# "Must be able to lift over 100lbs" in a job listing



## rocky pony (Oct 5, 2007)

I'm currently seeking a job as a groom/ranch hand at a boarding stable, and noticed that a lot of listings have some sort of statement like this. I'm curious as to what y'all think. Is this another way of saying that they wouldn't hire somebody like a younger woman and would prefer, well, a man?

I'm plenty strong enough to get a lot done, especially when I'm regularly working at a job that involves strength, but I can't say that I could comfortably lift as much as 100lbs, though I'm sure I could find a way to move things that heavy...it just might take me more time.

I'm mostly asking because I've definitely observed that certain stables prefer to hire young people (usually girls), and others prefer to hire men (because we're in CA, usually Mexican immigrant men). So I'm wondering if that might be what these particular locations are actually getting at, or if I shouldn't necessarily assume that.

Really what I'm asking is...should I bother to apply to places that mention this in the job description, or would I be seen as a time waster if I did so?


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

That's absurd. I can see 50+ (usually means be prepared for physical work) but 100+ is something even a man may have trouble with.

I have worked with horses my whole life at many places and am very strong for my size (5'3") no way could I lift 100lbs. 50 is heavy but doable and I know how to position it properly.

I can't answer your actual question because I've never seen that. Maybe they are just bad with weights? lol.

Some jobs it's because there is a specific portion of the job, say you're at a warehouse and sometimes you need to move x that weighs y and you need to be able to do that in the moment. I get that, but can't think of any horse job where you would HAVE to move 100lbs dead weight on your own.


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## Whinnie (Aug 9, 2015)

I remember bales of alfalfa hay weighing 100 pounds.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

If the job description says you need to lift 100 lbs and you can't, don't waste time applying. There is a lot of heavy work on a farm.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

The sacks of hay pellets I buy are 80 lbs each. Hay bales run 90-110 where I live. If I was hiring someone who needed to move things like that daily, then I'd add a 100 lb requirement. I did work like that in my 20s. Not interested in it at 57, but it could be a real & valid requirement.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

When I lived in SoCal, "small squares", of hay were three twine and weighed 115-135 pounds.

Even with a hay hook, I managed to tear ligaments in my elbow, stacking a truckload in a shed.

If the ad says 100lbs, you had better be able to back your mouth with your awrse, whenever you're told to.

Not something I am willing to do for somebody else, to get a paycheck.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

They are saying that they want an applicant to be able to lift 100 lbs so they are going to get mostly male applicants because most women cannot lift that much on a regular basis. I have to drag 100 lb plus bales of hay. That's such a shame, most woman can do just as much as men. I work in a male dominated field and run circles around most of the guys there and I'm twice the age as a lot of them.


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## tinaev (Dec 2, 2012)

Where I'm at in California our 3 strand bales of hay run 90-110 pounds each. So if they need hay stacked...that sounds like a valid requirement. I wouldn't assume it has anything to do with the gender of the applicant. They just want to make sure they get someone that can do the job.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I have to lift up to and over 100#. Anyone I hire needs to be able to, also.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

There are plenty of women who can lug that many pounds around. I don't think it's a sexist thing at all. You need to be able to lift heavy things to work in a barn. Just like you need to be able to read to do other jobs. Or have computer skills, etc. All jobs have their set criteria and it only makes sense that a barn job would have physical ones.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

California and Az bales of hay run easily 100+ lbs on a regular basis. The rule of thumb is 20 bales = 1 T of hay. So expecting you to lift 100 lbs isn't unreasonable.


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## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

If I remember correctly, the OSHA guidlines for a 2 man lift is 80 pounds. Farms however, do have some wiggle room in the labor laws. I've always been scrawny, but at 13 years old, I was carrying 100 pound bales, and sacks of feed. I didn't even weigh 100 pounds at the time. 

Because I was small, I developed a method that I still use. I get it on end, get it to my knees, then up to my chest. From there, I can stack it or put it on my shoulder for carrying. But as mentioned before, I no longer have to do that for someone else. The big lugs used to laugh at me because I couldn't just pick it up and sling it like they could. But I can still do it, and they can't because they threw their backs out long ago. 

If you can meet the requirements, apply for the job. You should be able to discern if they want only men or women, and proceed as you see fit.


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## jgnmoose (May 27, 2015)

If you really want the job, focus on your other strenghts and what you can bring to them.

Lifting 100lbs, especially repetitiely, is not something many men can do either. It might be a good idea to find out what kind of job it is. If they are looking for a strong back to do a lot of repetitive heavy lifting you may not even want it.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

I am an almost 40 year old woman and have to unload and stack the 100 lb bales of hay we have here in Arizona. The older I get, the more careful I am and the less I try to actually lift them (I try to roll them end over end and stack them like blocks so I can roll them up the stack instead of lift them directly).

The feed stores around here tend to have either older men with forklifts to get the hay to truck level (work smarter, not harder!) or young men fresh out of high school who fling bales directly onto your truck with seemingly little effort. I always sort of grimace because if they keep doing that for years and years their backs will be ruined. But when you are that young and healthy you feel so strong. When I was around 20 I would fling those bales around too. Not any more! 

I wish all of our hay came in 2 strand bales that were more like 50-60 lbs. You CAN buy 2 string bales, but they come out of Colorado and cost more on the pound that the big 3 string bales that are grown in Arizona. So I always end up buying the 3 string bales because they end up being cheaper if you go by weight. 

You rarely hear of round bales in Arizona either. Just about all our hay comes in 100 lb bales. So maybe California is the same way. 

I figure next to California, Arizona must be the cruddiest place to own horses. Because the hay prices are among the highest in the country and we have to feed it 365 days a year because we don't have pasture. But I digress...... :x


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I can do anything a man can do (With some very, very few exceptions) with wit over brute strength, and that is how I have kept a job as a ranch hand through my teens and young adulthood. I was good with a horse too, but so are plenty of others. 

I would apply anyway, explain the situation, display confidence in your ability to perform tasks. Maybe ask what they need lifted that is 100lbs.


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## rocky pony (Oct 5, 2007)

Thank you guys for all of the input! I'm sorry if it came across that I was suggesting that it's a sexist thing, I simply meant that some barns just seem more willing to work with younger people who may not be able to plow through everything, and others don't want to go through that trouble and want to hire somebody who's a real workhorse (like many of the Mexican immigrant men who work as ranch hands that I referenced) and very strong. While anybody can work up to being strong, I'm not going to pretend that the average woman my age is as strong as the average man, we're just not. We have other areas of strength and can get by with tough jobs but tend to use different methods than brute strength.



trailhorserider said:


> (I try to roll them end over end and stack them like blocks so I can roll them up the stack instead of lift them directly).


See this is what I was thinking when I said I'm sure that I could move things that are 100lbs. I worked at a stable and moved hay bales here in CA (so likely in this weight range) when I was 10. But I simply can't actually just lift a bale up, like a dead lift. I can definitely move them, but it might take me a little bit more time than somebody who has no problem lifting one.

Of course, because I'm seeking this kind of job I know it's extremely tough physical work! And I thrive on that kind of work. Like I said, I am plenty strong enough to do a very physical job like this, but as some commenters mentioned, 100lbs is a lot of weight to be able to just lift on your own! I have lifted dogs weighing that much before (I worked for many years in grooming which also involves a lot of heavy lifting) but it's not something I'd want to do on a regular basis. It seems sensible to me to move hay bales the way that trailhorserider described, if anything to preserve your back, anyway.

The reason I want this job is to continue to get further experience because I'm going to be opening my own small boarding facility in a couple of years and I'm going to be doing the bulk of the work, because it's my passion and after doing this and many other jobs over the years, I know it's what I'm meant to do. I just need a place that will be alright if it takes me more time to move these types of items, and was wondering if this may be some sort of unspoken rule. Thank you again for the input!


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## Bondre (Jun 14, 2013)

I agree that although a lot of women can lift 100lbs without a huge problem, no way can the majority compete with a Mexican ranch hand who's tough as nails lol. However, there's an enormous difference between being able to lift that sort of weight and beong expected to do it repeatedly throughout the day. I imagine they need someone who is physically capable of moving bales or feed sacks, but not that you'll spend a significant proportion of your day shifting heavy loads. 

I built some decent arm and leg muscles doing stable chores in my teens, and I've never regretted having them lol! Even at 48 I am considerably stronger than a lot of 20-something lads who've never lifted anything heavier than their school books.

If you consider the weight-lifting requirement in terms of the abilities of the population at large, it doesn't seem unreasonable to state it. So many urbanites are incapable of lifting anything near that weight.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

My husband was yard manager at a local Pet Club feed store. He is the strongest person I have ever met, pound-for-pound. One of him main jobs was loading hay onto customer's vehicles, as well as retrieving hay from the hay yard and stacking back at the sales yard. He came home from work absolutely BEAT and incredibly sore every single day. Even the young guys that were fresh out of high school and thought they were buff and tough had a hard time keeping up with him. 

Oddly, the requirements to work in the yard were that you had to be able to lift 50#, which is half of what those bales of hay typically weigh. Scary part is that they had to let go several guys because they just couldn't cut it.


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## 6gun Kid (Feb 26, 2013)

SorrelHorse said:


> I can do anything a man can do.


OH yeah? Go pee on a wall standing up straight :rofl:








sorry:hide:....my wife will tell you I am an idiot....just ask her.


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## Siren (Jul 20, 2014)

Shewee

We can do anything a man can do. :wink:


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## Siren (Jul 20, 2014)

I worked as a ranch hand and our alfalfa bales were 90-100 lbs. They came in a truck that left them stacked for us out in the shed, but we had to regularly move small stacks into the barn for convenience and restack floor to ceiling. It's surprising how quickly you build the muscle you need to do those jobs. I wouldn't have a problem applying to a ranch hand job that required me to lift 100lbs. They don't tend to care if you can deadlift and chuck 100lbs ... they care if you can stack the bales in an efficient and timely manner.


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## jimmyp (Sep 5, 2013)

Siren said:


> Shewee
> 
> We can do anything a man can do. :wink:



But can you write your name?



Anyhow...... If i were hiring someone to work my farm and I put must be able to lift 100lbs there would be a reason, Calving, pigs under the feed floor and hay would be the first things that come to mind. I do not doubt that many of you can roll or otherwise manipulate a 100lb hay bale to get it around your barn or feed lot, but if I am paying you, to pick up hay in the field you better be able to work as fast and efficiently as the rest of the crew. I have fired many a football player from my hay crew when the could not keep up with my wife (not that i use her as a minimum standard, but i won't have things slowed). I would rather drive the truck toss hay and help her stack by myself than deal with someone who can not do the work, and have many times.

I would assume that they likely did make that particular point in an effort to locate a specific type of applicant. They are likely looking for a grunt to do day to day work and physical labor. Going in and trying impress them with your other skills is ultimately a waste of their time and yours if you can not do the job they are offering.

Jim


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

jimmyp said:


> I do not doubt that many of you can roll or otherwise manipulate a 100lb hay bale to get it around your barn or feed lot, but if I am paying you, to pick up hay in the field you better be able to work as fast and efficiently as the rest of the crew. I have fired many a football player from my hay crew when the could not keep up with my wife (not that i use her as a minimum standard, but i won't have things slowed). I would rather drive the truck toss hay and help her stack by myself than deal with someone who can not do the work, and have many times.


This!!

My husband was the yard manager at a local feed store. You'd be amazed at how many of the strapping, seemingly-strong young men couldn't keep up with the 46-year-old former Marine with ankle problems when it came to bucking hay. It got to the point where 95% of the houses they delivered hay to requested my husband to come deliver for them because he was faster and more efficient than the young kids. 

For a "real numbers" example:

My husband could load their flatbed with 64 bales of hay (100+lbs bales) in about an hour by himself. Two of the younger guys went (ages 18 and 22) together for the next load. They came back with 46 bales and it took them an hour and a half. They did nothing but complain when they got back about how tired and sore they were. :icon_rolleyes:

Here's the kicker...the feed store he worked for only had a 50# lifting requirement for their yard employees, even though they routinely were bucking 100+lbs bales.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Siren said:


> Shewee
> 
> We can do anything a man can do. :wink:


WELLL..................................

Living out here on the prairies, where it is flat enough to watch your dog run away for 3 days, and there is a lack of tree cover, you kind of have to get used to squatting in full view....the fact that there are very few people living here, and those that do are used to peeing outside does not count. Being a city girl born and bred, although well used to going in stalls, trailers, behind buildings, whatever, this totally out there situation I struggled with...so I bought a Shewee....

OMG what power, I tried it, as suggested in the shower, then standing in front of the toilet, and the liberation was immense, directional control, WHOOT, I suddenly understood the want to write your name in the snow. While I believe in equality, my Shewee pointed out as never before, when it comes to peeing, sorry men just are superior, we were dealt the bad hand, BUT with my new toy, I felt like a KING!!

Armed with my new device I set out on the days combining, sure in the knowledge that when nature called I was going to jump out, stand there nonchalantly and pee on the wheel, in full view of the world, caring not one jot...KING remember. Only when the time came, it became horribly obvious that what was accomplished with such ease in the privacy of ones bathroom, stark naked, was a heck of a lot more difficult out in the open, wearing jeans, all directional control had gone, in fact all directions describes accurately where the stream was going, no longer felt like a KING, more like 'king wet, and 'king ridiculous.....instead of a triumph, I had to combine for the next few hours with a pair of slightly steaming jeans rolled up in the corner of the cab, and sliding about on a plastic bag on the seat.

When my person came to relieve me, I just looked him in the eye and said "don't ask" The Shewee may still be living in the back of the bathroom cupboard, I don't know, it certainly has never seen the light of day again

http://www.horseforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## rocky pony (Oct 5, 2007)

jimmyp said:


> But can you write your name?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you very much. This is what I was thinking was likely the case, so I'm going to continue passing these up...I feel pretty sure that once I am regularly doing this work I may be able to build up the strength to move heavy things with significantly more ease, but where I stand right now, only just entering the world of owning and working on a ranch, I'm not there yet.




Golden Horse said:


> WELLL..................................
> 
> Living out here on the prairies, where it is flat enough to watch your dog run away for 3 days, and there is a lack of tree cover, you kind of have to get used to squatting in full view....the fact that there are very few people living here, and those that do are used to peeing outside does not count. Being a city girl born and bred, although well used to going in stalls, trailers, behind buildings, whatever, this totally out there situation I struggled with...so I bought a Shewee....
> 
> ...



Oh my gosh this made me laugh out loud so hard
I've been dying to get a Shewee...now I know if I want to have any shot at becoming a true master I will need to practice in jeans at home and be prepared to wash them quick....:lol:


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## 6gun Kid (Feb 26, 2013)

Siren said:


> Shewee
> 
> We can do anything a man can do. :wink:


Nope, nope, nope, hands free/device free, or it doesn't count!


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

I only read the first page but that seems like a very reasonable stipulation. A bale of hay, a wheel barrow, a bag of grain.... Western saddles can be really heavy even.... Totally fair request...


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

My take on this would be the same as any other kind of job posting. Employers describe their ideal candidate. The ideal candidate often doesn't exist, or even more often, they're not paying well enough for the ideal candidate to work for them. Either way, they're going to have a bunch of candidates who fall short on one requirement or the other, so it's up to them to pick the one that will best fit the reality of their barn.

If the job requirements are almost entirely physical, then pass up the ad. They are probably more interested in hiring the big, strong farm hand. But if the requirements include a lot of non-physical attributes (especially things that require horse knowledge/handling) then the odds are greater that the 100 lb lift is less important.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

Golden Horse said:


> WELLL..................................
> 
> Living out here on the prairies, where it is flat enough to watch your dog run away for 3 days, and there is a lack of tree cover, you kind of have to get used to squatting in full view....the fact that there are very few people living here, and those that do are used to peeing outside does not count. Being a city girl born and bred, although well used to going in stalls, trailers, behind buildings, whatever, this totally out there situation I struggled with...so I bought a Shewee....
> 
> ...


 OMG you had me laughing so hard I just about wet my ownself!


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## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

farmpony84 said:


> I only read the first page but that seems like a very reasonable stipulation. A bale of hay, a wheel barrow, a bag of grain.... Western saddles can be really heavy even.... Totally fair request...


You need to read page three...you will thank me later.


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