Training Barn Handler

Qué va a hacer

Texto original en inglés, tal como se registró en el Departamento de Trabajo.

The Training Center is headed by a Trainer and an Assistant Trainer who make all decisions regarding each horse’s training regimen on a daily basis along with veterinary advice at times. The Exercise Riders (“Riders”) exercise the horses daily including riding and breaking each horse daily. The Trainers and Riders are assisted by the Handlers assigned to the Training Barn (“Handlers”) during breaking season. The Handlers help the Trainers and Riders in performing their duties including holding the horses when the riders leg up, walking along with the horses during the ground breaking process, helping Riders hook the horses and walk beside them when they are being introduced to the walking wheel, and walking behind the horses when they enter the swim pond. At all times, the Trainer, Assistant Trainer, or Rider is training the horse, not the Handlers. The need for Handlers during this time period is mainly due to the increase in the number of horses that are new to each one of those processes, and the Trainers and Assistant Trainers are not able to introduce these things without the support of extra people, an extra set of hands. Once the horses are accustomed to being ridden, walking on the wheel, and entering the swim pond, the Training Team is typically able to perform those duties without extra assistance from the Handlers. At all times, the Handlers report daily to and are under the direction and control of the Trainer or Assistant Trainer. Other than such tasks as feeding the horses, cleaning stalls, cleaning water troughs, and bathing the horses at regular intervals, the Handlers do not have any authority or control to make independent decisions about tasks to perform.
Handler Job Duties
Daily routine and skill set required:
1. Feed three times per day.
2. Bring horses in from paddocks from night turn out, and continuously switch in and out from paddocks throughout the day. This needs to be done while making sure not to put colts near fillies and therefore causing any number of issues.
3. Clean stalls and keep them picked throughout the day.
4. Bleach and clean water buckets.
5. Make sure to keep alfalfa in stalls at all times.
6. Halter break horses that come in from the fields as instructed by Trainers.
7. Be able to accompany horses on the full ground breaking process including bridling, tacking, lunging, and driving horses.
8. Once horses have completed the ground breaking process, Handlers will get horses ready for riders each day, bring them to the riders and leg up the riders; when the horse is finished being ridden, the Handler will then hot walk (this is where the horse is walked until it is cooled down and offered water). They will then give the horse a bath and put them on the eurociser or walking wheel to cool out and dry off.
9. All horses that are at the farm on lay-up, and therefore not being ridden, will get bathed each day after their paddock time.
10. On work days, meaning when the horses are asked to run faster than a normal gallop, the Handler will need to apply ice bandages and hot walk with continuous reapplying of the ice during the horses cool out as instructed by the Trainer.
11. All horses are groomed (this includes being brushed with a curry comb and brush, picking and painting their hooves with kopertox and oil, and putting a conditioning spray in their manes and tails) and checked for any lameness or injury every day and the Handler must be present while the Veterinarian or Vet Tech conduct exams, administer medicine, and perform treatments as needed.
12. Handlers will need to be able to hold horses while they stand in ice buckets and be able to apply poultice to legs post work or as necessary.

Requisitos

This is a different position, different season, and different job duties than the Breeding, Foaling, and Sale Prepping Handlers. Training Barn Handlers need three months of experience training and breaking racetrack horses, including first time bridling, first time cinching and saddling, walking, lunging, driving (steering and handling with bridle cues), galloping, rider training for the horse, teaching horse to switch leads without breaking gallop, along with being able to detect muscle soreness and injuries, muscles recovery and cool down and caring for the horse throughout the training process.

Beneficios y condiciones