Have you wondered if riding will have to take a back seat to your career once you’ve graduated from college? After all the years of lessons and shows, for many young people, going to college and on to a career means leaving riding behind, but it doesn’t have to, as Hannah Houston, a barn manager at a riding academy, has discovered.

From the age of 9, Hannah spent most of her free time at the Equestrian Reserve in Alpharetta, Ga., where she took English and western lessons. By the time she was 13, she was working there, cleaning stalls and feeding horses on the weekends. In high school she became an assistant instructor, and she continued that role in college when she was home for summer breaks.

That’s where she thought her work with horses would end. She didn’t own a horse, and college graduation meant starting her career in public relations and moving out on her own. It didn’t look like her schedule or her budget would leave much room for riding.

Corporate Life Blues

At first, working at a public relations firm was a lot of fun. Her main clients were restaurants and hotels around Atlanta, which meant she had access to a lot of delicious food! However, the job required 50 or more hours a week, mostly behind a desk. Occasionally, Hannah would get a call from Donna Romeu, the owner of the Equestrian Reserve.

“She would need me to help run a show on a weekend,” says Hannah. “It was fun to be back in the arena with the younger riders and around the horses I’d known all my life.”

After two years in PR, Hannah became discouraged with both the job and the sedentary life it required. Just as she was thinking about making a change, Donna called and asked Hannah to drop by the barn.

“She asked me how the job was going, and I admitted it wasn’t great,” Hannah says. “Donna knew the long hours behind a desk were wearing on me.”

A Better Career

It was then that Donna told her she would like to reduce her own hours at the barn and offered her the position as manager at the Equestrian Reserve, overseeing the riding academy.

“She told me she could really use me full-time and that I could have housing as part of my salary package if I wanted it,” says Hannah. “Taking her offer was the best decision I could have made.”

The Equestrian Reserve has 170 students in a highly structured lesson program, plus a competition team. Students work through five skill levels as part of the curriculum Donna developed while using her background as a school principal as a guide. Often, there are three lessons going on at once, taught by one of the 20 part-time instructors. For anyone to step in as manager of this program would require that they have exceptional organizational skills.

“Hannah thinks on her feet and knows how to prioritize tasks, and she knows what it takes for this business to be successful,” says Donna. “She has leadership skills, is great with both kids and adults, and is always looking for ways she can improve.”

No Two Days Alike as a Barn Manager

Her job is a perfect pairing of her passion for riding and teaching with her ability to make a large organization run smoothly.

“There are lots of forms required to enter the show team into a competition,” Hannah says of her office work. “I also talk to prospective students about our program and manage the social media accounts for the barn, both of which are similar to what I did in my PR position.”

One high school junior and instructor at the Equestrian Reserve says Hannah has inspired her to become an intern there to learn more about the business.
“Hannah has a lot on her plate,” says Olivia Halphen. “I admire how she handles it.”

In addition to teaching lessons herself, Hannah assists the veterinarian when she makes rounds, matches students to appropriate horses, and helps to develop the teaching skills of the younger instructors.

“Every day is different, and that’s what I love about it,” says Hannah.

Best of Both Worlds

Hannah knows how unusual it is to have a job like this in a big metropolitan area.

“My friends are excited for me, but it’s hard to explain to strangers exactly what I do,” she says with a laugh.
Donna thinks that’s because she wears so many hats at the Equestrian Reserve.

“There are a million details she has to consider, whether it’s the different cultures of our students or what feedback to give the instructors,” says Donna.
While she uses some of the same skills she did at her old job, there are big differences.

“A lot of my work is at the computer, but it’s broken up by lessons,” Hannah says of her job. “Plus, I get to ride a good bit, whether it’s a horse that needs some extra work or a greener horse we just acquired.”

Looking at Conner, the horse she has just saddled, she smiles.

“I don’t think I could go back to corporate America after this.”

This article about a career as a barn manager appeared in the Spring 2020 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Horse Career: Daily Life as a Barn Manager appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

For many young riders, having a summer job that involves working with horses
every day seems like an impossible dream. However, Blaise Yafcak and Kala Bertolino did just that! They spent the summer as wranglers at Roosevelt Corral in Yellowstone National Park throwing hay, guiding trail rides and hosting guests at a nightly outdoor chuck wagon dinner. It’s exhausting work, but being a wrangler is a great job for anyone who wants an unforgettable summer with horses.

Yellowstone is a huge national park in the northwest corner of Wyoming, and it
hosts over 4 million visitors a year. Several thousand of those visitors want to see Yellowstone on horseback, even if they’ve never ridden before, so the need for seasonal workers with horse experience is high.

Wrangler jobs at Yellowstone’s Roosevelt Corral work 12 to 14 hours a day, five days a week.

“Safety is the most important thing,” says Blaise. “There are all ages and all levels of riders here, including those that have never ridden. Plus, we run into all kinds of animals: coyotes, bison, snakes. You have to be ready for the horses to be spooked. That’s why we check the cinch tightness so much.”

Experience Counts

Roosevelt Corral’s head wrangler, Bailee Morrison-Fogel, says her employees have a variety of horse experiences in their backgrounds.

“We’ve had western riders, English riders, dressage, polo, and everything else you can think of,” she says. “We’re looking for people with horse experience
but also an interest in hospitality.”

Blaise and Kala are examples of that diversity of backgrounds. Blaise grew up in New York City and took English riding lessons as a child. When she went to college in Colorado, she fell in love with the West and took a job on a guest ranch.

It was there that she switched to western riding and gained knowledge in all areas of horsemanship and customer service.

Kala, on the other hand, grew up riding on her family’s land in Montana. When she arrived at Yellowstone, she had just graduated from high school and was the youngest of the wranglers.

“I don’t think a lot of people knew how old I was,” says Kala. “They just respect your knowledge and experience.”

Out on the trail with a group of visitors, Kala and Blaise ride at the head and the rear of the group, communicating with each other on walkie talkies.

If the group has to cross a road, the lead will put on a bright yellow vest and go out into the road to stop traffic, staying there until the entire group has crossed. Often the guide at the front will slow the group down if there is a hazard up ahead.

“I’m stopping here for a minute,” Blaise will say to Kala on the walkie talkie. “There’s a snake crossing the trail.” One of the best parts of the job, though, is seeing the love of horses blossom in new riders. “On a recent ride there was a little girl who was shy and afraid at the beginning,” says Kala. “By the end of the ride, she had learned to control her horse, and you could see her confidence in herself growing. It made me feel great.”

Daily Life in the Job of Wrangler

The wranglers at Roosevelt Corral live in rustic cabins with their fellow workers and eat their meals at the employee dining room. The cost of this—about
$100/week—is deducted from their paychecks. They get overtime for hours over 40 each week, and often the guides get tips when they lead rides.

Since there’s not much to spend money on when you are so far from urban areas or shopping, the wranglers finish the summer with a substantial amount saved compared to other summer jobs.

On their off days, the wranglers can hike the miles of trails in the backcountry
or visit the geysers and geologic formations that make Yellowstone unique.
However, most wranglers prefer to take a horse and ride.

“As long as they go with someone else and have the horse back to the corral by sundown, the wranglers can pack a lunch and ride deep into the backcountry, seeing parts of the park that most people never get to see,” says Bailee.

While this is Kala’s first summer as a wrangler, it’s Blaise’s third time as
part of the majority female staff that runs Roosevelt Corral. “If you’re willing to do the job and do it well, they will give you more responsibility,” says Blaise.

This might include learning to drive a wagon team or assisting the veterinarians in horse care. Animal care is familiar territory for Blaise—she spends her winters in Manhattan working as a vet tech in an emergency animal hospital. “I love the city, but by the end of the winter I am ready to go back out West.”

This article on getting a summer job as a wrangler originally appeared in the July/August 2019 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!

Enjoy the video below of the Roosevelt Corral crew.

The post Wrangling a Summer Job: Working as a Summer Wrangler in Yellowstone National Park appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.