Not Fantastic, If I'm Honest - Junior Instructor Stag Lodge Stables Employee Review

I came to Stag Lodge in a vulnerable position - I had just turned 20, was a very long way from home, had no savings and desperately needed work in order to save for uni - and I felt the Stag Lodge owners, really manipulated this situation and abused their position as my employer. I was contracted to work for 42.5 hrs/week (8.5 hrs/day, 5 days/week), and for this I was paid a fraction over minimum wage. However, I often ended up working 10 hour days, sometimes more, meaning my hours per week would usually sit at approximately 50 hrs/week. I was not paid for overtime. I was not paid for lunch breaks (whatever they are?). Therefore, with all hours considered, I was earning less than minimum wage. Barely enough to survive off. It took over a month after my leaving for any wages to be paid. Over a month. With prompting. I had to email my former employees at Stag Lodge to remind them that I did, in fact, in order for me to be able to survive, need to be paid. I have the feeling that, had I forgotten to remind management, I would not have seen a penny of my pay. We all know that before we see our final pay packet, money is taken out. Taxes, insurance, pensions... And, for some of us, rent. I was a 'live in' member of staff, and paid to live in the close-to-work staff house. For £300 a month, I got a poxy attic room with barely enough room to swing a cat (or an ant). There was dust, dirt and grime on all surfaces in the room; there were stains from who-knows-what stuck in the carpet; a whole in the floor beneath my bed (which you could just about see into the room below through) and a fairly low ceiling. The radiator in my room was broken, but as the heating didn't work for the first three weeks of my living there, I don't think this counted for much. It was cold and it was damp and it was miserable. And loud. The noise was due to the fact the bedroom was more or less on the curb of the A3 into Central London, meaning there was noise and bright lights from the traffic at all hours. I didn't get much sleep. In the staff accommodation I had access to a communal bathroom - which was always grotty, no matter how much we cleaned it, and had a ceiling so low you had to stoop - and a communal kitchen - in which the electrics kept short circuiting, though this was not so problematic as the rats, the mice and the wibbly wobbly table that had only a couple of chairs. These communal spaces I shared with five other girls, which I quite enjoyed as it allowed time for us to socialise together and unwind. Although, this being said, we weren't allowed guests into the staff house, making it difficult to socialise outside of the work group. This made the atmosphere feel quite 'culty' and put me on edge a lot of the time. The horses, too, I think, were kept as poorly as the staff. I know all horses and ponies are different, and there is no one proper way to care for a horse or pony, but the vast majority of the animals kept at Stag Lodge stables were sick, lame and badly behaved. These traits in a horse or pony speak loud enough of the conditions they are kept in. At Stage Lodge, a horse or pony was only turned out into a paddock if they were 'naughty', and even then the paddocks were barely big enough to turn around in. Horses and ponies were kept in small, grotty boxes and were only bothered if they were being ridden or used. Grooms and instructors did not have enough time to groom them properly before they were tacked up, rugged up or after exercise. I think, too, and this is only my opinion, that the horses were very bored of plodding rings around arenas and not having any variety in their lives. From a customers point of view, also, livery horses were often ridden without express permission from the owner. I think the reason things were allowed to get this bad for the horses and private owners is due to the need to earn, earn, earn, as opposed to placing value on caring for the individual horse and its needs. It's very much a money first place to work. Finally, I would like to make a brief comment on staff training. I think it was great that we (employees) got a whole day a week dedicated to staff training. We got to ride horses and learn a little more about stable management and care of horses and ponies. Some employees even had the opportunity to work towards qualifications. Which is GREAT. However, this often had little structure or planning and organisation, and often led to us doing even more hours of work or cutting into our already very short lunch break to get work done. There was also little point in this staff training, as I feel there was little room for actual career progression to come of this. I know there are a lot of past and present employees who share my view on working for Stag Lodge, and I would encourage any to come forward to share their own experiences so that the owners of Stag Lodge are able to reflect on their management and begin to make positive changes at Stag Lodge for employees, horses, private owners and clients. I am sure they have the capability to do so.