Having a horse and a horsey career?

[notsoluckyhorseshoes]

Hi all, I'm having a bit of a dilemma.

I am currently 15 and working towards qualifications to be a horse riding instructor. But even so, I don't know if I would be able to get my own horse. I don't know many people who work with horses who have their own - or their parents or have a side job that pays it.

Is it possible to have a horse and a horse career? I know that time management will be something I'll have to start doing now so I get into a habit.

Really my ideal situation would be having the horse at the future yard I may work at but I don't know if getting the career and the horse is possible.
Thank you and so sorry for my recent posts as well flooding the tack room forums I just want my own pony lol

 

[teapot]

It's doable, especially if you work somewhere that offers staff livery etc, but you can end up resenting your hobby in the process.

You're 15, get A-levels/college etc over with before you even consider the industry as a career. It's massively changing and perhaps not for the better (and I say that as someone who works in it and looking to leave).

 

[View]

Plenty of time to work this out. I’ve worked on a yard (riding school) while having my horse both on the yard and at home. Pros and cons to both.

wages within the equine industry tend to be low, so the finances of owning may be an issue. Also, at lower levels combining your hobby and career can be problematical.

I couldn’t have supported my family on the wages of a riding instructor, so I earn my living elsewhere which enables me to afford my hobby, which I subsidise by teaching occasionally.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I think it's very difficult to earn enough to have your own when working as a groom or instructor at the average yard - you're looming at minimum wage, most likely & unlikely to be many benefits such as sick pay, generous pension package etc. That's before you consider you're going to be physically tired from doing horses all day.


You could look at other, more specified areas such as saddle fitting, physiotherapy etc but they all involve a longer and likely more expensive training options.

But I don't regret having a non-horsey career at all - coming from someone that really wanted to work with horses growing up!

 

[Bobthecob15]

I think it's very difficult to earn enough to have your own when working as a groom or instructor at the average yard - you're looming at minimum wage, most likely & unlikely to be many benefits such as sick pay, generous pension package etc. That's before you consider you're going to be physically tired from doing horses all day.


You could look at other, more specified areas such as saddle fitting, physiotherapy etc but they all involve a longer and likely more expensive training options.

But I don't regret having a non-horsey career at all - coming from someone that really wanted to work with horses growing up!

I totally agree with this, I wanted to work with horses too until I worked out I'd struggle to afford my own and I was no Charlotte Du Jardin ? A non horsey career has lots of advantages so consider all options! 15 is a difficult age and you don't need to have it all worked out yet x

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I worked with horses in my first few jobs after leaving school. I could afford to keep my own but I found i wasn't interested in my own after finishing a long day doing other peoples. I gave up working with horses and then enjoyed doing my own again!

 

[Muddy unicorn]

It depends how good a rider you are to be honest. And how much parental support you’d have. That doesn’t necessarily have to be purely financial support - neither Oliver Townend nor Charlotte du Jardin come from wealthy backgrounds but their parents were in the horse world and they grew up riding and had the right connections.

Part of the reason the pros are so good is that they’re riding for hours every day. Yes, there are apprenticeships or working pupil placements which would allow you to ride several horses a day and to compete your own and your employer’s horses, but in order to be good enough to be taken on as a riding groom you’d need to have been riding at least 6 days a week and have experience schooling difficult ponies etc which probably means having your own while you’re at school/college - which almost invariably means parental support.

You haven’t mentioned what your parents think of your plans or how much (if any) support they could offer.

However, you’re only 15 which means that you have lots of time to work out what you want to do with your life. Everyone’s encouraging you to focus on your school work and get your exams as that will enable you to have more choices as you get older. If you get your A-levels under your belt you can always go to university later if you want to try working with horses then. But doing that knowing you have options if it doesn’t work out is a lot different from leaving school at 16 and then changing your mind a few years down the line.

 

[AntiPuck]

Best to focus on a non-horsey career so you can hopefully earn enough to comfortably afford to have a horse. It will be no fun at all if you're having to constantly count the pennies.

In addition to affording the horse, whilst it seems so far away now, when you're 30, 40 etc. you really won't want to be in poorly-paid work with little to no financial security built up. At 15 having a pony feels like the be and end all (I was the same!), but there are other things in life you will eventually want to do/have/experience, and many of them will cost money too.

Plus, in such physical jobs, an injury can very easily put you out of business for a while/forever, and the likelihood of that increases the older you get - so you would ideally have a back-up plan, anyway.

 

[laura_nash]

But doing that knowing you have options if it doesn’t work out is a lot different from leaving school at 16 and then changing your mind a few years down the line.

Which is what I did, but still not a total disaster as I did a degree via the Open University to switch careers, I was lucky though that my parents were happy (very happy) to help pay for this.

When I was working in the industry (many years ago now) it was relatively easy to have your own alongside as livery was usually included. The problem is that ties you in to your employer and even more so to sticking with the career choice. In order to stop working where I was I had to give up my horse, which was hard, that she had to semi retire was probably the only reason I was mentally able to do it.

Unless your very, very good working with horses is poorly paid and has limited options for career progression, no chance really of buying a house or having a family, and is very hard physically. I don't regret spending my late teens / early twenties working with horses, but I also don't regret giving that up and going into IT.

 

[[153312]]

I think it's probably best to do something which gives you options. You might be better off doing a levels/a degree for something non horsey first so you have various avenues open to you if you decide against a career with horses or it doesn't work out for whatever reason. Putting, or trying to put, yourself on a very fixed path at 15 isn't a good idea

 

[ihatework]

Honestly - get your self some college qualifications (not horse ones), aimed at a job where you will be paid a living wage and keep horses as your hobby.

 

[Squidge_94]

I work with horses, have done for years and have 2 of my own, but also have a non horse related degree so looking for a job away from them. My advice, keep your horses as a hobby to enjoy and do not work with them!

 

[notsoluckyhorseshoes]

I work with horses, have done for years and have 2 of my own, but also have a non horse related degree so looking for a job away from them. My advice, keep your horses as a hobby to enjoy and do not work with them!

Thank you and yeah I might have to look at a non horsey career but I really don't know what to do ? one year from college or something and everybody is pushing forward with a horsey career haha I really should of looked at other areas instead of always working at yards lol

 

[Otherwise]

Which is what I did, but still not a total disaster as I did a degree via the Open University to switch careers, I was lucky though that my parents were happy (very happy) to help pay for this.

When I was working in the industry (many years ago now) it was relatively easy to have your own alongside as livery was usually included. The problem is that ties you in to your employer and even more so to sticking with the career choice. In order to stop working where I was I had to give up my horse, which was hard, that she had to semi retire was probably the only reason I was mentally able to do it.

Unless your very, very good working with horses is poorly paid and has limited options for career progression, no chance really of buying a house or having a family, and is very hard physically. I don't regret spending my late teens / early twenties working with horses, but I also don't regret giving that up and going into IT.

This pretty much sums up what I was going to say, I could afford to keep a horse as I had free accommodation and reduced livery but I needed family help to buy him in the first place. It was great having my horse at work most of the time but it made leaving a bad job a whole lot more difficult. My employer preferred the grooms to have their own, it meant grooms didn't quit and leave in the middle of the night.

 

[Identityincrisis]

As others have said, there is a huge difference between horses being your hobby or/and your job. I worked for a few months in the industry when i left school and quickly realised I wanted to have my own, not do all the work for other people. It quickly became a job, rather than my escape and removed the joy of horses for me, probably not helped by a unsupportive boss.

I decided I would leave, get a 'normal' job that hopefully in a few years would allow me to buy my own. 25 years on, I'm pleased I made that decision, but equally pleased i tried it as I'm pretty sure I would always have wondered 'what if'

 

[minesadouble]

Something else to factor in is that when I worked with horses my enthusiasm for working with my own horses was definitely dimmed.
I didn't really want to spend my days off doing the same stuff I did day in day out at work.

 

[Skib]

I learned to ride as an older adult and was taught by several excellent BHS AIs who had their own horse.
Most memorable was an eventer whom I asked to explain how she rode things when competing, and then I did the same. It changed me from a hope for the best, dithering rider into one expecting exactness of themselves and the horse.
Interestingly, although those lessons were memorable, the RS horse I rode was limited and we eventualy discovered she was unable to canter on the left lead.

 

[Izzwall]

As someone who's been a groom for the last 10 years I really recommend not going down the horsey career road. Don't get me wrong I've adored every second, love working outdoors, I plan my own day and even better my own horses were never a chore despite looking after everyone else's. I've met some fantastic people too. Sometimes I lacked energy to ride my own and my only day off a week was spent with my partner rather than riding. I had free livery for my mare at one yard and kept my other two very cheap renting a field on an old farm.

The reason I regret going into the industry? Solely the pay! When you're your age OP you don't think about the wage and long term in the future, I certainly didn't! If I had got a normal job I'd have my own house now, maybe of started a family, afforded to go travelling (one of my biggest regrets). I'm 30 now and I'm stuck in a small rented house both OH and I have outgrown, no hope of getting onto the property ladder, no kids as we honestly couldn't afford one and I always said I'd want my own house before committing to starting a family as there's always a chance we can get kicked out of our rented house. I do struggle to afford the horses sometimes so we have to make cuts elsewhere. I've never been able to afford competitions or buy a horse box, though I do really enjoy hacking.
Now I'm injured from a clients horse and risk being permanently disabled.
So from someone who's been in this industry a long time, get a 'normal' job as your future self will thankyou for it!

*edited to add - regarding having your own horse and a horsey career. It is doable but with the poor pay it can be very stressful with unexpected vet bills etc. I have an emergency fund that I regularly dip into. My mare is tricky to saddle fit to so we have to have the saddler out whenever she starts complaining of a problem (which can be anything from 6-12 weeks), that certainly amounts up! She broke her hoof boots so another £100+ gone. The thoroughbred got a reoccurring abscess this year, £100 in poulticing stuff, not including the emergency vet visit on a Sunday. Lessons with a decent instructor can be £45+ a time. All these little things add up and when you're on a rubbish wage it does take your enjoyment away. Don't get me wrong, my horses get everything they need and more but I've had to lower my own quality of life at times and I also have a massive credit card debt!

 

[FestiveFuzz]

I was exactly like you at your age. I was lucky enough to have a horse on loan but obsessively ran the numbers to work out how to afford to buy my own, trawled the Robinson’s catalogue making shoppings lists and regularly sat my long suffering parents down to presentations in an attempt to get them to buy into my hare-brained scheme ? I spent every waking moment daydreaming about having a horse of my very own, and worked every spare moment at a local yard to get my horsey fix and earn some pennies to buy things for my loan horse.

I knew from fairly early on in my teenage years that as much as I adored horses, a job with them was unlikely to afford me the kind of horsey life I wanted so instead I threw all of that passion into my education and later networking to help secure a job that would.

I’m now mid-thirties and last year my husband and I managed to buy the house of our dreams with stables, an arena and 9 acres of land so we could keep the horses at home. I own two beautiful warmblood boys (one of which I’ve owned since he was a foal) and will be looking for a third in the new year. I work a job I absolutely adore, which gives me enough pennies to cover the seemingly endless vet bills and other expenses that crop up on a regular basis and means I can actually enjoy my horses as a hobby rather than seeing them as a chore.

I’ve kept horses on a shoestring when younger and it absolutely is possible, but not a lot of fun when you’re working every hour to make ends meet and then get to the yard to find a missing shoe and ripped rug with no idea how you’re going to cover the costs. It can very rapidly spiral if you have a run of bad luck.

So to get back to your original question, as boring as it sounds I’d focus on your education for now, and definitely when it comes to higher education look at something broad enough to be of value outside of the equestrian sphere. Personally if in doubt I’d say you can’t go far wrong with something marketing based, but obviously have a think about what your passions are outside of horses. At your age I’d totally take advantage of any career advisors you have access to as well to discuss options.

 

[Widgeon]

I work a job I absolutely adore, which gives me enough pennies to cover the seemingly endless vet bills and other expenses that crop up on a regular basis and means I can actually enjoy my horses as a hobby rather than seeing them as a chore.

I think, particularly when you're young (sorry OP!) it can be easy to see the world of "work" and "normal jobs" as a rather soulless and depressing place. I used to be terrified of the idea of a 9-5 office job. However in my late twenties I have landed up in a desk job, but it's one I really like, with a decent salary that pays for my pony, plenty of holiday and understanding employers who value me and let me juggle my day around riding sometimes. So if you can find something with reasonable pay, that you actually quite enjoy at least *most* of, then IMO it's the best of both worlds (or an acceptable compromise, depending on how you look at it!)

 

[BronsonNutter]

I have two horses and a horsey career (equine vet), so it *is* possible. However, I did do A-levels and a lengthy stint at university to get to this point, and still struggle sometimes with the costs of it all. But I feel incredibly lucky to be able to do it and wouldn’t want to do anything else! I also don’t resent seeing my own two horses having seen horses all day.

Typical ‘yard jobs’ won’t often pay well enough to allow you to afford a horse to compete AND do normal adult things like paying rent on your own, but there are plenty of sectors in the equine industry that will do. Is doing A-levels and going to university an option for you? If so something like nutrition, working as a rep for a supplements company, physiotherapy etc could be options. If you’re more vocational have you considered equine dentistry or farriery? Or training as a saddle fitter? Or veterinary nursing? Most of our nurses manage to have their own horses where I work, and they’re highly skilled, highly valued members of the team.

another option would be to find a horsey job that gives you enough riding opportunities etc so that you don’t necessarily feel the need for your own horse. Working in horse racing is hard graft but really fun (especially in the right yard), and there’s often a lot of riding opportunities- I used to ride 4/5 horses a day when I worked for a trainer during uni holidays and loved it, but it couldn’t have been a forever job for me.

The other thing to consider would be for if you were to be ‘self employed’ (as many riding instructors would be), what would you do if you were injured and unable to work? I’m currently off due to breaking an arm, thankfully work are still paying me, but if I was self employed it would be far more stressful!