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Corral Manager

Swan Mountain Outfitters
Temporary
On-site
Montana, United States

Position
Corral managers must be able to perform all the functions of a trail ride wrangler and possess additional leadership and organizational abilities. Managers oversee a staff of 6-10 wranglers and a herd of 30-50 horses.Β 

They act as a liaison between the company and the National Park Service or US Forest Service rangers. They may sometimes need to deal with dissatisfied customers or resolve conflicts between staff.

Managers are ultimately responsible for assigning tasks, inventorying supplies, and resolving issues related to staff meals and housing.

They will report to the general manager to coordinate trail and facility maintenance.

Current CPR, Wilderness First Aid, and Food Handlers Safety certifications preferred.

Our season runs from May - September. Managers must be available for the entire season.

Primary Functions and Responsibilities
Managers work 5-6 days a week, 12-14 hours a day.Β 

Daily tasks include:

  • Preparing all horses for trail rides (ie. grooming, saddling, etc.)
  • Office tasks (opening and closing duties, accounting for cash flow, communicate with reservations staff, take payments/reservations, etc.)
  • Leading guests on trail rides during which you will assist guests onto their horses, share interpretive information, converse with guests, and strive to be the highlight of our guests' trip
  • General horse chores (scooping manure,throwing hay, cleaning troughs, fix fencing, feed grain, etc.)
  • General operations maintenance (trail work, tack repair, coordinate with maintenance team for repairs,etc.)
  • Splitting cooking and housekeeping duties with coworkers
  • Making wrangler schedule and assigning tasks
  • Managing herd health (identifying and treating illness and injury, choosing which horses are working, feeding decisions, etc.)

The ideal applicant:

  • Has excellent communication skills and is patient, yet firm, in explaining and enforcing safety policies with staff and clients
  • Is well organized and has great attention for detail, as they must document and log various activities, keep their office tidy, communicate needs for hay and supplies in a timely fashion, and create staff and horse work schedules.
  • Is able to stay calm, yet act quickly, under pressure to respond to various crises, such as equipment malfunctions, illness or injury to staff/clients/horses, or wildlife encounters
  • Is punctual, hardworking, and dedicated
Β 

Our Rides and Horses
First and foremost, this is a customer service position. Wranglers can expect to be in the saddle leading guests 4-8 hours a day and must be able to provide a safe, enjoyable, educational experience while maintaining an upbeat, professional attitude. Managers may ride less per day as they will be responsible for the entire corral.

Our rides range from 1-8 hours in length and cater to first-time riders. All of our rides are conducted strictly at the walk. Terrain varies from relatively-flat dirt to steep, rocky switchbacks up a mountain.

Please note that we are a "nose-to-tail" trail ride operation. We do not start young horses or do any arena or ranch work.

Managers should have extensive experience in caring for horses. They should be able to:

  • Catch, groom, tack up a horse (all disciplines welcome, we can teach Western tack)
  • Ride at walk, trot, canter
  • Confidently ride a variety of horses they are not familiar with yet
  • Identify signs of illness/lameness/injuryΒ 
  • Perform basic equine first aid
  • Identify and fix ill-fitting tack
  • Multi-task while riding
  • Work through any problems calmly and professionally


Compensation

  • $2,500/month + tips
  • Room and board
  • Glacier National Park employee entrance pass