Stable Staff

rockingout

First of all,
i love racing and im an avid follower, but do the stable staff in the game, those that ride out in morning get desperate pay for long hours??

Why dont they the same recognition as trainers/owners/jockeys???
Doesnt seem right to me??

Overthelast

rockingout wrote: »

First of all,
i love racing and im an avid follower, but do the stable staff in the game, those that ride out in morning get desperate pay for long hours??

Why dont they the same recognition as trainers/owners/jockeys???
Doesnt seem right to me??

You appear to have asked two questions, which are somehwat related. I'll have a stab at answering both.

1. The Pay of Stable Staff

Don't know the exact rates but I heard the pay is poor.

What one gets paid is related to the value that you can sell your product to in the market, along with supply/demand. I wouldn't know which side the oats go in, but I guess the more formal training/professional accrediations you have to your name would maybe assist in getting a higher pay? Or do you need much training/professional skills to work wth horses? If the answer is no, I'm not sure how you could demand high pay rates? All trades/professions have levels, based on skill/ competency - I'd imagine a Vet would be top of the ladder in the "stable staff" career aspiration stakes? In the same way a Supreme Court Judge might be for an office clerk starting out in the legal profession? If your in that field of work, I'd suggest you give that maybe some thought with a view to career progression/increasing your pay - perhaps easier said than done but you have to start if thats your desire.

I would imagine there is also a ready supply of new people ready to join the industry at the stable staff level - hence, supply exceeds demand - hence the price paid is lower?. Many would get involved for the love of the sport/animals rather than the pay.

The pay & welfare of stable staff would, I would hope, be an area that the industry as a whole would look out for - those further down the ladder can often end up being the first exploited, especially in these times.

2. Recognition for Trainers/Owners/Jockeys

Horse training, as a business, would be quite risky. Your dependent on attracting a critical mass of owners to put horses into training to cover the overheads in a yard. I guess those at the top of the ladder (the trainer) need to get paid first so he pay pay overheads, then the rest of the cogs in the wheel to keep the operation going. Whatever excess is left over (if any), would trickle down from top to bottom. I'm not in anyway suggesting that justifies paying anyone a poor wage - but I can see how in running a business (which training is), the wage structure would be structured as such?.

Outside the larger trainers/jockeys, no more than stable staff, I suspect most work extremely hard to eeek out a living & cover the bills. The better operators get paid more, as do the better jockeys. I would hope the better stable staff would go work for some of the bigger breeding operations where maybe they get paid better?

I agree, the trainers/owners/jockeys do soak up much of the limelight - I guess they are in the public eye, while much of the work is done behind the scenes by the stable staff to prepare the horse for the big day. The more progressive trainers are getting better at publicly crediting those behind the scenes on tv/when speaking to the press (& I hope rewarding with bonuses?) but I agree, a lot of the time, their efforts are overlooked on the big day. So they're getting more public recognition - but I guess the thrust of your point is financial recognition, which I've tried, probably poorly, to point you in the right way in No 1 above.

rockingout

rockingout wrote: »

.......but do the stable staff in the game, those that ride out in morning get desperate pay for long hours??.........

In general the pay would be in line with what many retail workers, hairdresser etc receive, however the work is hard and the hours unsocial (very early mornings). An honest days pay for an honest days work, some people sneer at that. But as with anything if people are doing what they love they can be incredibly happy.

A friend of mine has a big house, big car, big mortgage, decent job but little disposable income (like so many of us today), he regrets not having gone into the stable staff game, he had a few horses as a young lad and maintains that if he had gone into it he'd be just as well off in a practical sense admittedly with a smaller house (maybe renting), smaller car etc.

Was over in Cheltenham last November and in a local pub got talking to a lady working in a stud, riding out horses etc. She absolutely loved it and seemed so so contented, she was an animal lover and had a couple of dogs too iirc. Horses etc are her life

Winning Ways Racing

As an owner, it's important that stable staff are happy as they look after our horses every day. We give them a few bob at Christmas, a few bob when they go to the races with one of our horses and when one won a Grade 1 we gave them a percentage of the prizemoney at the end of the season. It never went unappreciated by the staff and is all small money in the overall scheme of horse ownership.

mike literis

stable staff are entitled to 3% of the gross prize money won ( stable employee bonus scheme )
although its paid through the trainer so might not always get to its destination

Esroh

Its a few years since I left racing staff life. You get into it because u want to. There is a basic wage =to basic wages. You are entitled to raceday allowences and it depends on the yard re how the 3% is divided smaller yards would share it out , .A trainer who doesn't pay will soon be short handed of anyone with experience.Alot of the bigger yards would work on a pay by ride out basis and on the curragh lads would move round riding out for different yards in the morning.Smaller yards working later.
In the right place its a great life . But you do it 99% for the love of it.
Horses both sporthorses and Tbs brought me all over Europe,America and to Dubai.

Re qualifications paperwork doesn't make u a good Horseman, its natural and develops with practice and experience.
Thats what makes u worth more to a trainer.

mike literis

Winning Ways Racing wrote: »

As an owner, it's important that stable staff are happy as they look after our horses every day. We give them a few bob at Christmas, a few bob when they go to the races with one of our horses and when one won a Grade 1 we gave them a percentage of the prizemoney at the end of the season. It never went unappreciated by the staff and is all small money in the overall scheme of horse ownership.

if you give stable staff money when they attend races win or lose , that's like tipping in McDonald's , a pointless excercise. they have been paid there wages , there travel allowance and there raceday allowance .

however what I have found effective is , and it's what a lot of owners do , is place a bet and give the docket to the stable staff. have a pre agreed amount ready and it's up to the stable to tell you what day or what run they would like the bet placed . you will find you will get more honest information about your horse that way , as they stand to gain if the horse is right and ready . if at the end of the year a bet hasn't been placed you can always give them a Christmas bonus .
throwing money at them everytime they go racing is ridiculous and can't be accounted for on paper

convert

mike literis wrote: »

if you give stable staff money when they attend races win or lose , that's like tipping in McDonald's , a pointless excercise. they have been paid there wages , there travel allowance and there raceday allowance. [...] throwing money at them everytime they go racing is ridiculous and can't be accounted for on paper.

Lovely thing for an owner to say about the staff who look after their for their horse and get it ready for the races! :rolleyes: Would you say the same about the jockey who you booked, too? They might ride more forcefully if you give them a betting slip!

Most owners I've ever met has always given the lad/lass who leads up the horse a tip for looking after the horse on race day. It doesn't have to be much, but the few extra quid is always appreciated. Same if the owner goes to watch the horse do a spot of work; even though the work rider is paid by the trainer, if it's not someone from the yard, an owner will generally give a few quid as a 'thank you'.

Re. the wages for racing yard staff, it'll obviously differ between trainers and/or yards, but about 4 years ago the 'going rate' was 50 euro for a morning's work (8-12 or 1, depending on how quickly you get through the morning's work/lots). If you were only riding out one horse, it was 20 euro. 50 euro for riding a spot of work for someone.

I haven't met any stable staff who aspired to be a vet. The majority want to be the next Davy Russell/Ruby Walsh/Paul/Nina Carberry. Or a successful trainer. Definitely not a vet.

Most staff do it because they like working with horses. Definitely not for the money!

mike literis

for clarity and fact , here are the actual pay agreements and travel allowances paid to irish stable staff

http://www.issa.ie/latestnewsandevents.html

Winning Ways Racing

mike literis wrote: »

if you give stable staff money when they attend races win or lose , that's like tipping in McDonald's , a pointless excercise. they have been paid there wages , there travel allowance and there raceday allowance .

however what I have found effective is , and it's what a lot of owners do , is place a bet and give the docket to the stable staff. have a pre agreed amount ready and it's up to the stable to tell you what day or what run they would like the bet placed . you will find you will get more honest information about your horse that way , as they stand to gain if the horse is right and ready . if at the end of the year a bet hasn't been placed you can always give them a Christmas bonus .
throwing money at them everytime they go racing is ridiculous and can't be accounted for on paper

Each to their own but I don't see any parallel with McDonalds. Its a burger, serve it up to me. Would you tip in a restaurant? If a waiter/waitress takes good care of me, serves me well, has a smile and generally makes for an enjoyable night, then I'll tip them. Similarly with the stable staff who present my horse in good condition, coat sparkling etc etc, then they will get a few bob.

If you can't get honest information from your trainer, I suggest you go to someone else. Our trainer and stable staff are more than willing to tell me what they think, if I ask them. But I'm not a gambler so its not that important to me. You need to have an open and trusting relationship with your trainer and then they will be happy to tell you what they think.