horsey job vs none horsey job!?

After doing 10 years with racehorses on the breeding side and now i work in an office 9-5 Mon-Fri I dont think i would go back to horses although at times i miss it but i now treasure the so many extra hours i now have with my horse and every weekend off :-) it got to the point that i was starting to resent having to do my own horse ! which made me unhappy so changed jobs although i dont get paid as much as when i worked with horses :-((
 
Non horsey job. I've worked on yards as a teenager and have longed to go back to it. BUT in reality you have to be prepared and able to make it your lifestyle... Poor pay, relocation, long hours, weekends and banks hols. Plus a valid point raised by others about wasting/resenting your own. I have a rather stressful and boring job tbh, Monday to Friday split between my house & two offices, good salary & hols. I can afford my pony and house. I regularly complain that I'd rather work with horses but I know what's good for me. For me, I love the idea more than the reality. Others will be different and have other priorities.
 
Everyday that is is chucking it down with rain (which let's face it, is a lot in this country!), cold, windy, wet, miserable, snowy, icy etc I thank my lucky stars that I am in my cosy warm office and not stuck out side freezing and miserable. I still have to push myself to ride my girl in the rain beacuse of all those years I had to ride 6 in the rain consecutively. At least now once I've ridden and sorted her out I can go and have a nice hot shower or bath rather than work or teach the rest of the day in said rain!

Financially, physically and mentally I am so much better off in a non horsey job!
 
I have done both. Loved working with horses, found I was able to afford to have my own youngster to bring on which was fun alongside all the other horses I backed, rode, schooled etc for my employer. I loved riding 5 or 6 horses a day, improved lightening fast with my riding. I loved getting to know all the clients and building relationships with private employers and that side of things and learned so much buuuut it can be very isolating. I was working 7 days a week mostly because I loved it, but if I had accepted time off it still was only one day a week. This is no much time for socialising or building a life away from the yard. I didn't drive at the time so found being stuck on the yard for the majority of the time difficult and although I made some wonderful friends I didn't really have the opportunity to meet people in any other setting and do things a regular 17 - 21 year wants to do. It was hard even getting any annual leave to spend time with my sister once a year.

I now do a non-horsey job and am going to uni in September and I own two horses and in some ways it's great and I can actually properly enjoy the horses which I wasn't able to before because everything was business minded and very busy constantly. It's nice to chill out with them and get to know them as people and have full control over what goes on with them. And if I don't feel like it one day i don't have it be there (full livery. I'd had enough of mucking out LOL)

I really think it depends on what you want to do with the horses. If you are super competitive and you want to be someone in the horse world start as young as possible in a horsey job at a good known yard and work really hard. That's what I did, got some amazing opportunities and despite what I said above about the cons would have stayed and made a career if not for injury. If you want to enjoy the horses and just love them and want to be around them get your own. There's no pressure that way, you take your time, love them properly. It's very hard nosed at some professional yards, a different attitude and approach which isn't for everyone.
 
If I'd been able to marry a wealthy farmer and run a nice top quality livery as only one part of a diversified business - then that.

However as my hubby is wonderful but not a farmer ;-) then non-horsey job all the way. Just reached 25 years at my current employers and whilst it is very hard work, it's on my terms and pays for 5 wonderful horses who are our family. Having said all that I do think that for some people (e.g. top eventing grooms) it's a hard but very rewarding job.
 
I would not like to work with horses even though they have beeen in my family since before time began, reason being, the money is crap and when I muck out, groom, ride my own horse, I want it to be a pleasure not the feeling of "God another horse to deal with".
 
Non-horsey job for the long term!

I have done both, and I am glad I did do some horsey jobs throughout college/uni. I had great fun and loved working with horses. However I started to get home and was too tired to ride my own, didn't get any joy from spending time with my own etc.

I decided that a horsey job was a great experience, but was not great for the long term....I was tired, achey, and bored of my own and I was only 21 years old! Depends on what you want to do....if you want to go far and be a top groom/rider, work in equestrian businesses etc then go for it. But not for me thanks, I am happy to have horses as my hobby!
 
I worked out a long time ago that I'd prefer to afford my own horses and decide how they are to be looked after, rather than work for someone and be told how to look after them. I'd never be able to afford the 6 that I currently have if I worked with horses and echo peoples opinions that working with them could make me stale about looking after my own. I also worked out that I never had the talent to make it to the top and a very respected old chap that I did some work for as a teenager told me that to succeed and have money with horses you need talent, luck and money - of which at the time I had not much of any!

So for me, non horsey job, I have wavered and worked in the industry a couple of times, but always ended up struggling with the hours and pay.

Good luck in what ever you decide OP!
 
I am going to differ with most and say horsey job. I worked in an office for 40 years and as I got promoted my hours got longer and longer so less time to spend with my horse and also felt mentally tired so didn't want to do anything like schooling, only wanted to hack so my horse didn't progress as much as she could have. I ended up having a breakdown due to work pressure and took early retirement, I worked with horses for 5 years and loved it even though I was VERY mature and muscles and strength were not as they had been...my friend worked with horses after leaving school, ended up freelance teaching and has a great life with much more money than I have ever had..so if you are young give working with horses a try, you can always work in a non horsey job afterwards...good luck...
 
Is it just me who has noticed that everyone who has done one, wishes they had done the other! but i am seriously suprised by the amount of people who prefer a none horsey job, thanks everyone
 
Non horsey every time, because I want to work with other kinds of animals in an academic research sense. I love horses dearly but am an animal lover in general and could never be satisfied having just one species in my life! :)

Have worked with horses before and unless needs must will not do it again, hours long, pay is terrible, weather in this country is awful and you're unlikely to be appreciated.
 
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