The first time I rode my current horse (she was a schoolie) she was groomed and tacked up by the barn kids. After that first ride it was my responsibility. I had my previous horse for 27 years and he was always groomed and tacked by me. I’ve never boarded at a barn that offered those services.
Don’t forget your child has a horsey parent wanting to be braiding at 4am, the other little girl may have an impatient parent wanting to bail. And some kids don’t want to do it if the groom is there to take it…hate to say even I handed mine over to a groom after the last class because I didn’t want to do it and the service was included in the day charges. That doesn’t mean we don’t know how and get that service at home, most don’t around here even at AA barns. Shows are different, nice to not get dirty before your class or have an hour of horse work before a 6 hour drive home with work the next morning,
I actually was never at a barn that routinely tacked your horse up at home. It was available if you needed it at an extra charge but they were nice about putting one back up after it finished cooling/drying if you had to run pick up a child or get back to work or something.
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The bolded part is why I change clothes at work before leaving for the barn. The bathrooms at work are bigger and cleaner and better lit than the ones at the barn, and so slightly easier to change into breeches in a hurry.
Tacking up really helps me get in the right frame of mind too. When I jump on in a rush it takes me longer to be really effective in the saddle.
As a life-long DIY-er, I had the opportunity to take advantage of the full service treatment very briefly. It was a full-service dressage barn, and it was very strange to be handed a horse tacked and ready to ride, then hand it over after my lesson. I asked to groom and tack myself once and the grooms looked at me like I had grown another head, but let me. I felt like they weren’t comfortable with me there, and I probably wrecked their routine, so I didn’t do it again.
I am much happier to be able to do it myself, although my trainer has had her assistant start grooming and tacking a few times for weeknight lessons when I let her know I was running a bit behind.
In Chile and Uruguay, for trail riding, the grooms brought out the horses already groomed and tacked up. I did not learn basic horse-keeping skills down there!
The one trail ride I got to do at the Grand Teton National Park, the horse was already groomed and saddled.
Then I got into lessons up here in the USA (hunt seat) and we were given a barn lesson, but when we rode in the lessons the horses were already groomed and tacked up. My first lesson I learned that it was a very good idea for me to check the tightness of the girth!
Then I got my own horse, and used the knowledge I got in that barn lesson. I brought in, groomed and tacked up my own horses for decades, and when I got lessons I groomed and tacked up.
Now, crippled with MS, the wonderful ladies at both barns bring in the horse, and groom and tack up for my lessons. At one place I help some, and if my teacher is late I will start grooming and tacking up if someone else catches the horse. At the other place the barn owner’s mother grooms and the barn owner tacks up. When I do my “homework” ride there one of the barn workers catches the horse for me, my husband does the main grooming and he helps me tack up (sometimes I am too weak to lift the saddle up on the horse’s back.)
If I did not have MS I most certainly would still be catching, grooming, rasping hooves, and tacking up. There are times that I really, really miss doing the work.
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Very true
Hellllllll No
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Although I don’t have groom service at home I definitely utilize it at shows. I remember all too well the days of showing off a trailer with no grooms and I’m too old for that.
The people who take lessons on the lesson horses at my barn tack up and down before and after their lesson. Sometimes their parents (who aren’t necessarily horsey) help, sometimes they do it on their own, sometimes the instructor helps, and sometimes it’s a mix. For example, maybe they can get the horse groomed, but need help lifting the saddle on.
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I pretty much always groom and tack my own at home (helps me get limber before the first ride!), but will take a groom service at shows if it’s what the barn does - I spent a couple of years of being the lone “do it yourself-er” and getting in the paid grooms’ ways before I figured it was easier on all of us if I just went with the flow.
I agree, though, that groom/tack services are best for folks who already know how to do it - it does a real disservice to beginners to not teach them the basics of horse care.
I sometimes have help getting my second horse ready while I’m still on the first one and have back-to-back lessons or classes. It’s more about scheduling than anything else. I do put both of them away myself afterwards.
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Growing up in big show barns and “lesson factories” the horses were always ready, standing tacked in their stall, and were to be returned, tacked, to their stalls when you were finished. When I owned my own horse in these boarding situations, grooming, tacking, cooling, and hosing were included in board, but I refused to have someone else do the work when it was my horse. (non-owners using a lesson horse didn’t have a choice).
As an adult, same thing, I don’t even board at a barn any longer that offers that, and I would never want it if they did. Grooming, tacking, and untacking is a prime time to check my horse and tack over, and address any issues needing attention–something I can’t bring any other human but myself to carefully enough do.
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You forgot to mention the inappropriate choice of treats.
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When I lived in England for a year a lot of places have the barn kids tack up for you, though often I would untack. Sometimes it came in handy when I was running late, but in general I prefer to do it myself for the same reasons most have stated.
I also noticed the Brits seemed to be comfortable leaving a horse fully tacked in their stall with the reins twisted and looped through the throat latch. I’ve gotten the impression that’s maybe more frowned upon here? But on the flip side they seem to have more consistent standards for horsemanship b/c of the guidelines set by the British Horse Society through their courses and training center assessments (something I really wish we had in the US).
In the US I’ve always groomed and tacked myself. I also like when places let you hose down (when necessary). Even on riding holidays I usually try to help groom and tack–it’s all learning experiences and more horse time is never a bad thing 
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If I could afford it I would have hired help at my farm because my horses are a**holes, love mud and are a pain in the butt to groom. So I would way rather “bond” with them over something else and let someone else dodge teeth and get covered in mud and dust on a daily basis
I love them dearly but would not miss grooming time at all!
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There are times I wish that I could have somebody groom and tack for me so I could have time to ride 2 in a night. I just don’t have the time to do both horses after work and still get home at a reasonable time.
I groomed and tacked up my horse for my trainer to ride the other day.
I don’t think anyone has ever tacked up a horse for me other than those dude string trail ride places where the horses stand tied up in saddles between rides.
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I love the ladies who for “time reasons and their busy schedules” need a groom to tack up their horse for them, and then they sit on the aisle talking to the other ladies or their trainer or even the groom as the groom tacks the horse. All the time in the world to talk but it is apparently impossible to talk while using a curry.
On the flip side of this are the ladies who need to be stopped who spend 45 minutes in the wash stall or park their horse on the front set of cross ties for two hours so everyone has to constantly ask to get by with the third horse they have tacked and ridden in this time.
Rare is the bird who can get the horse from the paddock, groom it, tack it up, ride it, hose it, give the legs a wash and towel dry and have it back in the paddock relaxing in an hour and a half.
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Depends on where you board and their policies. My barns you normally gotyour own and got out of the way ASAP. If others want to pay for it and hang around chatting? Don’t care long as they aren’t in the way, their choice, keeps WS in demand and grooms employed.
That’s me! I’m gabbing until I ride.
Finally stopped laughing enough to be able to type “no.”
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We tack up in our stalls which have runouts and stall guards so you don’t feel claustrophobic. You can putz around as long as you want. That really helps not be bothered by other people’s speed, competence and priorities.
On the other hand we are self board so before I even tack up I toss a flake of hay and prep the dinner mash. Then make a decision to clean paddock and set hay timers now or after. Etc.
So a good day at the barn is closer to three hours total.
I have barn friends I am happy to have real conversations with, but I don’t have much energy for social chit chat oh how was your weekend? with all and sundry.
I would get very irritated if there were cross ties in the aisle and a big loud group chit chat there on a regular basis. I’ve seen more of that at full board barns. Indeed when I’ve temporarily been at full board barns, it’s felt a bit odd not having all these other tasks to do!
At my regular barn folks do a lot of socialuzing with their neighbors across the paddock fence while they are picking poop
If you want to postpone or avoid riding there is a lot of busywork or even important overdue tasks to do in self board
