Behind the Bit |
| Mucking: Demeaning or meaningful work? Posted: 25 Jan 2010 01:27 PM PST  I have mucked stalls since I have owned a horse -- my horse's stalls and other peoples' horses (doing weekend barn work). Frankly I enjoy it. It's nice to do work where you have measurable progress and know it helps keep the horses healthy. A gripe about today's youth (and their parents/mentors)  It frosts me that many young riders poo-poo mucking (so to speak). It seems to be beneath them. Case in point: A middle-aged friend of mine worked at a show barn, and the barn manager/trainer assigned her to work with a healthy 20 year old boarder/rider named Sara. Although both were paid the same, the usual division labor changed while Sara worked with her. Sara's tasks were to do the feeding/water/other light work, while my friend mucked and rebedded 15 stalls and swept the aisles. "Sara doesn't do stalls," the manager explained in a protective tone that discouraged questions. The BM sent my friend a message, albeit unintentionally: talls are too demeaning for her, but fine for you. My friend was annoyed. But you know there is vindication for this story...Enter Horse Hero and UK eventer Wayne Garrick! Once again I'll put in a plug for Horse Hero -- lots of videos, great topics, big names, sprinkled with humor. In this video, "Mucking out shavings ('Ritz' style) with eventer Wayne Garrick," we see that in the good old U.K. at least, top riders don't see mucking stalls as beneath them. Wayne's words echo the way I feel about mucking. It's important work. Horses work for us and we should repay them the favor. Look, if you really don't want to muck a stall, EVER, no one will make you (well, unless you have a good trainer, parent, or coach who wants to help you become a horseman/woman, not just a rider). If you really want to know horses, you have to take part in the widest range of tasks and jobs that are part of their world. Even the unglamorous ones...  |
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