What does your barn manger do that sets them apart from regular barn staff?
I would presume it is being in charge, scheduling all parts of the operation., keeping things orderly, checking up behind the stall cleaners. Ordering feed and hay, bedding so there is an adequate supply on hand at all times. Being the “face” of the barn, whom clients contact first with questions. And of course being the fill-in person for missing help when they are sick or do not show up. Always keeping an eye on the “big picture” and expected standards of care.
Depending on size of the barn, they may give lessons, haul horses to shows, keep the wheels greased for smooth operation of all areas.
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Is that a real question?
What goodhors said. But really, if you can’t tell the difference between the BM and the staff, there is something wrong with that working relationship.
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Same as any manager- they make “higher level” decisions, have the power to hire/fire/direct staff (or at least a subset of them) as needed, set and maintain standards of care, depending on barn size may spend proportionally more time in an office than other staff.
The BM is in charge and gives orders, makes decisions, doles out the work etc . All others take orders. Like in any job I have ever had, except when self employed.
In my barn, the BM is the one doing the yelling.
She doesn’t mean to yell and she does ease up and say something nice afterward. But between having an instructor’s outdoor voice, and trying to communicate without walking all the way to the other side of the barn or the pasture, it works out to a lot of yelling. The barn staff has always been pleasant about it.
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At my barn the BM is the one that isn’t at the barn and has no idea what’s going on.
The barn staff is doing a great job, but I would say that neither the staff nor the management at my barn is particularly experienced or educated, in terms of equines or otherwise. No, it was not this way when I moved in. Yes, I am looking for a new barn.
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I’m a barn manager at a mid-sized hunter/jumper barn. Here’s a break down of who’s in charge of what where I work. In my situation, the barn owner/main trainer is very hands on and present a lot of the time. She does the administrative stuff, the billing/financial things, scheduling, coaching, instructing, etc and I come to her with any issues, concerns, or questions I have.
There’s a family that comes and mucks, sweeps and waters in the early morning. Technically, they work under me (and of course the owner) but they’re quite independent and wrap up shortly after I arrive in the morning.
There are several employees that work the days with me and directly under me. We actually split the work fairly evenly and tend to work together on a lot of things, although as the barn manager, I have specific tasks that I am solely in charge of, and they tend to do more of the “grunt” work (picking stalls and watering at the end of the day, picking paddocks, etc.). We share the general cleaning, laundry, turn out/turn in, sweeping, etc. sorts of things.
There are also show grooms that specifically work the shows, a girl that helps lesson kids with tacking/untacking the school ponies for their lessons, a pro rider that comes 4x/wk with her groom, and a couple of assistant instructors.
As barn manager, I supervise these people and I am the person that these people come to if there are issues with day to day sorts of things. If a horse has a funky skin thing, a cut, etc., I am the person boarders come to as well. I do a lot of the organizational things, and I am in charge of ordering medications, supplies, grain, etc and am present for vet visits and whatnot. I also do all the feeding, medicating, sedating, making up grain, and treatments. As mentioned, the owner is also very hands on and if there’s any big issues she’s there to help, which is fabulous, but I’m expected to handle normal day to day sorts of things. I don’t believe I have the power to hire/fire anyone, however I get the feeling that the owner is open to my suggestions and ideas about employees etc.
I hope that helps with understanding how the whole team works. My situation may differ from others, but I think the BM tasks are pretty average.
