Useless Barn help...major rant

[Miss_Anne_Thrope]

[QUOTE=Albertabound;7769979]
I left a barn once because the barn help didn’t like cleaning stalls, so they just left my horse out. If I wanted pasture board I would have paid for pasture board!:mad:[/QUOTE]

I once worked off part of my board at a small boarding barn. I fed and turned out horses in the morning. I thought it was all about taking the best possible care of each horse, so when a new horse came who was not eating hay in turnout, I mentioned it to the horse’s owner and told her I would give him at least 1 flake of hay in his stall before I turned him out. I got told off about that by the barn owner (who cleaned the stalls herself): “Every 10 minutes extra in the stall means another pile of manure for her to clean!”

So, it’s not always the “barn help” who’s the problem. I’m very, very glad I don’t have to board my horses anymore.

[LaraNSpeedy]

Kids and young adults often do not want to work hard nowadays - go talk to farmers who pick up hay for a living - they cant find anyone to work for them anymore and when they do, they are slow and grumble the whole time. You have to find horse crazy kids with an unusual sense of hardwork dedication or adults.

Your rant is one I have so much that I feel like the bozo - like do I ever learn my lesson! LOL!

I can tell you all sorts of stories - parents who complain that its not fair I let one student work off her extra lessons and not their kid - who goes into the tackroom and pretends to drink water for 2 hours and comes out after everyone has finished the chores.

Or when I teach them how to fill troughs - if its dirty, dump it and refill it - how often are the dirty troughs filled? No cleaning. I have had people leave gates open. Leave feed bins open - letting the mice in. Left the water running all day. Even when I leave a list with a box to check DONE - they check the boxes and forget to do the chores.

When I was 10, I would go to the barn I was at and every single morning before school I fed 40 horses correctly and without need for supervision. Even when I had to dig to the barn door through snow. On the weekends I cleaned 20 stalls on Saturday and another 20 on Sunday. Correctly. If I missed one turd, the barn manager pointed it out to me and if my parents found out I had not done a great job, I would have felt mortified.

Another working student was supposed to feed and water my chickens - she had been in the chicken project in 4H so I knew she knew what to do. It was on her list - because I got to a point where I wrote out clear lists. THUS MAKING MY LIFE HARDER. But anyways, it was in the spirit of teaching kids to work off their lessons and get them to the barn and with their horses more. Well, 10 minutes after she left, I went to the chicken coop and there was no water and no feed. I called her mom and said she forgot to feed the chickens. And her mom asked her - she said she did and her mom said she said she did and that was that.

No more working student.

However, I have this other girl who is about to turn 19 and she has been here since she was 12. On the most part, I do not leave her any lists or tell her anything. She feeds and waters and cleans and sweeps and even exercises the ponies. If we came back from a show - I will go look in the trailer the next day and its been cleaned and all the tack put away.

When I was in California - the best workers we had when running barns were the latinos. One guy brought his adult son up from Mexico to help out and when the son was lazy, he sent him back to Mexico. !!!

Anyways - now since I only have 11 horses here - a number I can manage to care for by myself - I have the one good working student who gets all her lessons for free for working for me Saturday and covering my place when I go on vacation. I can trust everything she does. I let the other more serious riders help with the barn work but they are not paid or compensated. Their reward is getting to help.

[alicen]

[QUOTE=copper1;7770475]
Explain the hours well and be sure they realize sometimes they go over. Had another gal then when her three hours were up, she was gone, whether there was a colic or a blacksmith visit or anything else!

Explain right from the beginning, EXACTLLY what is wanted of them from the minute they arrive to the minute they leave:DETAILS are important![/QUOTE]

And I trust that after telling them EXACTLY what was expected of them that you paid for any hours that went over the three for which they were hired.

[NoSuchPerson]

On the one hand, I sympathize. I used to be part-owner of a pizza parlor and finding good help was the bane of my existence.

On the other hand, if you are going to be a boss, you have to be a boss. You have to be kind of a hard-ass. Demand a certain standard of performance, don’t let anything slide, and never hesitate to fire someone who is making your life harder instead of easier. And you can’t take anything personally or make anything personal.

And you have to start in the first interview. When we hire people here for field work, we go to great lengths to make it absolutely clear what will be expected and we do not gloss over the unpleasant aspects of the job.

[jcraig10]

Some people just don’t know what hard work truly is.

[PaintedMare]

I’m a college student and I work at a barn part-time, doing the morning routines of mucking stalls/picking paddocks/maintaining general cleanliness around the farm (we have 15 horses.) The standards here are pretty high compared to other barns I’ve worked at (two previously before landing here about two years ago.)

We usually have three people on staff in addition to the BM. We do the ‘dirty work’ while the BM works every day feeding/turning out. Hours are 4-5 each day.

It’s hard work but it’s a friendly, low-drama barn and I truly feel taken care of by the BM and BO.

My coworker and myself have been here for awhile, but that third person position has been emptied and filled so much in the past year I’ve lost track. It’s frustrating for EVERYONE. People come and give notice, after two weeks or don’t show up.

From talking to these potential workers, I get the vibe that they think barn life is very romantic and rustic and cute in a TLC-special kind of way. It drives me crazy. Once they get into the repetition of cleaning 15 stalls every day it’s no longer ‘fun.’

The BM always puts out detailed ads describing the days, hours, expectations, etc. And we still get so many application from people who can’t work those exact hours or days. Like, did you even read the ad??!?!?! This isn’t retail. It’s 24/7/365. The last guy left because he thought he would be paid more at 40/hrs per week, when the specifications were LAID OUT as 20 hrs/week. I don’t get it. Why did you apply?

(reading back over this I wonder why I stay in the job :lol: But I love the barn and the people and it’s taught me that WORK IS HARD BUT YOU’LL SURVIVE. If I had any other job, my work ethic would be nowhere near where it is now.)

So, OP, I identify. I’m not in a hiring position but I get the frustration of lacking good help. We have a recent hire and I think we’re all holding our breath that she sticks with us, to our standards.

[Coanteen]

[QUOTE=alicen;7782772]
And I trust that after telling them EXACTLY what was expected of them that you paid for any hours that went over the three for which they were hired.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. If you’re hiring people part-time, and 3-hr shifts are very part time, they might have other jobs to juggle as well. If you want coverage in case the horse colics or the blacksmith is visiting, well - hire for the whole day, or pay an on-call stipend. Some people who can only get work a few hours here, a few hours there won’t be able to hang around after their shift when things are happening.

[zakattack]

Stable worker, as any other job, is a setting in which complaining openly about your work is unacceptable.

Would you go into an office job and sit at your desk and complain about what you had to do?! Would you come in two hours late, consistently?

Bet not. Working any job, stable hand included, should be no different. This person sounds very unprofessional.

And as for leading a horse with the reins over the head: I work with horses in an urban setting (NYC) and we always lead with the reins over the head. I feel it is safer, provides more control, and if the horse should (god forbid) get away from you it is not going to step on its reins.

[Appsolute]

[QUOTE=Coanteen;7783176]
Agreed. If you’re hiring people part-time, and 3-hr shifts are very part time, they might have other jobs to juggle as well. [/QUOTE]

May? They will have to have other jobs - no one can live off of $300 a month.

[QUOTE=gray17htb;7776674]I have found that I get FOR THIS JOB…PAY RATE DOES NOT = WORKER
QUALITY
WHETHER THEY get $8/hr, $10/hr or paid by the job(morning shift)…NOTHING changes the worker. So paying more does nothing but cost ME MORE MONEY. What ever the worker starts as, is usually (sad to say) the BEST that they will ever offer at this position. The first week they try to do the best job, to impress…[/QUOTE]

I don’t want to sound “racist” but around here, barn help is almost exclusively immigrant men. Why? Because they are the ones with few options and a desperate need.

$8 - $10 a hour, times three hours a day? So $24 to $30 a day (x3 days a week - so around $300 a month) to come all the way out to a farm and bust ass in all kinds of weather - isn’t going to motivate many Americans.

Call it entitlement, call it what you will - but it is the same reason why our produce isn’t picked by American citizens either. Its a lot of hard work, for a very small amount of pay.

With such limited hours, they are going to need to patch together a bunch of part time jobs to try to keep a roof over their head, and mouths fed.

Its going to be hard to find employees who are going to work super hard, and keep your farm a top priority for $280 - $360 a month. Unless they are desperate without many other options (hint, most people with a riding background, or that can afford a horse etc are not in this desperate need of funds category).

[suzy]

It’s some relief to know that I’m not the only one. I always state in my ad that only non-smokers need apply and no pets. But I still get a slew of applicants who smoke, have pets, or both. Don’t they realize how stupid it makes them look to even bother applying!

[SmartAlex]

I lead with reins down and it would be safest to unbuckle them. That’s what the buckle be for :yes: Sure, the shortcut is reins up. It’s quicker. Just like it’s a short cut to lead by the halter.

My horse does not tie. He’s a confirmed claustrophobic puller. This extends to leading. You can’t lead him with just a halter. Heck you can barely grab him with a halter only. You always need a rope and you need excellent aim to get the snap on the ring without grabbing the halter. If you try to lead him with the reins over his neck he will take.you.to.town. Just because he can :mad:

[Aven]

It does go both ways. Recently I left a nice warm, clean and dry office job where they liked me to go back to doing horse things. (I ended up in another warm, clean, dry office job… but at a horse related office) In between I looked into working in a barn.

I have been a barn manager, I have loads of experience. I got an offer of an interview at ever place I applied for (and some I didn’t, resume must have gotten passed on) I bring this up to show I am very clear about what working in the horse industry is like, I used to do it full time.

What some places wanted for the money they were paying was ridiculous. One was a track job. I love tbs so thought it could be fun. I loved the early mornings, the horses where sharp as could be and high as kites but still fun. However he really kept pushing me to work 8 hours a day 7 days a week. I have a kid, I am a single mom with my own horse and life. I have no aversion to working hard but your passion is not my passion. I am here to make money so I can afford to live and indulge my dreams. Interestingly the fellow was complaining as Canada is cracking down on bringing in foreign workers. He was like where I am going to get help. Its not that fellow Canadians aren’t willing to work hard. We just aren’t willing to give our lives over to your business for minimum wage.

I had one person who pretty much yelled when I said I expected more than minimum wage for what she wanted. She was looking for someone to manage a 30 horse show barn by themselves 6 days a week. She wouldn’t even give me any sort of deal on board for my yearling to sweeten the deal. No wonder she is always looking…

Barn jobs are NOT unskilled labour. Looking after valuable and loved horses is more responsibility than flipping burgers at Mcdonalds and should pay accordingly. I am not saying it should put your kids through school, but you should be able to pay your rent and put food in your mouth if its your full time job.

The better barns were those that were high end, those that were looking for skilled mature people to leave when they head to shows for weeks (or months in the winter) on end. They know the value of a good worker who knows about horses.

I am very glad I ended up where I did. I love my job and the people I work with are pretty awesome. Good workers are out there, but typically you need to compensate them commensurate to what they are worth.

[pacific_jumper]

I’ve been following and thinking about this thread for a while, my two cents:

I was just talking to BO the other day. She mentioned how hard keeping up with the yard work has been. I suggested that there must be some lesson kids who would do yard work in exchange for more time in the saddle. Her reply: you’d be surprised how few kids there are interested in doing actual work, not everyone has a work ethic like you.

I’m a college student who works at the barn, usually under 20 hours a week, but sometimes more. I always show up 10 minutes before I’m supposed to start, and can be counted on to show up every time. I turnout, muck and sweep a 20 stall barn. Some days I clean paddocks, or help the trainer as well. I’m very thorough and have high standards of cleanliness. Yes, I do chat while I work. No, it does not affect my productivity. I’m not paid by the hour; I’m paid by the job. At the rate I work, that means I make over minimum wage. I know it seems hopeless, but there are people out there that are willing to work hard and do a good job.

On the flip side… Paddocks are sometimes done by younger students. I can tell who did them the day before me by the way they have been cleaned. There are some kids that don’t have a problem doing the absolute bare minimum, and it drives me absolutely nuts. No, you do not stop after one full wheelbarrow. Yes, you do have to make sure the horses have fresh, clean water. Seeing horses with nothing but scum and a few inches of water left in the bottom of their buckets makes me so mad. Stop complaining that it’s hot… Go hose yourself down then. Stop complaining that it’s cold and wet… We live in the PNW, get some long thermal underwear, a jacket, and suck it up.

The horse world is one of the few places where for some reason it seems normal to treat employees like dirt. I absolutely love the BO and trainer, they’re probably the best people I have in my life right now. I will bend over backwards for them, and love working at the barn. I know they appreciate my hard work, and I’d just like to say this goes a long way. When someone says thank you when you fetch them a lunge whip, instead of screaming at you and ripping it out of your hand, it makes a huge difference. I won’t mention my bad experiences, but you really do catch (and keep) more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. If I do something wrong, please tell me and I’ll do whatever it takes to make it right, but nobody deserves to feel abused after making an honest mistake. Keeping your employees happy will help them stick around longer. The occasional meaningful thank you will go a long way for those of us actually do enjoy hard work.

There’s no way I could be a BO. There’s no way I could put up with that crap. It’s pathetic to hear that these stories even exist.

[mswillie]

On the reins up vs. down, I tend to lead with the reins down. I like where the horse is in relation to me doing it that way.

As far as the argument that it’s safer if a horse bolts and the reins are up, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a riderless horse start with the reins up and no matter where the reins start out they are often on the ground by the time the horse is caught.