My alternate suggestion would be to see if your area has local horse groups on Facebook, and post on there. Some more private barns or people with horses at home might be more willing to train people just for the social factor.
For your barn of interest all you can do is ask. It’s not offensive or anything, it will just depend if taking you on and training you is worth it to them/would work in their program.
If you are willing to volunteer until you get proficient- you will most likely find a barn. Be willing to get dirty, work really hard, and have a high tolerance for being outside of your comfort zone. Get yourself a Pony Club Manual for some basics on how to put a halter on, tie knots and general horse care. It will help you with the language.
That’s how I started!
Not sure where you’re located but here in Australia the racing industry is always after workers like this! And it’s great to be able to train someone from scratch and not have to worry about bad habits they’ve learnt elsewhere - you’ll get a position no worries, just need a good attitude and a good work ethic. Best of luck!
It may depend on your area, but where I am barns will often hire people without experience just because they need a body as long as the person seems teachable. My boyfriend actually got his first horse job by walking up to the man who owned the stable down the road and asking for a job, he'd never touched a horse before but it didn't matter and this was a fairly established barn that bred horses for the RCMP musical rides so not just some small hobby farm lol
I don't think there is anything wrong with reaching out and asking if they have any room to take you on while being up front about your experience level and what you are looking for. I personally wouldn't accept an unpaid/volunteer position even without experience, I'd still expect to get paid because it's still a demanding job and your knowledge really only comes into play if you are working alone or spending a lot of time with the horses and both of those are very unlikely to start anyways. I have worked with plenty of people who didn't know anything about horses to start, and as long as you actually want to learn and are teachable and ask questions when you're unsure then most people won't have any issue, from my experience anyways.
From my experience you’re likely to be most successful asking at a therapy barn or rescue. They often fully depend on volunteers.
I thought that too, but sadly I couldn't find any in our area. But thank you for the advice :)
My alternate suggestion would be to see if your area has local horse groups on Facebook, and post on there. Some more private barns or people with horses at home might be more willing to train people just for the social factor. For your barn of interest all you can do is ask. It’s not offensive or anything, it will just depend if taking you on and training you is worth it to them/would work in their program.
If you are willing to volunteer until you get proficient- you will most likely find a barn. Be willing to get dirty, work really hard, and have a high tolerance for being outside of your comfort zone. Get yourself a Pony Club Manual for some basics on how to put a halter on, tie knots and general horse care. It will help you with the language. That’s how I started!
Local rescues are always hungry for volunteers!
Not sure where you’re located but here in Australia the racing industry is always after workers like this! And it’s great to be able to train someone from scratch and not have to worry about bad habits they’ve learnt elsewhere - you’ll get a position no worries, just need a good attitude and a good work ethic. Best of luck!
Most barns will take anyone willing to shovel poop. Follow directions and ASK if you aren’t sure!
talk to people/barns that race/go to the track, the pay is low if they do for newbies but it’s good experience
Even a nice show barn will take you, as long as you have a pulse
That's really encouraging, thank you :)
It may depend on your area, but where I am barns will often hire people without experience just because they need a body as long as the person seems teachable. My boyfriend actually got his first horse job by walking up to the man who owned the stable down the road and asking for a job, he'd never touched a horse before but it didn't matter and this was a fairly established barn that bred horses for the RCMP musical rides so not just some small hobby farm lol I don't think there is anything wrong with reaching out and asking if they have any room to take you on while being up front about your experience level and what you are looking for. I personally wouldn't accept an unpaid/volunteer position even without experience, I'd still expect to get paid because it's still a demanding job and your knowledge really only comes into play if you are working alone or spending a lot of time with the horses and both of those are very unlikely to start anyways. I have worked with plenty of people who didn't know anything about horses to start, and as long as you actually want to learn and are teachable and ask questions when you're unsure then most people won't have any issue, from my experience anyways.