09/04/2026
How to build a barn rat
I keep hearing and seeing people bemoaning how the new generation of kids coming up in the sport don’t spend enough time at the barn learning “all the things” and how they don’t work hard enough- I’d like to offer an alternative view- maybe trainers and parents aren’t finding a way to create the space needed for kids to have the opportunity to hang out in a way that they have access to what they need for this to happen.
I learned at a very young age that an opportunity to hang out at the barn for an extended amount of time came for the very low cost of staying busy and getting work done. This is an evolutionary process for most kids. First you start out with kids standing around(or scrolling their phones) and it takes a trainer or another peer at the barn throwing out some options, “you can groom Sandy, rake the arena wall, sweep the aisle, or clean tack”. Then you have the kid asking you, “what can I do?”, and eventually you get a kid who comes to you stating, “I noticed there are a bunch of cobwebs in the tack room, can I clean those out?”.
I’ve started running groups that are 3 hours long and have 4-6 kids. I usually have myself, and ½ teen helpers to help support everyone. We generally start with barn chores and then move on to grooming, and then kids take turns riding. While some kids are riding other kids learn parts of the horse, how to clean tack, leading, lunging, wraping, and whatever they might express interest in. For the 3 hour periods they are at the barn the kids generally get 20-30 minutes of ride time in AND if we want to create kids that will make good grooms as well as good riders that time is probably more consistent with what any of us would expect. When more space is created for horse care than riding we create well balanced equestrians who learn to prioritize the needs of the animals. When a horse comes home from a horse show a bit skinnier, we have a flock of caring kids willing to spend extra time grazing.
It is one of my greatest honors as a trainer to see a child in my program recognize a problem and determine a solution, Recently a 9 yo I’ve been working with for the last year stated, “that horse is so dusty we can’t get it completely clean- can we give it a bath after we ride it today?”. Creating a true horse person means empowering kids with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions, this happens inside and outside the arena. This takes TIME, GUIDANCE, and a willingness to hand over the reins. As trainers we might need to rethink the models we grew up with and think about how to create the time and space needed to create the next generation of barn rats.
