How do you do your research? Sure, riders who are already riding within the same circles/circuit as those they are applying to work for will be able to ask trainers or hear things by word of mouth. But what about riders whose circle has no overlap with the rider/trainer they are trying to work for? Its very easy to say do your research, but unless you’re already on the inside, its actually really hard to “do your research” on potential employers.
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I was never a working student for a BNT, but I was in WS-esque and groom positions for a number of people, and was taken advantage of every single time without fail. None of my “employers” for lack of a better term ever held up their end of the deal and I worked my absolute ass off for every single one of them. Similarly, three out of four of my internships in undergrad were unpaid (full-time, manual labor, animal husbandry or agriculture internships).
As an adult with gainful employment, a 401k, and excellent health insurance, I am staunchly opposed to unpaid labor. It’s exploitative af and I hope as more millennials get into management positions that it’s on its way out.
But when I was 18-23 before I made a career switch out of horses/ manual labor side of animals, I would have jumped at the opportunity to be a WS or groom for a BNT trainer. My life would have probably gone down a different path tbh. So more power to the people who it works for, but now that I’m on the other side I just cannot imagine requiring what was expected of me from 18-23 from a person that I was not paying or paying very little.
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I’m going to disagree with you a little bit here.
CNAs (certified nursing assistants) don’t need college degrees and the length of training is quite short (months, not years). Yes, I know, you protest that CNAs aren’t “real” nurses, but they do perform basic patient care and are typically viewed by patents as nurses.
LPNs (licensed practical nurses) don’t need a college degree. It’s a vocational program commonly offered by community colleges. The training program typically lasts about a year. And you can’t say that LPNs aren’t “real” nurses.
Now, if you want to talk about becoming an RN, then yes, what you said is correct. But, there are ways to work in the nursing field and be a nurse that have a lower barrier to entry, lower educational requirements, and “easier” licensing exams than becoming an RN.
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With the internet I have no doubt you can find out what someone ( especially an established trainer ) is like to work for.
Look at how people come out of the woodwork on COTH when a professional is mentioned. You get the good and the bad without asking for it.
I am not saying they should ask here. Just saying the internet makes it easier .
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The same way everyone does their research on any employer they interview with, regardless of industry. Talk to current employees or working students, ask the employer for references, use the internet.
Do people do this?
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In a way, I did. My personal experience allowed me to become a pro. I didn’t really make much of it, but that’s totally okay. I’m an ammy now and regret nothing.
Here was the situation:
- top A barn in the PNW (went to WEF, medal finals, trainer rode on Nation’s Cup teams)
- $400/week to start (this was in 2012)
- 5 lessons a week
- duties included tacking up, turn out, watching lessons, standing with vet/farrier
- eventually turned into an assistant position that then included teaching lessons on top of other barn duties
It was an incredible opportunity that truly made me not only the rider I am today, but the person. I learned a lot of horse sense and a lot of grit. I was young and lived with my parents at the time. Eventually I got several raises and was offered on-site living (at the cost of night check and nighttime arena sprinkler duty in the summer).
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Absolutely. I’ve asked multiple employers that I’ve interviewed with for permission to talk to current employees and have reached out to former employees myself.
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I applied to two working students positions with well-known riders/trainers in 2014, and years later applied to judicial clerkships (where you’re working very closely with a judge, generally immediately after or close to graduation from law school). I found both processes to be very similar. If you were already in a specific circle (showing on the A-circuit, or knew those in the same circle as the riders/trainers you were applying to work with) getting at least some information on potential employers wasn’t generally that hard. If you weren’t - if you were say, riding at a small barn on an IHSA team in the middle of nowhere like I was - information was absolutely not accessible.
Once I had my first working student position and was more connected/“in the know” by virtue of it, it was much easier to get information and vet potential employers for my second. In fact, I found out information about someone I had to applied to work for (and not gotten a position with) that made me very grateful to have not gotten the offer, retroactively. But it was information absolutely not available online and not available to me without knowing someone who moved in the same circles as this person - access I only gained by my first working student position.
I got lucky and ended up with two very good positions that I enjoyed as a working student. But to say its as easy as talking to current employees or asking for references ignores the very siloed way this industry operates. At a certain level, people know the rumors and other people’s business. But if you want to get your foot in the door to that level, you’re very much going in blind.
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Your experience sounds like the ideal apprenticeship style of WS position. Many people to go into those roles are hoping for those opportunities. Most don’t get them.
WS positions and arrangements take many shapes, from true apprenticeships to a simple exchange to labor for lessons or board. The key is that both parties are in agreement on what the goal is. If the WS is hoping to learn the ropes and gain the skills that will lead to a career as and equestrian then being a stall mucker who gets a free lesson on a school horse once a week isn’t going to suffice. Both parties must have an understanding.
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Someone mentioned getting paid for work and then paying for lessons …
Thing is, if you pay me $16 an hour, but charge $100 for a lesson … That’s really not going to get anyone anywhere. It’s demotivating.
Would you work all day, at the risk of severe injury, for one lesson?
If they don’t do the grunt work for $16 an hour, your $100 an hour self will have to do it.
There’s a middle ground somewhere there.
Cause we both need each other.
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