career change - advice needed

H

horse812261

Active Member
Joined
22 December 2013
Messages
31
Visit site
I am currently a primary school teacher and I am looking to change my career path. I have been in the profession for 2 years and I am really not enjoying it. I have previously worked with horses and have gained some qualifications studying equine management at college. I am very interested in equine physio or something similar but I cannot afford to do another degree. I'd love to run a livery yard too however I'm not sure its financially viable. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice or experience or could suggest a different equine related career. I have financial and job security whilst teaching but I know I'd be happier with horses. Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
I am the opposite, working with horses and looking to be a Teaching Assistant!
I hope to keep teaching privately, but am looking forward to working indoors with heating for a change, and enjoying time with my boy more as I will not be riding 4 hours a day plus stable chores before I get to my own!
Good luck with you change :-)
 
horse812261 said:
I am currently a primary school teacher and I am looking to change my career path. I have been in the profession for 2 years and I am really not enjoying it. I have previously worked with horses and have gained some qualifications studying equine management at college. I am very interested in equine physio or something similar but I cannot afford to do another degree. I'd love to run a livery yard too however I'm not sure its financially viable. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice or experience or could suggest a different equine related career. I have financial and job security whilst teaching but I know I'd be happier with horses. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Equine physio is a great area to get into however from what out Equine Physio/back person has told me you need to be qualified to work on humans before you can train to do horses. You won't learn physio at night school.

You can make a small fortune running a livery yard......... the only problem is you need to start with a large fortune. :) If you own the land & buildings then you may make a living. If you rent a yard & take on liveries you need to do your sums really well because it is very difficult to make money. A friend of mine rented a yard & had liveries for 12 months. The rent of the yard, insurance etc was crippling & she lost a fortune & lost weight with working ridiculous hours & worry. She needed someone to help her with the work but wasn't making enough to pay anyone. Her dream ended up a nightmare.

To be honest stick with teaching, you will be far more financially secure.
 
horse812261 said:
I am currently a primary school teacher and I am looking to change my career path. I have been in the profession for 2 years and I am really not enjoying it. I have previously worked with horses and have gained some qualifications studying equine management at college. I am very interested in equine physio or something similar but I cannot afford to do another degree. I'd love to run a livery yard too however I'm not sure its financially viable. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice or experience or could suggest a different equine related career. I have financial and job security whilst teaching but I know I'd be happier with horses. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

why dont u swap jobs with red-1 for a few weeks and see how u both get on...
:)
 
My sister in law is a secondary school teacher. She struggled for a few years and started to hate it and lack of back up from her head didn't help. She is now in a different school and teaching is suddenly great again. Grass is always greener and you always think working in an area that is your hobby would be great. I have another teacher friend who have gone down the individual private tutor route after many years as a primary school teacher and most of his work is evenings and weekends but the income is bit unpredictable. It works for him as he has no family and a small mortgage.

However, if you genuinely think teaching is not for you, I would look at possibilities of teaching something to horse riders that would fit in with your existing skills. What about teaching pilates, NLP and Alexander technique coaching for example? Start doing things alongside your regular teaching job and if looks like things may be viable then off you go.

Of course, a lot of it will depend on how your are placed financially just now and what stage of life you are at. Life is too short to be unhappy but would advise caution before you leap!
 
I think it is probably useful for you to work out what it is about teaching you don't like so you can try and avoid that feeling when choosing another career.
 
If you really want to give horses a go, I would suggest being a working student (maybe over the summer break). See if you really enjoy it full time. It can also give you an idea about the finances when running a stable.

I thought I wanted to train horses and run a stable, but after doing a couple of working student positions I realized that for me horses are more fun as a hobby.

I hope you get it all figured out!
 
Thank you for all your replies. I'm really unhappy as I am and I dont like the pressure of jumping through hoops, the observations, the constantly changing goalposts plus the ridiculous amount of neverending paperwork which I think you can only understand the scale of as a teacher! On the other hand I love the children (they are 5) and the excitement of their learning and obviously the financial security. I'm just not passionate enough about it to give it my whole life and thats what it needs. Are there any equine related careers which dont require a degree? I'm happy to study at levels below that. I'd love a tack shop too but again I'm sure thats just a dream because of finances. Has anyone gone with their dream and not regretted it?
 
I know what you mean about never ending loops to jump through etc. I taught languages in a secondary school for 10 years before giving up and becoming, of all things, a civil servant. I too needed some type of financial security, as I was not born with any spoon in my mouth, silver or otherwise, but there was for me a limit of the number of times I could teach verbs with any enthousiasm. Working locally for a few years, as a civil servant, allowed me to start early and gave me lots of time to be with my horse of an evening- however as I progressed on that career ladder I found myself increasingly working well away from home, and getting my horse looked after by my OH during the working week. So no I didn't achieve a dream but I did get opportunities to do things money just cannot buy.
If you enjoy the teaching but not the "loops" could you afford to do it part-time? This would give you more out of school time and what is in some areas of the country, an almost full time wage. Also it would give you time to study for any further qualifications. Obviously you might have to change schools to do this but it might help you to be certain it's not just one Head pushing too hard. Whatever you do, do not stick at it because you cannot think what else to do. That way the kids will suffer as well. They need somebody committed to their learning.
Hope that makes sense.
 
Sunnyone thankyou for your reply. Part time is another option to think about, I'm not sure how much I would be paid on a part time position so its something I'd have to look into buy would give me time to study as I couldn't afford to have no income at all.
 
Funny you should say that, as although I am looking to be a Teaching Assistant I am also looking to part time or even contract work. I want time for my own horse and private clients as well, I think you could call it a life- balance.

You can get some great advice from the Gov. website, the tax etc , means that if you drop 1/3 hours you still get over 2/3 wage as the way the tax is worked out the first 9 -10 K is tax free. If you do a calculation as to the reduction in tax and NI you may be surprised how little you lose, I certainly was. Add to this the lower cost of travelling if you drop a full day or even job share, and the savings soon add up.

That way you can train, have quality time, and still have a more generous wage than you would think.

I am leaving my current post as I was turned down for part time, and something has got to give!
 
Another vote for part time. :) Then you could do some horsey things on the side.

I am currently doing my PGCE and planning on doing some freelance teaching/riding.
 
Yes I'd have to look for another school to go part time as my head doesn't like job shares! Im still unsure on ideas for jobs within the equine industry. Any advice on becoming a sales rep?
 
If you don't like teaching then leave. It is an incredibly demanding and stressful job and if you don't enjoy it get out before you crack up. However I don't suggest you just jack it in. Do some extensive research into the alternatives available to you. It doesn't have to be horses.Tthere are plenty of other careers that offer financially that will allow you to enjoy horses as a pastime.Tteaching isn't always a secure job. I know teachers who have been made redundant and others who have had nervous breakdowns and I know which ones have come out best.
 
And, sorry to keep on, part time work often leads to part time contact time and part time pay but full time plus non- contact activities. Because teaching is like that . The preparation, planning and assessment ( and all the other things) tend to expand to fill the time available. In case you haven't guessed I am a retired teacher. But i did love the job when I was doing it.
 
I agree with the above post. I teach part time (two and a half days a week) ostensibly so I could spend the other two days studying. But I am so very stressed, whilst I may only be in school part time, the marking, planning etc takes up at least another day per week. I am given one hour of PPA a week because of the hours I work but this is by no where near enough. In my experience this is not the answer as I am more stressed than ever trying to juggle everything.
 
I retrained at the age of 30,took day release from work and studied for 1 day a week for 2 years.I don't do a horsey job,but run my own business and work school hours so I can do the ponies and the girls can ride after school.I'm not as financially secure as I used to be,but have never been happier.Life is to short to be miserable.
 
Thank you all for such useful advice. I'm definitely closer to the final decision of leaving the profession completely - if all goes pear shaped I can take it up again in the future. I just don't know which area to go into. Mirage what area if business are you in if you don't mund me asking? Happy to pm if you prefer. I'm grateful for any more advice and would still be interested to gear from someone working (happily!) With horses!
 
I'm a gardener,not great in this weather,but I love being outdoors.When I first qualified,I worked 6 days a week,5 in my office job and 1 as a gardener,just to see if I could hack it being out in all weathers.I could,so handed in my notice and never looked back.

Could you tutor? I understand there is a huge [and well paid] demand for 11 plus/ entrance exam tutoring,and do that alongside an equine related job for a while? Then,you still have a good income,you choose your hours and you can see if it is feasible to change over to purely equine work.

Good luck,whatever you decide to do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top