After accepting my internship at Campbell Harrington and Brear I didn’t have a ton of time to find a second job in order to pay for my living expenses over the summer. I knew I wanted a job that I already had a background in as I figured I’d be stressed out enough learning to work in the Advertising Agency I was interning at. That’s when I came to the conclusion that I wanted to work on a farm. It didn’t really matter whether I was riding, training, helping with lessons, feeding or even mucking stalls. I ended up hitting the lotto when I emailed FCS Equestrian Center about possible employment opportunities. A week later I met with farm owner and operator, Justyne Litten, to discuss job responsibilities as well as meet the project horse Justyne and I would be riding over the summer, a sassy little mare named Cassie.
Working on a farm is a unique experience and I love every minute of it. It’s nice to actually get excited to go to my second job. I believe there are a lot of things you can learn working at a barn that you will never be able to learn sitting at a desk in an office, although surprisingly there are many similarities that I notice between a desk job and the job of being a stable hand. I’ve decided to make a list of things I’ve learned over the years working at a barn that have proved to be just as important in a corporate setting.
1) Patience- Working with a large animal often calls for a large amount of patience. Just because you ask a horse to do something nicely doesn’t mean that they are going to do it. It’s important to realize that just like humans they have a learning curve and can’t be expected to do everything as soon as it is asked of them. We all also have good days and bad days. Whether we are training somebody to learn a new job, or just dealing with somebody that isn’t in the best mood we need to have patience.
2) A lot of times people hold themselves superior to each other, especially if they have a higher position or earn a higher salary than you. Through riding I have learned respect is the key to getting along with something that is so much more powerful than you are. It’s easy to get a big head about yourself but when I start to get cocky I’ve got a 1500 pound animal that quickly reminds me where my place is. It’s about working together as a part of a team, not segregating yourself as a higher power.
3) There have been many times I’ve just needed a break from the real world. We get so caught up in everything that’s going on and we exhaust ourselves. We pile so much work on our own plates because we think we can do it better than somebody else, and we forget that it’s ok to ask for help every once in awhile. I was reminded of this on Sunday when I went on an awesome trail ride with Justyne. After we both worked a full day on Saturday we needed a break. Luckily for us we had two horses that were more than happy to carry our weight and let us catch our breath for a few hours.
4) Sometimes we are so focused on our own thoughts and ideas that we forget to take into consideration what somebody else sees. A few years ago while trail riding with a friend I learned the important lesson of always listening to what someone else has to say. We left early in the morning for a full day of riding on the trials. We ended up in a swamp area and spent about 45 minutes trying to get back on track. I asked my horse to move forward into an area I thought was stable to walk across in order to get out of the swampy area. He probably knew the area was a sink hole by how the ground felt underneath his hooves and refused to move forward. He finally gave in and listened to my decision to move forward and yes, we ended up in the sink hole. This time I let him do the steering as he was able to get us out of the watery sink hole safely. I should have known all along that he knew it wasn’t ok to go forward but I decided not to listen to him. I am very careful now to listen to what the horse underneath me is trying to communicate because a lot of times they have a better plan than I do.
5) Love and Acceptance- While working we encounter various kinds of people. Different races, genders, values and beliefs. One of my favorite parts of the barn is the unconditional love given by the animals I work with. It’s important that we follow their example. It doesn’t mean you have to necessarily love and be best friends with everyone you work with, but it does mean you should be able to accept them as a person and fellow co worker and give them the respect and kindness they deserve.
6) One of the most important lessons I have learned working with horses is the need to take a job seriously and always put your best work into it no matter how big or small the task is. Something as simple as feeding a horse the wrong type of grain or not tacking a horse correctly can put the horse or rider in danger.
7) Responsibility- Horses are a lot of fun but they are also an unbelievable amount of work. Cleaning stalls and scrubbing water buckets is a part of owning a horse regardless of how many championships or blue ribbons you have won. The same goes for working in a corporate setting. Just because you’re the president of the company and have a top floor executive suite doesn’t mean you won’t participate in grunt work every now and then.
8) Love what you do with all of your heart! A lot of people think it’s crazy that I am more than happy to be up at 7am cleaning stalls. It’s not crazy to me because it’s what I love to do. When you have a passion for something you throw your heart and soul into it. You should be excited about your job. If everybody came to work un-happy the office environment would be rather unpleasant. Find people to work with that have a passion for what they do. Trust me; you’ll be much happier working there if you do!
I’m proud to have various barn employment opportunities listed on my resume as I feel there is a lot of valuable things to be learned working at an equestrian center. I’ve learned so many important lessons while working with horses that I can carry with me anywhere I go in life.
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