Um…you posted on a public forum whining about how you hated your job and wanted to quit to jump into the equestrian industry. You DID sign up for this and received some really thoughtful feedback. I’m sorry you feel attacked. Perhaps you should reach out to a Moderator to have the thread deleted as you will most likely continue to receive advice on “how to live your life”.
Again, good luck in the future.
And 99% of posters have advised you to NOT work for a barn or to do so on the weekends only to start. You haven’t responded to any of this advise.
Most of the 1% who have tried to give some recommendations have questioned about your experience level, which is entirely relevant to recommendations. And you haven’t answered.
Many have observed that the issues you have with your current job will also exist - in spades - in the horse world. To which you haven’t responded either.
Help us help you.
OP even if people were inclined to recommend barns we have no idea what your experience is. Do you ride? For how long? At what level? Do you or have you ever owned a horse? Have you shown? Or are you entry level for all of the above?
Hahaha…nice try. Don’t blame us. We took time out to try to give some advice.
you did expand on your posts here and gave us a lot of info about why you hated your job. So why is this our fault?
Go try it out then, no one here really has to answer for it but you. You are free to quit your job today.
yes, have you done any chores? can you treat, bandage, give IM/IV meds, handle rehab crazy horses, longe young horses, carry hay, drive a trailer to shows, give client tours, etc?
Wrong post! Sorry
Unless you have a terrible boss (boss to encompass more senior grooms, the barn manager, the barn owner, pro riders, and the clients…can just take one of these people being awful to make you feel like you do in your current job). Unless you like working 7 days a week (horses have to eat and laundry needs to get done on Mondays!). Unless you like working 80-90hrs a week for a weekly rate that may be less than weekend mucking dollars per hour and you may have to sleep in the barn.
I’ve been a show groom and hated it (see list of bosses above) and also loved it (different bosses). It was at a time in my life where I still had health coverage, it was seasonal, I wasn’t so physically broken yet, and I got to learn a lot and ride a lot (riding is NOT typical). I could live on gas station coffee, apples and PB&J and free horse show party food (cheese and raw vegetables most of the time). There’s a reason that even in really good programs the burnout rate is high. If your skills are lower, you will basically be barn slave at a show, spending your time bathing, feeding, and mucking, working all those hours 7 days a week because there are only so many of you on the road.
I’ve also had terrible bosses and no benefits and bad wages in my other professional life. It’s terrible. It’s draining and depressing and demoralizing. Thankfully, I gained experience and found other opportunities. But even when an opportunity arose to go back to horses during that time, I kept on in my chosen field a bit longer because I knew it would be tough and I didn’t want to live on PB&J anymore.
Of course, the let’s not forget the misogyny, the harassment, the abuse that is fairly common in the industry.
Emma go for it. It will be a serious reality bitch slap. Been there, stayed in engineering.
I realized I could do more for horses by being a good engineer. I moved from literally being a rocket scientist to medical devices, bone tissue repair, studying safety on cross country for the USEA, working with veterinary researchers at a large equine orthopedics center.
WAY, WAY, WAY, more fulfilling than working in an industry that is a luxury and if it disappeared tomorrow, most of the world wouldn’t notice.
yes, I told OP not to do this, but I guess we’ll find out. I was trying to be a bit positive and not overly negative.
OP if you really want to work as a groom, want to feel valued as a person and care about the envorinment, why not look at the equine tourism industry? If I was having my quarter life crisis all over again I’d spend a year being a riding travel guide somewhere cool like in Spain. Work with horses - tick. Build meaningful personal relationships - tick. Away from the corporate machine - tick.
OP, I think you have your answer.
A wide cross section of people including current and former pros, and very experienced amateurs, have shared their experiences about barn culture.
You’ve also got a taste of the attitudes horse people may hold about values related to work.
I think it would be reasonable to conclude you might not find the equestrian world a good fit.
Ok, not the original post ( which just said you hate your boring ass day job) but this one adding more information.
You now say you started this thread asking us to recommend something to you but don’t see words to that effect. Just hate your job, hated the people in Australia, just didn’t fit in and in a later post made a silly reference to freedom in the Middle Ages.
If you want recommendations on where to seek barn jobs? You need to ask specifically for recommendations. Speaking of seeking recommendations, you paint yourself as an unpleasant person with trouble fitting in at several positions in your current field. How can anybody recommend a barn position to you using only what you share about your so far unfulfilling Engineering career?
We know only what you chose to share with us, all you shared was you hate your job, don’t fit in well. Not a word about horse experience or skills. How can you expect recommendations for a barn job off that? Hint, when trying to sell yourself to strangers here or in a job interview, you need to highlight your skills, dependability, willingness to work as part of a team and flexibility. Not vent your dissatisfaction. Might want to lose the profanity too. Doesn’t present you as a good candidate to recommend to anybody or for us to share a potential job lead with you based on what you shared here.
Oh, the answer on where to look is Yard and Groom and you need to prepare a barn job specific resume.
And you do realize you have shared too much on here about yourself. Many, many read this who might be open to hiring you, wouldn’t want them to read this or somebody to share it with them if you do apply for a job. You have shared a rather specific job history as well as a load of anger.
Millennial - though I do not identify with 99% of them. Perhaps it was from working in my family’s factory from age 6 onward.
Female.
Chemical engineer.
Oil and gas.
Complain as you may about environmental concerns stemming from “us” but…
That nylon halter and lead you use? You’re welcome.
That muck bucket? You’re welcome.
The polyester fold up camp chair? You’re welcome.
The feed bin? You’re welcome.
The manure fork? You’re welcome.
The water bottle you bought, or brought? You’re welcome.
Your chapstick? You’re welcome.
The fuel you use to power that hot-and-cold wash rack? You’re welcome.
That vacation to BoraBora you flew to? You’re welcome.
That pen you signed that check with? You’re welcome for the plastic casing, and you’re welcome for the ink.
Your makeup you put on every day? You’re welcome.
The fly spray you use? You’re welcome.
The tires on your car? You’re welcome.
The fuel to get you there? My pleasure, you’re welcome.
The asphalt on the road that took you there? You’re welcome.
Shall I go on?
Quit crying. Earn your damned stripes. Accept you’re just a cog in the wheel, but crank that cog as hard as you can or get out.
And if you want to make a difference, find a replacement for petrol in all the items outside of fuel it ends up in so you can put me out of business.
Meanwhile, I’ll be making the diesel for our trucks, and hoping I don’t have a unit upset that makes me burn enough H2S through the flare to kill everyone within a 1 mile radius.
There it is - the millennial issue. “I don’t like your opinion, therefore you should not have it.” Or, “I’m offended, so you should stop talking.”
The crux of the complaints about my generation stem from those two things right there. OP, you’re free to never open this thread again. Get control of, and while you’re at it - over -, yourself. Because the rest of us hooligans are pervasive in all facets of your life, not just a COTH forum.
that is not a millennial issue.
i encounter the above in bold, on a daily basis, from non-millennials daily. “this doesn’t fit my narrow scope of reality/agenda, therefore you shouldn’t think it.”
Perhaps with the invention of technology and an unlimited audience, the millennials have a larger voice with it then.
It’s infuriating, and terrifying. Someone my age (28), living successfully, no chip on my shoulder, have horses, enjoying myself - is seen as an alien to my peers who want their employers to cater to them. Meanwhile, any wealth I’ve been able to accumulate by working my ass off is seen with jealousy and “gimme gimme” instead of for the blood sweat and tears it took to get it there.
It may be an issue in all generations, but it absolutely plagues the millennials. They have an entirely self-defined worldview and see everything through the lens of how it pertains to themselves.
what a wide blanket you’re casting. wow.
the way i see it, is that there is a lot of social change and progression, spurred in part by millenials - they have technology and tools that their prior generations never had. in my frank opinion? it threatens people… so they start to cast aspersions. it’s not a very convincing argument when your only evidence is to disparage an entire group of people.
lamenting a bygone generation is hardly a new thing. people have been kvetching about the next generation and how bad they are before the wheel was even invented.
When someone views their online persona as equally or more important than their “actual” persona - there will be problems. It has reduced or eliminated the skills needed to make a case for yourself in the real world, as one becomes too accustomed to being able to control comments and perceptions in the online world. Don’t like that person? Delete. Don’t like that opinion? Delete. Instead of learning how to walk away or defend their point, have a discussion, they are trying to “delete” others and their opinions in the real world.
This online v real, and the inability to cope with being offended or sitting in a hot seat, is where this snowflake mentality comes to light.
Remember - I am a millennial. I’m discouraged by my own generation.
Emmo, I understand where you are coming from. The desk job can become a grind. You are young and if you are not yet tied down to anything (husband, kids, etc) then I think you should go for it. Take a year off of the office , prepare to be broke and go have some fun. You don’t want to look back on this in 10-20 years and wish you would have done it. It will probably be a good experience. You may find that you miss the stability of the engineering job (or not!). Hopefully, you can find a position where you can travel a bit. If you hate it, well then back to plan B. I think you should do it, life is too short to be miserable.
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