What does a wrangler do?
A wrangler has different responsibilities according to their place or industry of employment. There are wranglers who specialize in handling and training various animals such as horses, dogs, cattle, and even snakes. Their responsibilities often include preparing food and feeding animals, cleaning barns or cages, teaching tricks, and bathing animals. There are also instances when a wrangler may work for private companies or film productions to handle potentially dangerous animals or help them adjust to their surroundings.
Wrangler responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real wrangler resumes:
- Instruct multiple rodeo camps and lead bible studies weekly.
- Perform animal grooming duties such as washing, brushing, clipping, and trimming coats.
- Perform animal grooming duties including washing, brushing, clipping, and trimming coats, cutting nails, and cleaning ears.
- Train in first aid, CPR, and youth protection.
- Maintain grounds, mowing, weed eating.
- Operate automated milking machine and feed mixer.
- Clean barn milk cows run spreader and tractor
- Perform emergency duties on sick or traumatize pigs.
- Maintain CPR certification to ensure safety of each guest.
- Display hospitality skills through guiding horseback rides through deep, Yellowstone backcountry.
- Require a friendly and flexible attitude, group management and leadership skills.
- Bail and toss round and square bails, have experience with cattle, and pigs.
- Practice supervision and leadership of a group of ranch-hands and wranglers over the 4-month season.
- Attend to the needs of day-camp children while guiding trail rides for children with disabilities and allergies.
- Preform basic animal grooming duties such as washing, brushing, clipping, hoof picking, and cleaning sheaths/udders.
Wrangler skills and personality traits
We calculated that 27% of Wranglers are proficient in Tack, CPR, and Guest Safety. They’re also known for soft skills such as Dexterity, Listening skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Wranglers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Tack, 27%
Completed general ranch maintenance including: repaired fences, welding, repair tack, and care and feeding for livestock.
- CPR, 26%
Completed the following workplace safety training and management: CPR, First Aid and Rescue Certification.
- Guest Safety, 19%
Maintained a herd of 130 horses while ensuring both horse and guest safety.
- Customer Service, 10%
Maintain facility, participate in feeding and medication regimens as needed for horses; customer service, community relations, sales.
- Trail Maintenance, 6%
Conducted regular trail maintenance using shovels, axes, and shears.
- Yellowstone, 5%
Educated and captivated clients throughout each tour with detailed information on local history and ecosystems directly outside Yellowstone National Park.
"tack," "cpr," and "guest safety" are among the most common skills that wranglers use at work. You can find even more wrangler responsibilities below, including:
Dexterity. One of the key soft skills for a wrangler to have is dexterity. You can see how this relates to what wranglers do because "agricultural workers need excellent hand-eye coordination to harvest crops and operate farm machinery." Additionally, a wrangler resume shows how wranglers use dexterity: "clean stalls, feed, water, heavy lifting, dealing with sometimes strong, moody animals. "
Listening skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling wrangler duties is listening skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "agricultural workers must listen carefully to ensure that they understand instructions from farmers and other agricultural managers and supervisors." According to a wrangler resume, here's how wranglers can utilize listening skills in their job responsibilities: "communicated with horse owners about horse health and specialized care. "
Physical strength. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of wranglers is physical strength. This skill is critical to many everyday wrangler duties, as "agricultural workers must be strong enough to lift heavy objects, including tools and crops." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "administered daily physical exams of all animals and provided basic veterinary care. "
The three companies that hire the most wranglers are:
- Kimberly-Clark17 wranglers jobs
- John Deere4 wranglers jobs
- Stanford University4 wranglers jobs
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Compare different wranglers
Wrangler vs. Cowboy
A groom is primarily in charge of maintaining the hygiene and appearance of pets. Typically working at grooming shops, a groom liaises with pet owners to identify their preferences, observe the pet's condition to identify its needs, and explain the extent of procedures to pet owners. They may bathe and cut a pet's hair or nails, even brush its teeth and recommend care procedures to clients. Furthermore, as a groom, it is essential to be proactive and alert as some pets' behaviors are unpredictable.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, wrangler responsibilities require skills like "tack," "cpr," "guest safety," and "trail maintenance." Meanwhile a typical cowboy has skills in areas such as "medical treatment," "food preparation," "cdl," and "farm equipment." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, cowboys reach similar levels of education than wranglers. Cowboys are 1.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Wrangler vs. Groom
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that wrangler responsibilities requires skills like "tack," "cpr," "guest safety," and "trail maintenance." But a groom might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "pet," "clipping," "animal handling," and "pet care."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Grooms tend to reach similar levels of education than wranglers. In fact, they're 2.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Wrangler vs. Livestock yard attendant
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a wrangler is likely to be skilled in "tack," "cpr," "guest safety," and "trail maintenance," while a typical livestock yard attendant is skilled in "light maintenance," "vehicle check-in," "rental equipment," and "auto auctions."
When it comes to education, livestock yard attendants tend to earn similar degree levels compared to wranglers. In fact, they're 3.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Wrangler vs. Stable hand
Even though a few skill sets overlap between wranglers and stable hands, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a wrangler might have more use for skills like "tack," "cpr," "guest safety," and "customer service." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of stable hands require skills like "clean stalls," "general upkeep," "water," and "water buckets. "
Stable hands reach similar levels of education compared to wranglers, in general. The difference is that they're 2.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of wrangler
Updated January 8, 2025
