If you have/had an equine career, what is it?

[Sail_away]

Idle curiosity! And also a bit of give me hope I’m not mad in aiming to spend my career with horses...
So, if you have/had a horsey career, what do you do? What bits do you enjoy, what’s not so great, and would you say it was the right career for you?

 

[EventingMum]

I teach and run my own riding school and livery yard. I rather fell into it as a career doing my AI in my gap year before doing a totally unrelated degree and while I was a student gained more horsey qualifications. I got married the year after I graduated so was limited in what I could do with my degree due to location and my parents bought some land as a retirement project so Dad and I ended up setting up the yard and over the years it grew and developed to what it is now. I also spent a number of years being a BHS assessor/examiner alongside running the yard.

I enjoy the horses, enjoy helping those who want to learn, and have met lots of nice people. It also fitted around family life well, allowed my son and me to have our own horses, and gave us a nice place to live with plenty of outdoor space. Also, I'm not sure I'd have liked an office-based job. The not-so-great bits are you'll never make a lot of money (Mr EM has his own business thankfully), coping with foul weather, being on call 24/7 for yard emergencies, and never having Christmas off. You also have the joys of all the behind-the-scenes admin and ever-increasing red tape that goes with running a business. I am very lucky that I have some good staff to work alongside me but the past year has been very difficult with covid and the pressure to fight to keep them in the jobs that they deserve has been tough both emotionally and financially but many employers in non-horsey businesses have faced the same. For the most part the good outweighs the not-so-good.

 

[Baywonder]

I don't have a career linked to horses, but my DH does.

He is a saddle maker, and he has been doing this since he was 15. It isn't a job for him - it is his passion (almost an obsession if you like) - he just really loves what he does. Seeing his finished products going out the door, knowing they are spot on, and getting feedback from happy customers makes it all worthwhile for him.

It is hard work, and it plays havoc with your joints - especially your fingers from all that stitching! You can get the occasional customer (thankfully very few and far between) who are happy with their saddle, horse goes a treat, then they decide a couple of weeks later it isn't right because their instructor / friend / grandmothers aunties next door neighbour told them so. I daresay there will be others posting after me who will vouch for this too!

Was it the right career for him? Absolutely yes. I really cannot see him doing anything else. Ever.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I've worked in racing since I left school. It was supposed to be a gap year before uni and 17 years later I am sill there. Trying to get out but when your cv just says you have played ponies for 17 years it is very, very hard to get people to see past that and to see what transferable skills you have.

Racing is hard, very hard but it is also very rewarding. It is one of the only equine jobs that is fully regulated and supported by it's own trade union. There are many jobs in racing that don't involve riding or even working directly with the horses but also many that do as obviously we need work riders to get the horses fit, ground staff to take care of everything else and travelling staff to get the beasts to and from the races and look after them for the day. There are office based jobs, stud work, jobs on the racecourses themselves etc. Racing definitely isn't a one trick pony. I have done pretty much every aspect of working in a racing yard and no 2 days are ever the same.

Was it the right career? At the time yes and I do not regret for one second ever going into racing but I always say to youngsters to have a back up plan because the winter are long and hard and you can't keep going forever. I sometimes regret just how long I have spent in racing but I truly do not know what else I would do.

 

[Kaylum]

Have bred Irish Draughts, had a riding school, had a very successful online tack business and now I volunteer in welfare whilst having a full time job not horse related.

 

[TPO]

Not so much a career as a flash in the pan doing Equine Body Work and saddle fitting.

The actual stuff that you get on and do with the horse was great. The good owners who listened and did as advised (you can definitely tell between appointments who has done their homework and who hasn't!) were great and theres a real buzz to seeing a horse improve.

I didnt stick at it long enough to be in the position of cherry picking clients and the bad apples were very bad indeed.

Its broke me seeing so many lame and sore animals who weren't fit for carrying g their owners. The attitudes of so many owners were horrendous; always looking for something cheaper, quicker and/or easier.

One of my most difficult clients was stinking rich with a string of Pony Club polo ponies "for the summers". She openly admitted to buting them for games, the ponies were varying degrees of stiff, sore and lame and all thr owner was interested was trying to haggle as much money off every new saddle as she could whilst simultaneously boasting about whatever new expensive thing she had recently acquired.

So yeah, if horses had their own wallets I'd have carried on but sadly the people side wasn't so great.

This was circa 2009 when social media wasnt as big and influential as it is now. I pity good equine professionals working in the field now. You upset someone by pointing out something obvious and your name could be mud in seconds from a viral post.

 

[teapot]

Ops/client/office/business manager role in the industry. Was an office manager, but did a lot of ops in previous job too.

I love it most of the time: developing a business, clients, seeing people improve, working with some very good coaches, the varied days (I wear many many hats). It's when it becomes air traffic control meets blindfolded tetris that my stress levels rise, and usually caused by foreseeable problems too (which may or may not have been raised in good time...)

One of the worst bits for me is by keeping work and pleasure seperate (I ride/train elsewhere), bad customer/client experience gets massively on my tits and I can be quite vocal about it. Very hard to stomach your own centre not telling you a lesson's been cancelled, when clients mention you by name in google reviews...

 

[Izzwall]

I'm a freelance groom and been doing it for almost 10 years now. I started with one yard then word of mouth traveled and got another. Got layed off my job so thought I'd start advertising and got a few more yards. It's a lifestyle and not a 'job'. I've worked for some cracking people but do come across some not so nice! I've been more picky the last few years.

The perks:
Never have that Sunday night dread about work the next day. Doesn't feel like a job.
Meet some lovely people and some fab horses!
No stress.
Out in the fresh air all day in the beautiful countryside.
Flexible (to an extent) and can work mine around my hours.
Free livery at one yard I work at.
I can eat a lot of chocolate without worrying too much about my weight ?

The downsides:
The weather. No waterproofs is truly waterproof and when you're soaked to your knickers by 8am on the 5th day in a row you get a bit fed up.
Money is rubbish!! Even with freelance prices people don't like paying that much unfortunately. Some can even be buggers to pay and leave you high and dry.
The hours. 5am start and sometimes a 8pm finish, 6 to 7 days a week. It's exhausting!! Nothing worse when you're feeling ill or over tired and you have 18 stables to still muck out and 12 to bring in and sort later and it's only Wednesday. I barely see my OH and when I get a day off I'm normally in a coma and can't get out of bed until gone midday.
My body is slowly breaking. I've been having a few issues with my back recently which hasn't happened before, I've got shin splints and I had to take a week off 2 months ago due to savage tennis elbow. Also I do get run over now and again, I fell off a clients horse 2 days ago and pulled a ligament in my hip which then caused me to pull my knee due to limping all day.
Milage and wear and tear on the car. I go through a car a year and can only afford an old banger each time. Would love a modern car one day!

Due to the hours, the money and my failing body I've decided I'm quitting the horsey job scene. I've loved every second of it and I thought I'd be doing this for the rest of my life but now I'm coming up to 30 with no house of my own, not much money and also OH wants to potentially start a family and I'm not getting any younger! I couldn't be pregnant and handle 25 horses a day etc. To someone in their early 20s, being a freelance groom is blooming amazing! But have a plan B when you're finally sick of the long hours or your body breaks.

 

[DressageCob]

I used to be a polo groom, but just while at uni/before postgrad.

I am still linked to the industry (equine law now), but as a small portion of my overall work.

 

[Iznurgle]

I'm a groom at two different yards - one a very nice riding school with some fabulous instructors about an hour (!) away, and the other a livery yard where I keep my own pony. I have a degree in computer science, but I loathed actually working in an office. I got very depressed and anxious (I still am now, but it's miles better than it was). I'm slowly working my way through BHS exams, but in Ireland there are only a few offered every year and the price is shocking. I'm striving for the AI, but for now mucking out will suffice.

 

[HorsesRule2009]

I've been a groom for the past 15 years. And have mostly loved every minute of it. But as previous posters have said the hours are long the winters feel never ending and the money isn't great.
But I don't regret it as have learnt, met some great people worked with some fantastic horses and lived in some lovely parts of the country. I even went to New Zealand for 6 months grooming and only paid for my flights.
I have worked on large livery yards/riding schools, equestrian centres and lastly on hunt yards (loved it!) and have worked alone, in teams and run some yards. The hunt yards especially could be very long days and a lot of time spent alone (I'm very happy in my own company). But this last season due to covid was very tough - as it was for many many people- and I have just!! managed to secure myself a job away from yards.

I have taken a pay cut by moving but I'm in my 30s now and cant work yards for ever, and have struggled to get a job of a yard as I have no experience, never mind all the transferable skills that I have.
I'd definitely encourage someone to work with horses but be very prepared for it to be a lifestyle/way of living rather than just a job and do have a plan B for when you want to finish.

 

[BatHorse]

I've been a pony trekking guide and a groom on a harness racing yard. I'd say I loved every minute of caring for the horses, and meeting lots of new people who came for treks. The early mornings in racing were tough, we were out getting horses ready for exercise at 3am. Honestly though it wasn't the right long term career for me, if it was just the horses it would be great but I had to work with some difficult people. I have an inside job now and play ponies after work.

 

[Enfys]

I have done all sorts, trekking, riding schools, event yards, endurance, racing lastly had my own boarding facility for 8 years, great clients, my own boss, my own hours - the worst part, after 8 years, 7 days a week, and about 7 nights away (over that time) I was knackered. Hated horses. Hadn't had the energy to ride mine for a year, every day was ground hog day and then sometimes I would have a fence to mend, a tree to chop up, or 20 horses to get in, hold for the farrier and turn out again, on top of all the regular maintenance, etc, etc. I was so bloody happy when we sold the place. I sold 4 of the 6 horses I bought to the new place, and for 6 months didn't know what to do with myself!

Now, I am peripherally horse orientated, I make bespoke riding clothing, work from home and fit work around housey and horsey stuff, I am still stealing time though, if I ride, I have to make those hours up in the evening. I would not work directly with horses again now, certainly not for someone else.

 

[spotty_pony]

I've been a freelance groom and rider for a long time now. I also do a lot of clipping in the winter. It's great, but I limit myself these days so I am not knackered and am very careful about what I take on in terms of horses with problems etc as I just can't afford to be injured.

 

[Ambers Echo]

I've been an Equine Assisted Therapist for a while alongside other mental health work. And also do rider confidence coaching, especially people struggling after riding accidents. Love it. Its incredibly rewarding to help people enjoy theur horses and riding again.

 

[Shilasdair]

I worked in the industry for a couple of decades, in various roles.

Initially I worked practically in yards, ranging from taking beach gallops, to being a crash test dummy schooling horses for an event yard. Worked at a stud, a riding school, had an amazing time.
While doing this I also worked towards both BHS and academic qualifications, so ended up working as an equine science/business lecturer in one of the best known colleges. Had a great time doing that - got promoted every year.
The issue with that though - is where do you go from there? I applied for a big equine job at another college in East Yorkshire, was offered it and then thought 'No'.

So I ended up jumping sideways and now work for a university in a non-horse related Faculty. It pays better, I've yet to get injured (unlike previous jobs ), I can work from home and have flexibility in what I do, when.
I do miss riding horses, but still look after my two field sloths ornaments. At some point I'd like to slow down on the work, and have more free time, though.

I have NO regrets about my career in the equine industry - I met some of the 'great and the good' in the industry, many of whom were delightful. (Some weren't but we won't name them! ). And I do really like horses, not just riding horses.

Go for it, OP - life is about happiness.

 

[HollyWoozle]

Run an equestrian travel agency with my Mum, selling riding holidays around the world. It’s primarily an office job (but with a horsey theme all day!) but I generally travel abroad to ride several times a year, either visiting destinations we sell to test them out or to take a group. At least when not in a pandemic!