Grooms are generally responsible for tasks such as mucking out stalls, feed preparation and distribution, cleaning and refilling water containers, grooming and bathing, cleaning tack, bandaging legs, tacking up, and administering basic first aid for cuts and scrapes. Horse groom are supervised by a barn manager, trainer, or foreman and continuously need to report back to those in management when they notice any injuries, behavior changes, or potential hazards.
While grooms won't need any formal educational qualification, they must possess solid horsemanship skills. They may acquire these skills through formal education or on the job training. Prior horse ownership or volunteer experience at a local riding stable generally provides a good knowledge base.
Most grooming positions do not offer a very high salary. However, grooms working for major racing programs may be compensated with bonuses when the horses under their care perform well in a competition.
Nonetheless, grooms in the US generally earn between $10 and $15 per hour.
What is a Groom?
What Does a Groom Do
There are certain skills that many grooms have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed dexterity, listening skills and physical stamina.
How To Become a Groom
If you're interested in becoming a groom, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 24.2% of grooms have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.5% of grooms have master's degrees. Even though some grooms have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Groom Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a groom can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as veterinary technician, progress to a title such as technician and then eventually end up with the title general manager.
Average Salary for a Groom
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Groom
The role of a groom includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general groom responsibilities:
- Responsible for the loading, unloading, and setup of equipment on a daily basis while following all truck safety procedures exhibit excellent customer service
- Operate snow cats to assist with feature construction projects, special event builds
- Clean the ponies when they are finished at morning training, which includes bathing, brushing, bandaging their legs,
There are several types of groom, including:
Farm Hand
Role:
A farmhand is responsible for assisting farmers in growing plants and feeding livestock on the farm. Your work is basically to ensure a smooth running of the farm by performing various tasks throughout a working day. You are expected to maintain the machinery by fixing it when necessary, cleaning it regularly, and maintaining the condition of building the farm.
Since farming is an unpredictable industry, your work differs per season. Nonetheless, you will be required to do heavy lifts and manual labor throughout the day to help farmers to reduce unforeseen and unpredictable circumstances. Helping out farmers involves a lot of participation in farm activities, which include providing water for the animals, cleaning out pens and closures, and providing fresh straw and hay. You are also responsible for moving animals from one area of the farm to another, planting and spraying crops, and watching them as they grow.
As a farmhand, you have to be very vigilant in every aspect to alert the farmer whenever you observe a problem concerning the animals or the crops. Sensitivity, flexibility, attention to detail, problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and a genuine love for farm work are crucial for this role. You must also be physically fit for this role. Plus, you need a bachelor's degree in agriculture or other related fields. The average salary of a farmhand annually is $25,000.
- Average Salary: $26,594
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Ranch Hand
Role:
A ranch hand works on a farm or ranch, tending to animals and doing menial tasks around the ranch. They either live on the ranch or near it, and work long tedious hours. They attend to live farm or ranch animals that may include cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, bees, or poultry that produce animal products such as milk, fur, skins, meat, feathers, eggs, and honey. They are responsible for feeding, watering, herding, grazing, castrating, branding, weighing, catching, and loading animals into transport vehicles.
The ranch hand cleans and maintains animal housing areas, shears wool from sheep, collects eggs from hatcheries, and do routine menial tasks such as repairing fences, operating heavy machinery like tractors, and so on. They require physical stamina to do tasks around the ranch. They have to be up very early in the mornings and retire late at night.
Only a high school diploma or GED is necessary. A ranch hand earns an average of $25,368 per year, which translates to $12.20 per hour. Career growth is described as having little or no change at 1% and will produce 10,900 new jobs across the US by 2028.
- Average Salary: $27,569
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Farm Worker
Role:
If you want to be a Farm Worker, you will be employed for labor in agriculture, including harvesting. You will maintain crops such as vegetables, grains, fruits, nuts or look after livestock, and you will work under the supervision of an agricultural manager and receive on-the-job training. You can work on farms of all sizes, from small family farms to large industrial agriculture operations.
You will be responsible for maintaining ditches pipes and pumps, direct and monitoring work crews' activities, operating and service farm machinery, spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control environmental pests, feed livestock, and cleaning and disinfecting the yards. You need to be stable, persistent, genuine, practical, and thrifty. You need to like tasks that are physical, athletic, or mechanical. You must also be communicative and able to follow orders. You will make a salary of $26,000 per year.
- Average Salary: $26,598
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Groom Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active groom jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where grooms earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Groom Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 1,201 | $33,798 |
| 2 | Florida | 609 | $29,569 |
| 3 | Texas | 508 | $26,162 |
| 4 | Illinois | 361 | $30,563 |
| 5 | New York | 315 | $33,442 |
| 6 | Washington | 279 | $34,525 |
| 7 | Georgia | 279 | $33,886 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 269 | $30,126 |
| 9 | Ohio | 241 | $29,620 |
| 10 | North Carolina | 231 | $25,280 |
| 11 | Virginia | 229 | $27,638 |
| 12 | Colorado | 219 | $31,361 |
| 13 | Arizona | 206 | $31,721 |
| 14 | Massachusetts | 190 | $34,634 |
| 15 | Maryland | 180 | $29,386 |
| 16 | Michigan | 172 | $30,319 |
| 17 | New Jersey | 164 | $33,003 |
| 18 | Connecticut | 154 | $26,495 |
| 19 | Indiana | 151 | $25,583 |
| 20 | Tennessee | 141 | $28,339 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 140 | $32,985 |
| 22 | Missouri | 137 | $33,280 |
| 23 | Alabama | 134 | $27,708 |
| 24 | Minnesota | 127 | $28,574 |
| 25 | South Carolina | 112 | $28,789 |
| 26 | Louisiana | 104 | $25,636 |
| 27 | Utah | 96 | $27,865 |
| 28 | Arkansas | 88 | $27,162 |
| 29 | Oregon | 78 | $30,626 |
| 30 | Iowa | 73 | $28,876 |
| 31 | Kentucky | 70 | $27,363 |
| 32 | Oklahoma | 69 | $22,935 |
| 33 | Kansas | 66 | $32,758 |
| 34 | Idaho | 57 | $29,915 |
| 35 | Mississippi | 51 | $31,355 |
| 36 | New Hampshire | 50 | $31,662 |
| 37 | Hawaii | 44 | $38,503 |
| 38 | West Virginia | 43 | $32,997 |
| 39 | Delaware | 42 | $31,102 |
| 40 | New Mexico | 32 | $34,717 |
| 41 | Rhode Island | 32 | $31,142 |
| 42 | Nevada | 31 | $34,996 |
| 43 | Alaska | 28 | $27,516 |
| 44 | Montana | 28 | $27,370 |
| 45 | Maine | 27 | $33,812 |
| 46 | Wyoming | 20 | $30,075 |
| 47 | Nebraska | 17 | $36,215 |
| 48 | Vermont | 16 | $36,143 |
| 49 | North Dakota | 12 | $35,063 |
| 50 | South Dakota | 12 | $31,913 |
Top Skills For a Groom
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 71.4% of grooms listed pet on their resume, but soft skills such as dexterity and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Groom Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Groom templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Groom resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Groom diversity
Groom Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among grooms, 80.7% of them are women, while 19.3% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among grooms is White, which makes up 63.7% of all grooms.
- The most common foreign language among grooms is Spanish at 65.9%.
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Best States For a Groom
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a groom. The best states for people in this position are Hawaii, Nebraska, Vermont, and North Dakota. Grooms make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $38,503. Whereas in Nebraska and Vermont, they would average $36,215 and $36,143, respectively. While grooms would only make an average of $35,063 in North Dakota, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Hawaii
$38,503
Avg. Salary
2. Washington
$34,525
Avg. Salary
3. West Virginia
$32,997
Avg. Salary
How Do Grooms Rate Their Jobs?
Top Groom Employers
Most Common Employers For Groom
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dartmouth | $44,786 | $21.53 | 4 |
| 2 | Classy | $36,673 | $17.63 | 6 |
| 3 | Taylormarine | $34,958 | $16.81 | 4 |
| 4 | Airport Terminal Services | $34,570 | $16.62 | 19 |
| 5 | VCA Animal Hospitals | $33,875 | $16.29 | 13 |
| 6 | The Animal Medical Center | $33,455 | $16.08 | 4 |
| 7 | Helen Woodward Animal Center | $33,255 | $15.99 | 8 |
| 8 | Aussie Pet Mobile | $31,275 | $15.04 | 27 |
| 9 | Bubble | $31,096 | $14.95 | 6 |
| 10 | Prospect Airport Services | $30,386 | $14.61 | 6 |