# What do Barn hands get paid normally....



## Qtswede (Apr 16, 2009)

Sadly, around here, the norm is minimum wage. Seems like a lot of hours for a kid of that age....


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## close2prfct (Mar 9, 2009)

It sounds to me they are taking advantage of having a volunteer. That is a tremendous amount of work to only be compensated by a lesson or two when or if the trainer is available. True she is gaining a wealth of knowledge that will go with her throughout her life but she should at the very least get one full private lesson weekly and maybe a couple group lessons as well for all that she is doing unless there is an agreement for her to volunteer her time and effort. Either way it sounds like they are taking advantage of having a kid around to do all the dirty work, I'd look into another stable or cut back on the amount of time she spent there.


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## LeahKathleen (Mar 5, 2009)

Sounds like they're ripping her off. I got to lease a horse + pay for that kind of labor when I was 14 - just 5 years ago.

Honestly, barn-hand type work is probably going to be paid minimum wage. Here, in Texas, the current minimum wage is $6.55. On those numbers, during the school year, she should receive $65.50/week. During the summer, assuming she is working 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, she should earn $366.80/week during the summer.

It might be a good idea to give those figures to the barn owner. If they aren't willing to pay her minimum wage, request comparable compensation in the form of lessons/training.

Hope that helps.


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

Ugh. I did all that for free when I was her age. Eventually, I got to ride in a "Lesson" once a day. It was usually me working the kinks out of a lesson horse, showing a horse to a client, or exercising someones horse for them...but I got to ride. 

I'd want more lessons.


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## EternalSun (Mar 29, 2009)

I used to work 6 days a week at a high end h/j barn that housed 60 horses. I'd clean all the stalls, turn in and bring out horses, water, clean out the tack rooms, sweep and clean all the barns, lunge horses, wrap, tack up, basically everything under the sun except feed (they had someone else do that, but when she called in sick I had to do that too), all during our brutal CT winters. I was making the CT minimum wage, $8 an hour, and I worked around 10 hours a day. That was *hard* work. I only lasted about 6 months. Your daughter should be making at least $10 dollars an hour, depending on where you live. It sounds like she is being seriously swindled. Now I have a job taking care of 2 horses for $15 bucks an hour, but I lucked out with that.


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## Shawneen (Apr 22, 2009)

When I was young the ranch I learned to ride at had "working students." You had to be 12 but I had been there so long I started when I was 10 and I did it for many years. We had a schedule every week. We worked 4 hours a day on week days and 8 hours a day on weekends. Our trainer gave us free lessons (as many as we wanted) and we were able to ride all of the barn horses we wanted. If a lesson was on your day to work you had to bust your hump to get the stalls cleaned and chores done in order to ride.
As far as getting paid money, I have no clue what the norm is for doing this kind of work. I find it far more valuable of getting paid the way we did, rather than getting paid money. I think you should have a serious talk with the owner and get a set $ amount everyone agrees on including what other benefits are available (lessons etc). If she can't agree to some fair terms then I would get your daughter to get a job somewhere where she makes better money and then she can just pay for her lessons.

I agree, something doesn't sound fair.


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## morganshow11 (Dec 19, 2008)

I used to work at a stable, and instead of getting paid i would get free lessons, thats always a good way to go.


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