The Position
You will be part of a highly valued team caring for up to 25 horses at Kelly's dressage training facility in the Pungo area of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Horses at the training facility range in age from 2-to-30 years old, some just starting out and some enjoying retirement after a successful career.
We do have two stallions on the property, so the ability to handle stallions is ideal, but not required.
Horse care experience, while preferred, is NOT required. An onboarding process for those without horse experience is provided to ensure all team members, clients and visitors remain safe while at Kelly Coyne Dressage.
To be considered for this position, you must acknowledge the following:
- This job requires punctuality and commitment.
- Arriving late or not showing up is not ok.
- You must have your own reliable transportation to and from work.
- We work in ALL kinds of weather.
- All of the horses in our care have needs that require close attention to detail.
- Barn work is hard. You will get dirty. You will get callouses and you will sweat.
- You have to be able to lift 50lbs.
If you can meet these expectations, please read on...
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Take amazing care of the horses
- Be good to your teammates, help when you can, ask for help when you need it
- Show up for work, on time, every day that you're scheduled to be there
- Feed hay and grain to the horses
- Clean and re-bed the stalls
- Clean and re-fill water buckets and water troughs
- Move horses to and from their stalls to the turnout fields
- Put on leg protection (if provided) when horses go outside
- Turn the stall fans on when the horses are inside, unplug when they are out
- In the winter, we put on and remove blankets
- Sweep the hay loft and remove cobwebs from the barn
- Sweeping or blowing the barn aisles to keep the aisles clean
MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS:
- 18 years of age or older
- Valid drivers' license with your own reliable transportation to/from work
- Commit and adhere to a work schedule while being flexible enough to cover for team members occasionally. (Everyone gets sick, life happens, etc.)
- Understand that this job requires a high degree of commitment even though it's working in a barn. These animals can't care for themselves, and your teammates are relying on you.
- Operate as part of a team, take care of each other
- Ability to work with a high degree of efficiency and quality
- Ability to plan ahead, communicate early and often
Bonus points if you're also proactive, thoughtful and detail-oriented, ask for a second opinion or help when noticing something isn't right. Horses will hide when they don't feel right or when they don't know you well. Asking for a second set of eyes is always welcome.
WHAT WE OFFER:
Kelly Coyne Dressage offers the following amenities to its dedicated team members:
- Morning (7am-11am) and afternoon (2pm-4pm) shift availability
- Weekdays and weekends available, full or part-time hours available
- Onboarding process for new team members to ensure safety and efficiency
- Opportunities to learn new skills with horses (if desired)
- Weekly, monthly, and quarterly team member check
-ins to allow frequent opportunities for feedback
- Convenient mobile
-based timesheet app
- Weekly pay
- Bathrooms cleaned/disinfected weekly
- Staff lounge with bottled water (please bring refillable water bottle), refrigerator/freezer to store meals, microwave- Monthly "Happy Hour" gatherings for staff and clients to socialize (optional)
Compensation:
** Compensation offered will commensurate based on validated and demonstrated experience. **
Candidates may be eligible for higher compensation within the above range after 90 days with the following additional qualifications:
- Preparing feed, dispensing oral medication or applying topical medications correctly
- Applying topical medications and bandages/leg wraps correctly
- Safely handling young, easily excitable horses or stallions
- Identifying when a horse is too hot/cold or behaving abnormally (injured/ill) and addressing correctly
- Consistently finding ways to improve efficiency of barn operations
- Diagnosing and fixing common issues in the barn: hose/faucet issues, replacing water buckets, emptying trash cans/replacing the bags
- Demonstrated experience (or willingness to learn) driving tractors and pulling/backing trailers
- Consistently high quality of work (starting shift on time, planning time off in advance, proactive communication)
- Exhibiting a high attention to detail and consistently going above and beyond
