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I think it’s safe to say your training is not working:lol:
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I just want to point out that barn work isn’t an escape or a retreat, it’s a job or career like any other. It doesn’t matter how much you love horses, there are tough bosses, demanding customers, long hours, etc., just like any other job.
I don’t know you, but as an employer I can say that I’m wary of inexperienced employees who have a preconceived and idealized view of what barn work is like. Loving horses and loving going to the barn is for the most part unrelated to being a good barn worker. When you are a groom, you are showing up every day in the rain, the snow, the mud to clean stalls, clean the barn, and keep the facility beautifully maintained so that the clients can come out and relax and enjoy a beautiful spring day leisurely grooming, tacking and riding their horse.
On a practical level, I think you probably have a lot better choices than quitting your current job and working in a barn–I think you would be taking a big financial hit and I think you would still end up disappointed (because every good barn has a tough boss that keeps things in line and demanding and not always likable customers that pay the bills).
Why not look for a different job at a different company with a different corporate culture? Investigate other options and see what could be out there for you. Or, if your work doesn’t satisfy you, find something to do outside of work that is meaningful to you and that makes the difference you want to make. Most jobs are companies hiring people to do work that needs to be done in exchange for pay–I don’t know when that people started to feel like they deserved personal “fulfillment” along with a paycheck for their work. IMO, it’s not your job’s responsibility to provide you with fulfillment. That’s something most people end up pursuing on their own time.
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I think that’s where the difference between a job and a career comes in. Good companies that offer careers to people rather than jobs invest in making sure their employees are happy and that they are growing in their careers. Turnover costs are significant. it costs companies something like 6-9 months worth of salary to hire new people and re-train them.
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Yes, to a point, but at some point the employees happiness must come secondary to doing their job…
Also, this goes against your ideas in the OP–the barn worker job is a JOB. I don’t know many people who are truly fulfilled in it, as much as they love horses. Even the people who do it on the weekends for extra money don’t enjoy it.
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If this is what you are looking for, why would you even consider barn work? There is very little room for advancement in pay or position–only in rare instances do grooms advance to trainer or barn owner positions.
But I will say, as someone who has a fair bit of experience in other types of businesses outside of the horse world, what you describe is a rarity. I’m sure it varies by industry (maybe I haven’t been a part of the right industries), but typically people who want to grow their careers have to take their own responsibility for that. Most people use their own time to do classes and seminars, promote themselves through blogging or social media, or take the initiative to develop side businesses, etc.
Whether or not it makes sense, In my own experience (and again, I’m sure it varies by company and industry) companies often like to hire exciting new people from the outside much more than they want to develop their own superstars from within.
If you want to grow in your career, I would suggest you not wait for your company to provide that and instead look for ways that you can do it yourself.
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I wonder how true this really is.
I must admit I’ve snickered a bit over the current crop of job ads that say thingd like “looking for a super rock star with a passion for customer service to work in a fun wholistic environment!!” when it’s just another on call telemarketing job at minimum wage.
in other words a lot of companies say they value employee happiness, but in real markers like full time employment, job permanence, and salary relative to cost of living, they do worse than 50 years ago.
As you go further up the food chain and have greater responsibility, you also have greater autonomy and more ability to set your own terms, of course. But this is for employees who are working hard and getting results.
And I’m not sure about the 6 to 9 months of salary to hire and retrain. In general in my experience at any job you’re expected to arrive trained and hit the ground running. I suppose there are some costs associated with posting a job ad and interviewing candidates, but generally that’s rolled into HR or the manager’s job.
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Except that is exactly what this “new” workforce is requiring, they want to feel fulfilled (whatever that is?). If you go up-thread, you’ll see I mentioned annual required training I must do for helping employees feel fulfilled. And it was put out by our city’s insurance carrier, which makes me wonder if they are seeing this as a liability issues. Will a young, unfulfilled employee sue because big mean ole employers only give MONEY in exchange for work product? Who knows.
Personally, if you want something fulfilling, go volunteer. On your own time. I don’t think your employer should be responsible for handing out warm feelings.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXWNChoIluo
This is actually a VERY good video, that is NOT making fun of millenials (in a real sense, there is some sidemouth humor).
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I struggle to see how working in a barn is going to achieve any of what you’re looking for.
I also think you have unrealistic expectations for any employer. Turnover in a good economy certainly can be challenging but honestly, so can sticking with the wrong employees with a bad attitude. Definitely best to hire slowly and fire quickly. We let someone go last month and had 500 resumes in a week. We are looking at it as an opportunity to upgrade our talent and we certainly expect that person to hit the ground running.
i have worked in city government, for a global environmental non-profit, and now I’m back working in finance. I do not expect my employers to go out of their way to enrich my career or bring me fulfillment. That’s MY job. I am supposed to choose what will fulfill me, knowing full well that a good chunk of the job will be, you know, work. And not fun. what I do focus on is the end result, not the day to day grind.
I really hate when people generalize about generations, but i have to say, in working with younger interns, i have been shocked how few of them are willing to roll up their sleeves and pay their dues with boring work. All lower level jobs have that component, you have to earn the right and privledge to do work that is more “impactful”. I’ve been in mission driven organizations and profit driven organizations and have seen good and bad in both. They key is finding gratitude for the work and deciding if it’s a good fit long term.
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I had a friend who worked for one of the top barns in the country. One day, after warming up horse after horse after horse for the show rider, in 105 degree temps, without a chance to even get a drink of water, she recieved a message from the owner. “Bring my horse over to my air-conditioned car so I can give her a carrot!”
My friend handed the horse to the groom & quit.
Please don’t quit your day job.
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JMO but having a job that lets you own and make decisions for your own horse is far more fulfilling then taking care of horses you don’t own, do not make any decisions for and are not allowed to ride at owners request ( they want the trainer, not a groom or ws on it).
Working in a training barn means if you disagree with handling, training, farrier schedule and work or vet care decisions? You keep your mouth shut. You work for that trainer and those owners. Start openly questioning their decisions or making " suggestions" and you are history.
Thats the reality of working in a barn. Not fulfilling at all…frustrating is a much better word.
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In keeping with my theme of “there’s nothing new under the sun,” I will share with you a story from (counting on my fingers) about 38 years ago. I was a fairly recently employed brand new college graduate.
One day, one of my supervisors said something like this to me: Us old guys just don’t know what to do with you young people. My generation was happy to have a good job. We appreciated the work. But that’s not enough for you people. You won’t follow orders unless you know why and you agree with them. You don’t respect management. Why, the worst thing that could ever happen to one of us would be to be sent home for a few days without pay for messing something up. But you people, we send you home for a few days without pay and all you say is “Thanks! I could use a few days off.”
Even back nearly 40 years ago, young workers wanted to feel “fulfilled” by their work. Truly, I think that attitude started with the hippie generation back in the 60s. I think us old people have, to a certain extent, forgotten that most young people have that attitude.
I know that I hated my first job, thought it was a dysfunctional workplace with uncaring management. Then I quit and got my second job and it began to dawn on me that most of the things I hated were, in many ways, just the nature of work. As the old expression goes, “That’s why they call it work.”
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Yup.
While it’s true my cohort graduated college into a financial depression, we laugh now about basically how unemployable we really were in our 20s.
Over the span of a lifetime though, not such a big problem. Most of us got on our feet in our 30s and found interesting work.
The folks that had actual people skills and employability in their 20s got a head start for sure.
The folks who never quite got on their feet became rather marginal as they aged.
But there is nothing a workplace can do to make employees content, if those employees are unhappy about themselves.
Just like you can’t make a boyfriend happy if he’s depressed and full of self loathing. There’s nothing you can offer that will fill that void.
I think a lot of young women in particular end up with a few depressed years in their mid 20s. It was a friend with two grown daughters pointed that out to me years ago, and I agreed with her then and now.
If you find your life basically good you will be better placed to make choices about jobs, living situations, friends and partners that enhance your overall satisfaction with life.
If you don’t feel good about yourself you might simultaneously hope for more fulfilment from your job, but be less likely to find it, even in a good job, even pursuing your “passion.”
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If you’re mentally feeling unbalanced and dissatisfied at work I would say it’s a natural normal human response to what’s out there. This is not how humans are evolved to live. We’re not free. We’re slaves and we’re the children of slaves… I think the last people who experienced any kind of freedom were the ones who came just before the industrial revolution.
Maybe my dissatisfaction is a natural response to a fucked up society… And it’s normally the more intelligent ones that stop and say… hey wait a second, this doesn’t feel right.
If my work is making me feel miserable and I’m a cog in a machine, well guess what humans aren’t meant to be cogs in a machine… That’s not what we’re designed for. That’s not what we’re evolved to be!
It’s one thing to explore what’s out there when you’re feeling dissatisfied at work. It’s another to piss away a good paying job just because your not farting tulips all day at work. I have no idea where the rest of your thought process is coming from. We live in a free country, You accepted your current job willingly, and you’re free to leave it you don’t like it. Your country guarantees you the right to pursue happiness. Nobody said you’ll ever find it. Welcome to the real world.
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Wow. If you really think that people who lived before the industrial revolution were free, maybe you should quit that engineering job and go work in the onion fields, or at a barn…because those jobs are about as close to peasantry as one can get.
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I’m so so concerned by the failures of our education system to teach human history.
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@emmo What prompted you to go into civil engineering? Do you enjoy it your present place of employment aside?
I have worked with a lot of people your age and younger. The ones who I see struggle in my line of work are the ones that do not take direction well and asking “why do I have to do that” all the time and the ones who’s self worth is directly tied to having an input at work no matter the situation and feeling like an equal to everyone. That is not how my job works.
The new people who sit back learn, and to some extent just do what they are told fare much better.
With time and knowledge people eventually get the latitude to make decisions and direct the tasks. It just doesn’t happen right away. Everyone has to pay their dues. I love my job and yeah I am a small cog trying to be a bigger cog, but I enjoy what I do and I know I impact the big picture and the people I work with.
If you are struggling with the fact that you do not have as much latitude as you like and your opinions are not valued/wanted then you should explore other careers or start your own civil engineering firm. Realize though that no matter what you do, you will have to pay your dues just like everyone else.
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The delusions are strong with this one. :lol:
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