The Search For A Farm Sitter

In a previous blog, So You Want To Buy A Farm! I discuss the pros and cons of owning your own farm. While I feel that the positive reasons for keeping your horse at home outweigh the negatives, from time to time my husband and I are left second guessing our decision to have our lives tied to all these animals!

For my husband, the biggest con is the expense, mainly fencing and equipment (the good news is that we have finally finished re-fencing our property and have bought all the equipment we need, so he has no reason to complain!) Meanwhile, I struggle in the summer and with our heat index currently in the triple digits, I long to head to the mountains!

However, the biggest issue is in finding a farm sitter! Thankfully, I have several good farm sitters and we really aren’t big travelers, but when we do want to go somewhere, it is nice to know that we have a sitter we can rely upon and trust to stay in our home. I recently decided it was time to find someone to add to my list of dependable sitters, since one went and got married, started a new career and purchased a home over an hour away….the nerve! This means I have just 2 good farm sitters to rely on, so I felt it was time to put out feelers for another backup

Let me just say it has been quite an experience. What have I learned? Well, if you are considering farm sitting, let me give some pointers on what not to do!

• I realize that this is not a job working on Wall Street, but please dress appropriately for the interview! Cut off short-shorts, sandals, and crocs with open heels are just not really professional attire, no matter what job you are interviewing for.

• Show up on time! One girl showed up the day before. Normally not a problem, but I was planning on running to Ocala to do a feed run and I had to rearrange my schedule. Her only comment was “My bad.” If you keep rescheduling, how am I to be confident that you won’t cancel the day before my trip?

• Introduce yourself! Don’t just fall out of the car and not tell me who you are! And if you are introduced to others, acknowledge them...especially if it is the spouse of the person interviewing you.

• Leave the food, gum and ice in the car.

• Pay attention and look interested! This is a position that requires attention to detail and following instructions (see above about showing up on time!)

• Communicate! If you are late or have to reschedule, then don’t wait days until you text or call again. This is a position that also requires you to communicate while I am gone! If you are unable to demonstrate this now, then how am I to feel confident that I will get updates?

• Don’t force yourself on the animals. You are supposed to be an animal sitter and should have some experience with animal psychology! If you are not letting the animals come to you and are invading their space, encouraging the dog to get wound up when the owner is trying to calm down the excited dog, then you might be in the wrong field. And for heaven’s sake, don’t start folding the donkeys ears like they are oragami!

• If you work full time and think that staying the night and leaving after breakfast is ok, then you are in the wrong field. My animals mostly sleep at night. They are however trying to unalive themselves from sun-up to sun-down. While you don’t have to spend every moment looking after them, I do ask that you keep an eye on them and check up on them regularly throughout the day to make sure that they are still breathing. That is the job and what you are being paid for.

• If you feel the need to bash the way the owner does things to other boarders or the spouse, you are in the wrong line of work. Again, you are being paid to do a job, not critique it. I understand everyone has their own way of doing things, and honestly, I am ok with you getting into your own routine, as long as stalls are cleaned properly, my horses are fed and watered and the damn snaps on the hay bags are facing away from my horses eyes! But don’t critize how I run my barn. I have my reasons!

• When responding to an ad for a farm sitter that asks for someone with experience, and your experience is that you rode as a kid, you are not experienced! I need to know that you can identify a colicing horse and know the difference between Banamine and Dormosodon.

Sadly, I could go on. This sums up my recent experience trying to find a farm sitter. So far, I have had no luck. What can you add to this list?

In other news, I want to give a shout out to one of my former students and pony clubber, Jean Thomas, who recently rode in the Mongolian Derby! If you are not familiar with this race, to sum it up, it is a week of torture on horseback…1000 km, 1500 semi-feral horses and 45 riders from around the world! What impresses me about this race is the level of horsemanship involved. The Mongolians treasure their horses and at the forefront of everything is the level of care that these animals receive. Mandated vet checks and holds due to extreme heat are part of the race. The care of the ponies, many of which are semi-wild, is first and foremost. The riders? Not so much! I paid more attention to the race this year than in the past, watching the live feeds and reading the daily updates, and I felt like I came to know all of the riders and the locals who make this happen. And I take back what I used to say, which was oh, if I were younger I would love do this. No, I take it back because I don’t think I would have survived one day. Rider sores where you can’t even imagine having a sore, broken bones, dehydration and bucking ponies are all part of the daily grind. My hats off to those courageous enough to challenge this feat! If you want to learn more, read up at Mongol Derby | The Equestrianists 

I hate to admit that I have lost all motivation for riding this month! My mother used to say that August is the month of hell in Florida and she was correct. When it is triple digits out, there is just no desire to ride! My horses are miserable! They go out early in the morning and by 10 am, they are at the gate, pleading to come in. I hose them off and tell them that they have 3 more hours to go! They love standing in their stalls, fans blowing on them and munching their hay or dozing. I put them back out after dinner so I can pick their stalls again and let them move around, but it isn’t long before they want back in, sweating and complaining of the bugs. I am glad that I have runs off of their stalls, but they still choose to remain in their stalls. I look forward to when this summer will be over, and while it will still be warm in 6 more weeks, the blistering heat will have let up and I can convince everyone to stay outside all day long!

I have however put my time indoors to good use and I spent this week building a new website for my business Two Donkeys And A Horse. It was time to add a website for my booth and etsy shop, with the etsy shop probably going away soon. If you like equestrian decor and art and western-inspired leather bags, please check out https://twodonkeysandahorse.com/

I hope that where ever you are, that you are getting time in the saddle!

Don’t Forget to Hug Your Horse!

Lori