04/15/2026
What happened to the Barn Rats?
I'm sure we have all seen this question posted now and again. For those that don't know, a "barn rat" typically references a young person, usually pre-teens, teens, and even early 20s, who works at a barn in exchange for more riding time. They may also be refered to as "working students" since that is a more polite title.
The general consensus I see on these posts asking what happened to barn rats is that the up and coming generation of horse people do not have the same work ethic as the older generation and they simply do not want to work.
🤔
While this may be true in a few cases, I must disagree. I think the issue is rooted much, much deeper than that. I think the horse community drove out the barn rats.
😱 What?! Why would we drive out free labor?!
Well, that's exactly why ☝️
I think the horse community treated the barn rats more like peasants and slave labor and it drove them away. All the unwanted chores, or the tasks we cannot or do not make time for, get piled onto the barn rats.
But Alyssa, isn't that their job???
No. No it is not.
A barn rat's job is to LEARN. They are the up and coming generation of horsemen and it is our job to teach them how AND why. We show them how to do the chores and we teach them why those chores are important.
So what does that look like?
"I need you to muck that stall really well." vs "That stall needs to be mucked well so that the horse does not develope hoof fungus."
Or
"Go clean that water trough, it's gross." vs "That water trough needs to be cleaned because horses can colic if they don't drink enough."
If barn rats understand the why behind the chores they do, they will be much more willing to do the job and do it well. It takes an extra 30-60 seconds to simply explain the why and engage them as students of horsemanship.
I do not think the horse community does this on purpose (most of the time). We do this to our students because it is what we do to ourselves. The horse community (sadly) thrives on trainers, barn owners, and managers pushing themselves well beyond what should be an acceptable limit. We in return do the same to our barn rats. We as the teachers get so caught up in what must be done and how it has to be done that we don't even stop to ask the why for ourselves. It is a systematic failure across the board.
The moment barn rats are looked at as students rather than slave labor, the entire functionality of the barn changes and soon you will be swimming in young people who want to come learn from you and help your barn succeed. Then it all comes full circle back to us as trainers, barn owners, and managers who now have a solid team to help us so that we do not have push ourselves beyond limits.
I love my team of barn rats and I don't know what I would do without them 💜🩵
