Anyone else work as the sole groom fr small yard and find it hard to switch off?

LokiSofi

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2003
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I work 7 days a week for a small private yard. Only 6 horses. 4 permanents and 2 from Ireland in at a time for training and selling.
At present our 2 most recent irish horses are ill. One arrived a couple of weeks ago and has some sort of infection. The other arrived just over a week ago and erupted 2 days after arrival with abscesses and has now been confirmed as strangles.
I'm the only groom and treat each horse as an individual and as though they are my own.
At present with the strangles boy and another horse now having it plus the other irish one also being ill I'm the only one allowed to handle the sick ones and am taking all the precautions in after I've done everyone else only then touching ill ones disinfecting everything etc etc. I'm having to work more hours as I'm flushing abscesses cleaning wounds checking for symptoms in others etc aswell as looking after the healthy ones.
I'm doing this around my 4 year old daughter, my own horse and running a house.
In finding I'm starting to get exhausted as I'm constantly worrying about the work horses and I'm finding it hard to switch off at night. How does everyone else switch off? Like I say i treat them like my own and the new boy with strangles where he's needing lots of attention and nursing I'm building a huge bond with him and as a result I'm wearing myself out constantly worrying ad thinking of what I can do and constantly researching etc. Bit of a pointless thread but just wondered how others who work closely with a small amount of horses switch off when one is ill and it's time to go home?
 
I don't work with horses, but the head groom on my yard lives there and although she does have days off, she basically is on duty 24/7. I don't know how she does it, I don't think that it is very healthy and you always need time to switch off.

If you are feeling the pressure, you need to talk to your employer sooner rather than later, otherwise you run the risk of crashing out completely.
 
Not a groom now but still have issues switching off from work when things are intense and end with insomnia too boot, I find playing a silly game like candy crush/connect 4/solitaire/mahjong for half an hour can get my brain to stop whizzing with everything by focusing it on that one thing for a while, then I can focus better on other things and sleep better :)
 
Oh dear, that sounds very stressful at work at the moment , sick animals are always a worry but then to have to look after a four year old as well as run a house and look after your own horses as well, it makes me exhausted just to write it down phew You will make your self sick if you don't some how manage to get a day off. When i need to unwind and give my brain a break i'm like @Jessey and play the same type of games..
 
It is one of the reasons I was glad to hand over to daughter who is far better at delegating than I ever was and now has a great team and a little house on site. It is great to be able to sleep at night knowing if there is an emergency it is not all down to me to sort. I think last years middle of the night escapes were the final straw for me, I actually started almost disliking horses.
 
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