Job Description

About Virginia Tech Equestrian Program:
The Virginia Tech Equestrian Program houses 20-30 horses at the Campbell Equine Unit and 30-40 horses at the Smithfield Equine Unit on-campus in Blacksburg, Virginia under the School of Animal Sciences. Equitation Lessons are taught by the Equitation Coach Monday through Thursday during the semester with additional team practices on Fridays. Summer equitation programs vary. Daily horse care is overseen by the Equine Manager and implemented by student barn staff members (4-6 per semester) that are assisted by members of the Equine Volunteer Program (~120 staff, faculty, and student volunteers per semester).

Job Description:
The Virginia Tech Equestrian Program seeks a highly motivated, responsible individual to join our team as an Assistant Equitation Coach and Assistant Herd Manager. This is an open appointment designed to provide critical equine management skills and thorough training in teaching hunter seat equitation and dressage. This position is a 1500 hour a year appointment that is not eligible for benefits. On-site housing may be a consideration pending department availability.
The successful candidate will assist with daily operations and care of the equitation herd, management of staff and volunteers, and teach entry level riding lessons based on need. They will work as a team member to help accomplish the goals of the equitation program and work under the direction of the Equine Manager and Equitation Coach. Selected candidate will be expected to facilitate a positive environment among all areas of the Equine Program through cohesive communication between the equestrian teams, student barn staff, and equine volunteer program. They may be asked to assist at the Smithfield Equine Unit with the breeding, research, and teaching herds as needed.

Barn Management Experience & Assisting with Care of Equitation Herd:
- Assist with care of equitation herd
- Meet vets and farrier for both scheduled appointments and emergencies
- Assist with completion of individual horse treatments and train student barn staff and volunteers to assist with treatments when possible
- Work with Equine Manager to update treatment sheets and individual horse health records
- Ensure accurate completion of management changes, treatments and routine care on feed shifts.
- Work with Equine Manager and student barn staff to maintain facilities at Campbell, Smithfield & Alphin Stuart Livestock Arena. Duties include but are not limited to:
- Maintain indoor arena footing on a daily basis
- Ensure feed & supplements stocked and inventoried
- Assist with overseeing farm maintenance chores and other projects such as winterizing, fencing repairs, pasture manure management etc.
- Be on call to assist with emergency situations such as animal injury, loose animals, broken fence, facilities concerns, inclement weather etc. After hours, holiday and weekend commitments will vary and be coordinated with the Equine Manager.
- Gain experience hauling horses to and from vet school
- Dependent upon candidate interests, learning opportunities with pregnant mare monitoring & foaling, breeding, and youngstock handling at the Smithfield Equine Unit may be available

Assisting with teaching and team activities:
- Provide instruction to lessons of various levels of lessons in the equitation program as assigned by the Head Riding Instructor
- Coordinate with the Head Riding Instructor to organize and implement a comprehensive weekly lesson plan for the equitation program
- Organize the weekly course build by assisting the classes assigned for the week
- Assist Head Riding Instructor with all necessary programmatic and paperwork associated with the Hunter Seat IHSA team
- Organize and implement the Care Horse Project run through the Equitation Program
- Assist with team practices and all intercollegiate home/away shows the competitive hunter and dressage teams participate in throughout the season
- Help maintain the footing in both the indoor and Campbell arenas
- Assist the Head Riding Instructor in fitting and assigning appropriate tack for each horse in the riding program
- Assist in maintaining organization in the tack rooms as well as ensuring that all assigned tack is accounted for and in its proper place
- Assist in organizing team functions and team requirements with the assigned team managers
- Assist with organizing travel of Equitation Program owned horses to horse shows, as well as horse show set up and coaching at open shows the program participates in during the academic year
- Work to organize and implement all home hosted horse shows run through the program
- Assist with the community outreach programs and the IEA horse show team
- Assist with any other duties as assigned by the Head Riding Instructor

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Animal Sciences or related field; Demonstrated ability to teach quality, safe riding lessons at various levels; Comprehensive knowledge of horse management principles; Demonstrative strong communication, written and organizational skills

Preferred Qualifications

Pay Band

2

Appointment Type

Regular

Salary Information

$16.50 - 21.50/hour

Review Date

02/04/2024 (open until filled)

Additional Information

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

About Virginia Tech

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world, Virginia Tech is an dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight , a , a college, , and . The university has a significant presence across Virginia, including the in Northern Virginia; the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke; sites in Newport News and Richmond; and numerous and . A leading global research institution, Virginia Tech conducts more than $500 million in research annually.