barn worker pay rate

[staceyk]

Hi,

I think this may have been discussed before but perhaps pay schedules have changed. As a barn manager, how would you determine pay rate for your basic barn worker handling feeding (different rations with supplements etc), mucking, bedding, turnout, watering inside/outside, blanketing/boots, etc?

Some assumptions...
-- 2 workers to handle 24-28 horses
-- want high retention rate/not lots of turnover
-- can work fairly independently (no need for close supervision)
-- no shows/short notice time off not ok

How would you structure payment? How much would you be inclined to offer? Or, if you are a worker, what would you expect?
-- hourly rate or flat rate? If flat rate, different for summer vs. winter workload?
-- payscale change if farm equipment (tractor) involved?
-- pay outright vs. board reduction (is one less painful than the other?)

Thanks for any input.

[fizzyfuzzybuzzy]

Couple more questions...I assume it's full time, is housing/benefits/lessons offered as part of payment? Also, what part of the country do you live in? When I was doing that job in NY, I got paid a flat weekly rate ($350) plus free housing, and lessons with board reduction. No health benefits, but after 1 year got paid time off. But I did travel to some shows and show groomed, and tacked/untacked and groomed the arena as well.

[staceyk]

No,

The only in-kind payment would be board reduction, but presumably it would be based on some kind of hourly or flat rate -- no lessons, no living arrangements, not nec full time. It's not a working student arrangement, but there are set chores as described, usually only those involved in daily horse maintenance and care. For the sake of argument, let's call it a "morning/day chore" situation -- one feeding, one turnout stint, etc per day.

[fizzyfuzzybuzzy]

Then I would offer an hourly rate of $10/hour (again, depending on where you live in the country), and then, if they want board reduction, I would figure out how much they want cash in hand and how much they wanted off thier board, but still keep the pay rate the same. Even if they want no cash in hand, all board reduction, I would keep track of hours (sign in/out sheet in the tack room works really well) and calculate how much they have made, then adjust accordingly. That's really the only way nobody feels slighted. Flat rates tend to make one party sour!

[staceyk]

Think PA/NJ/Delaware.

[quicksilverponies]

My barn help does basically what you have described and I pay them $10/hr. I allow them to swap shifts if they need a certain day off - they write their hours down in the feed room. I know how long it takes to do the chores and I monitor if they are wasting time, etc. Most of my current workers (4 of them) do a great job.

[BuddyRoo]

Here's what my BO and I did....

There's a set list of "duties" that we call "doing chores". I am compensated by the job, not by the hour, but the compensation is based on the length of time it normally takes the BO to do the same job.

Now...this is in a small barn and this isn't my "job"...I just work off board.

But basic chores include:

-mucking stalls, adding shavings as needed, dumping poop wagon (use tractor)
-dumping and wiping out water buckets and refilling
-putting hay in stalls for PM feeding
-raking/sweeping the aisle

Since there are only 5 horses, this takes about an hour. The nice thing about being paid "per job" is that I can dink around a bit and take my time if I want to. But if I really need to get in, hammer it out and go, it takes an hour-ish.

At the end of the month, I count up all the times I've done chores and for each time, I get 10 bucks off of the next month's board.


If you need truly full time people, I would think that paying them outright is probably the best way to go. But then you also have to worry about the proper paperwork.

In a situation like mine, I'm not an employee. We're just bartering for services . I don't know that it's the best plan for someone who has that many horses to be concerned about though.

For one, if you take on a boarder with the INTENT that they will work off their board and they suck, then what?

You're looking at about 8 man hours a day when you consider turn out/bringing in and mucking. I think you might want to add yet another person to the mix because it's going to be hard to get someone who wants to work 7 days a week no vacation. And a lot of people who might be interested in something like this are probably not likely to have 8 hours a day to commit.

[staceyk]

The going rate around here -- at least for the few barns I got info from -- is something less than $10 (more like $8), which seems like a tough sell to me, esp. in the winter. It might be an okay pay for feeding/sweeping etc but not for mucking. But horse pros in every area seem to really be stretching to make ends meet. Sobering.

Thanks for the input! It helps me put things in perspective...

[Cruise Control]

I am in SE Pa and I have a team of brother and sister who muck, scrub water buckets and do morning feed for 32 horses. There is sometimes much less work than other times, for example this week there was only 10 stalls to do, but i pay them the same weekly wage of $450.00 for taking care of my place. They are thorough, fast and may barn looks cleaner than my house . They work 6 days a week, but are only here between 2 to 3 hours. There is no turn over, shoddy work or any of the problems that I have had in the past. This is cash. I have had boarders work off board in the past and it never seems to work out great because after the "honeymoon" period it seems working when everyone else is riding or playing "think hunting or trail riding" that the one working gets sullen and feels left out or left behind. They might try to do good work, but feelings always come out. My experience has been with older teens and adults.

[CDE Driver]

The man that works for me gets $1800/month plus housing on the property. He does all the horse work, fixes fence, mows, regular farm work. He also grooms for me, tacks up the horses and can even work a few of them.

[findeight]

OPs example is a 24-28 horse barn with 2 workers. That's kind of alot to consider it something you would want to swap board for...not of you want them to show up every day for enough time to get this done.

The board for labor does not work out if there is serious work involved as this requires, fact it rarely works for much less then this. Just pay them and they can pay you if it is also a client.

Suggest something like an $8 an hour start rate increasing to $10 in 90 days if they last. Annual increases, workmens comp, some kind of insurance, some kind of sick time policy and vacation after 1 year will help attract and keep better workers.

[Silence]

I work at a 24 stall barn, that is currently housing 9 horses (was 10 until yesterday, but he left).

I'm responsible for upkeep of the property (mowing, etc), feeding, turning, cleaning stalls/aisles/wash stall and the care of the dogs.

I work 7 days a week. My pay is $300 a week + housing. Housing includes a small 1 bedroom apartment, water and electric. I pay for phone, internet and cable. No paid time off and no benefits.