Steps to Better Barn Leadership

Whether you run a large horse business or a small private barn finding good employees to help with the daily duties of horse care training and lessons is usually a difficult task. Some horse owners freely admit that their horse resources acumen is better than their human resources insight. In reality good management of both takes similar talent and is easier to achieve than you might think. Here are some tips to help you along the way.
1 Select Staff Carefully
In the words of leading entrepreneur and Shark Tank TV shows legendary panelist Barbara Corcoran When you have chemistry with a potential hire they will most likely become a great employee. This is one good way to narrow down your selection for a new hire.

The position you need to fill will most likely require certain skill sets. Some skills can be trained while others may be innate. When you make a good choice there is a much better chance that the person you hire will stay and do well under your tutelage. As Corcoran also says Dont teach talent that isnt there.
It is a fact of life that if you hire people to work for you at some point you are also going to have to fire people who work for you. Try to minimize the staff turnover as much as possible by checking all job references spending time with the prospective employee to get to know them and thoroughly explain the job requirements in a realistic manner so you can gauge their reaction.
During my career as an advanced rider clinician and coach Ive often wondered why it is that folks will go to the end of the earth to select the perfect horse to purchase for themselves yet when it comes to the person they will share their horse time with who will care for the horse as the designated groom barn help or exercise rider they rush into the final choice without due diligence.
If like many horse owners your equine partners are part of the family you should care very much about who is around them and how well they will be cared for on a daily basis and ensure the help is an honest and reliable individual with integrity.
Probation periods are an option for new employees. Much like a horse coming home on trial they provide a valuable opportunity to assess the fit and suitability of your selection.