I would love to hire a groom for the circuit @ HITS Ocala (3 Hunters). not much experience with this -
where to advertise?
is it reasonable to hire someone PT?
pay per hour or per day and how much?
thanks!!!
It would be fairly difficult to hire someone part-time to be your show groom, because the expectation would be they would have multiple horses from multiple riders at the same show which would be quite difficult to manage given that hunters have no real times of go.
You should probably expect to hire someone full-time.
you can always reach out to a barn that you know and ask if they know any freelancers who might be available for this particular show.
Pay can be per day or per week, it entirely depends on the groom. Per week would be more standard, and also you would have a higher expectation that the person would stay the whole time.
Will you be providing housing or looking for someone vaguely local? This will also impact your salary offered.
My suggestion would be post an ISO in fb group “grooms, jobs and riders relply here”
Yes, relply.
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You could reach out to one of the equine schools (Centenary University) to see about an internship groom.
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There are WEC, WEF, HITS facebook groups all over the place. Although finding one for only a week and for 1 individual might be tough, but maybe you can offer to trade off an help another ammy and do it together?
Otherwise, I think you’re probably looking at about $100 per day as a going rate to get you decent help. The other thing is… are you looking for someone that is stall-cleaning or just helping you tack up and get to the ring? There might be wiggle room and if you know some of the barns that will be around you, you may just ask if you can toss their groom an extra $____ to add you to the mix.
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ShowAssist offers a service to match people up at horse shows that might be worth looking into.
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Are you sure $100 is the current going rate that was nearly what I was paid grooming saddlehorses in the early 1970s…plus relieved per diem expenses at shows (and tips)
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thanks for your reply. just to be more clear, we are looking for the whole circuit, not just one week and its 3-4 horses, 3 people. so yes, continuity week to week would be great but maybe hard to find
has anyone here used ShowAssist ?
100 dollars a day is definitely not the going rate for a freelancer. I would also say that three riders is not a part time gig, and even with “only” three or four horses, for three riders you’ll be needed to increase the pay even more.
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Yeeeeeaah, I wasn’t thinking 3-4 horses and several people for multiple weeks when I threw out that number… nor did I think they were talking about bringing in an out-of-towner. It sounded like a week of the circuit when I read it and that they were looking to pick someone up to work for that timespan. Hence why I suggested tagging onto another barn’s team if they thought they can manage the workload of another horse.
Last year, our barn charged $100 per week for grooming per horse/rider combo. So if you had multiple, you were kicking in more money and I’d bet that it increased for those that were doing multiple divisions on multiple days. Mine was a bit simpler, so that may have been why it was that number. I’d wager that they made somewhere around $1000-1200 per week per groom, which is a nice living IMO. Plus, we usually bought lunch/coffee for grooms or tipped on top of it. Trainer paid for other meals and provided housing since barn was local.
A few other clarifying questions are:
- You said multiple weeks, but all week or just on the days you are showing? i.e. Would you want them on Tuesdays if you were only hacking or schooling?
- Are you all showing in the same divisions / same days? With only one groom and 3-4 horses and 3 people, this could get impossible logistics wise on some days if you’re each going in different rings at the same time (or are all in the same division and can’t space out).
- I don’t think you said if you were going to provide housing or not?
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You can expect that some grooms, even freelancers, and even for essentially one show, will expect a day off.
If you don’t plan on taking care of your own horses oñ probably Monday, you’ll compensate extra or pay more or hire another person for that time. Will you expect your groom to braid, or will you be hiring a braider separately? Will all of the horses come clipped in such a fashion that they won’t require additional clipping during that three weeks?
For what you seem to want, I wouldn’t expect to spend less than 1000 per week with housing included. 3 or 4 show hunters for three riders is a lot. It requires a lot of prep without you, and while you ride, presuming you also expect groom to help with warm ups etc.
You will also tip, and probably pay for meals or a per diem for meals.
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$60 to $100 depending on what you are looking for. I suggest you contact a trainer in your area and ask if you can join them at the show and work with there grooms. As they have reliable groomers they have worked with. There are some really bad groomers out there who do not have the experience or the desire to keep your horse safe.
Suggest you don’t contact anyone and ask about “groomers”.
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And this my friends is why people don’t want to be working students or grooms. GROOMS. Not groomers. Groomers are for dogs.
Seriously it’s not laziness it’s people expecting 110% for zero money.
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Three riders and four horses is a full time gig. If you want someone good, you’d have to pony up about $1000 a week plus housing.
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TY. Miss typed word. Grooms. TY again.
never said that…
what “and this” are you referring to ? I am happy to pay the going rate, just asking what that is.
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the reason I am considering PT is that we are totally used to doing it all on our own and would want help 3-4 days a week. We would not have all 3 people showing in a given day and would ask the groom to prioritize 1 horse per day for assist ringside if 2 showing same day. I am trying to establish a pay scale without providing housing, but am working on housing options.
