Hello, I was wondering if anyone knew of any open live-in working student positions at hunter/jumper circuit barns over the summer. I am 15 years old, and am not scared of hard work. I was a working student in the Netherlands last summer for 2 months, and would like to find a similar situation but a little closer to home this time. I would like to be traveling to shows with this barn, and am not scared of hard work at all. I was wondering if anyone knew anyone I could contact to help set this up?
Try Yard and Groom. Or network thru trainers you know.
It’s a little late for cold calling since school is already wrapping up in many states and preference is usually given to Juniors that are already clients or are well known to the show circuit trainers. Most of the summer road crews are already set…fact they kick off the summer circuit at Devon which is only about 10 days from getting started.
At 15, it is a little more complicated then older candidates in on the road circuit barns for both liability and personal transportation/reliability issues unless you have a personal connection to get your foot in the door.
You can always just go to the shows and see if you can find something but, again, that might be problematic not being able to drive and needing parent or guardian to sign off on liability.
Does it have to be a H/J on the road show barn or would you consider Eventing or the home H/J barn while then road string is gone? That might be easier then joining a AA H/J road crew at this late date.
Are you looking to ride/show at the shows or are you just looking to travel and help with the horses? As findeight said, it is a little late in the game for cold calling. That being said, you might be able to get in the door at a smaller barn that doesn’t take as many clients to the big shows. They might not have a working student already and might be willing to give you a shot. Since it is a smaller barn, there might be less riding opportunities, but you would still learn a lot about horsemanship.
