Just thought I'd talk for a minute about the positives and negatives you can expect when you get an offer to 'help out' on your ranch.
Every once in a while we'll get an email or phone call from someone looking for work in order to gain experience working with horses. Sometimes these people want to get paid for their work, other times they might be looking for an opportunity to help with chores or training in exchange for boarding a horse of their own and sometimes people are just looking for an opportunity to work under your guidance in exchange for gaining valueable experience in the training industry.
There are a few things that you should make sure to do before taking on some extra help.
1) Make sure to check for references. Even non-horse related reference can give you an idea of whether or not this person is a hard-worker, honest, easy to get along with, can follow instructions, etc.
2) Make sure you get them to sign a contract or liability waiver. If their references check out, you will still want them to sign some type of contract which clearly defines the exact nature of the work they will be doing for you, how much they will be paid (if anything), the minimum (and possibly maximum) number of days/hours per week or month they will work for you, whether or not they will supply their own tack and equipment or whether they will be using yours. Who is responsible if someone gets hurt or an animal is injured?
3) Make sure you find out the age of the person who will be working with you. The reason for this is because if they are not legally considered to be an adult there may be requirements that must be met for the province or state you live in that come into play. For example, maximums hours that they are allowed to work, pay, etc. If the person is under the legal age, they may need to have their parents or legal guardians sign the contract for them. Most contracts or agreements entered into by minors will not hold up in a court of law and you don't want to end up being sued if someone got hurt.
Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't have someone working for you or learning under your guidance, but you should always make sure your butt is covered. ;)
Here are a list of benefits and drawbacks for you to consider as well:
Benefits:* A chance to meet someone new and make new connections. This could be your chance to make a new friend or have someone who knows your horses help bring you referrals for sales.* A good way to get some training put on your horses when you just don't have the time to do it yourself.* An opportunity to teach others some of the training methods you have learned as well as to maybe pick up a few new ideas to add to your knowledge.Drawbacks:* There is always the chance of someone getting injured (human or horse).* You may not 'click' with this person or disagree with their methods of training.* Many places rely on word-of-mouth advertising and if things turn sour, this may not be the type of advertising that you want.* You may end up having to retrain your horse if the person really doesn't know what they are doing. (Although this shouldn't happen if they are working under your guidance or you have thoroughly checked out their references from people who they have trained horses for in the past.)Well, I hope that this information has been helpful to you. Of course, there are probably many other considerations that I have not mentioned here. And I'm sure there are also many other benefits and drawbacks that were also not discussed. My goal was to just touch on a few things to give you some food for thought.
Feel free to post your opinions, ideas, or comments on my blog!
And you are also most welcome to come visit our
website any time!
Have a great day!
Hello again. Just thought I'd share a few pics. of our horses from Golden Creek Ranch.
This picture of the foals socializing with each other was taken in the Spring of 2007.
