Lawyer or livery?!

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Berkeley

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I have spent 40k and 7 yrs of my life pursuing a career I thought I wanted. In the back of my mind I knew all I really wanted was to have my own business running a yard. Now I've succeeded in getting my career title, I still want my own yard.

I just want to be outside working in the mud and not at a desk wearing fancy shoes. Anyone else feel like this? Is it possible?! or am I living in a fantasy world?
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I don't see why you can't have both?

A friend of mine runs a large livery yard and other businesses as well. But she employs a yard manager and just oversees but also has her offices for the other businesses on site
 
If thats what you want to do then anything is possible! I was in a dead end job I didn't enjoy and always dreamed of running my own yard. It wasn't until my dad died last year that I realised life is short and if I didn't do it now I never would. Now I have my own livery yard that I run full time and love it. It has been hard work and has had a lot of up and downs but I would never go back now, even when the weather is grotty!!
 
Umm I know where you are coming from I too have those moments. I am currently studying all hours to get professional qualifications, on a 'trainee' wage and I'm so envious of anyone who 'works with horses'.

My trouble is I am not really cut out for hard physical labour involved with 24/7 horses. Looking after just two around a demanding job is hard enough. Now you are qualified can you try and maybe do as Flowerlady suggests and have a yard with a yard manager? I know it also takes a lot of capital and is not the same as being hands on.

Or could you specialise in law to do with horses to help you have the feeling of being more involved with the industry?

Or is there the chance of working a shorter week - (given the current economic climate) so you could have an extra horsey day or two.

Maybe you have an ambition to get to a certain level? I would have thought lots of firms love that idea of letting someone go 6 months or a year on a 4 day week so they can train towards it etc, it’s all about how you sell it to them?

Good luck making the right choice for you!
 
I gave up my well paying office job in september last year after selling a flat to help me out financially.......
I am now full time at home working hard at breeding and rearing horses...... It's really hard work, infact i've never worked so hard at anything in my life but I'm 100% happy and don't regret anything.......
Good luck to you and I hope you manage to do what you want....
 
could you do both parttime for a while?

i'm in a similar dilemma... i'm in a good job, well paid, nice benefits... but have a romantic view on what running a livery yard would be like.

i sometimes think i'd like to 'pause' my job for a year... and see if i still want the yard when it's winter, and i'm knee deep in icy mud. i suspect i will though....

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i hear my mother's voice as i type this - get a second string to your bow, what will you do if you get physically hurt and can't continue with horses?

i got my prof quals, have the experience, and now am looking for a place with land to either run as a small yard, or just have our own on it. i can earn enough by working half the year to support us - if we make some extra along the way then all to the good
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i haven't worked solidly since i qualified, i've had time off for children and just because i wanted to (hubby paid our way), but the point is, i now have a career that i can fall back on as and when i need it. i don't always like it(!), but i love variety and i love some parts of it. i love the meeting new people and the travel (even if it's damned early in the morning and the roads are busy).

as others have said, if you can do both, then go for it
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, but, and forgive me if you have already done this and know what it's like, running a business is bl00dy hard work - a day off is like gold dust (even if i take a day or more, i always feel so guilty!), staff can be a nightmare. on the plus side - it's absolutely brilliant
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In my Student nurse days I could just about to pay the mortage as soon as I was promoted to sister I bought a horse and recommenced my hobby[OH says it is a disease and there is no cure}
When I was promoted again and could work any hours I wanted I then sorted out the shows and worked the days/nights around them .for me it was the best way forward and now I have retired I thank God I stuck with it as NHS pensions are excellent and they fund my disease!!!!!
 
OMG! It's like you have read my mind, I qualified as a lawyer last year and every morning when I go and do my horse before work I would kill to just carry on mucking out every box on the yard rather than go and sit in the bloody office!

I have spoken to my friend who runs a livery yard though and in the middle of January when it's minus 5 and you can't wear enough clothes to keep you warm she would give anything to come to the office with me, so I think it's swings and roundabouts!

Plus doing a professional office jobs lets you earn enough to keep your horses, and I'm sure a lot of people who work with horses find it a struggle to find time to fit in their own.

However, I do plan on making my OH earn enough money to let me give up work when I'm 40 so I can spend all day doing horses
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not sure what he thinks about that plan yet though
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I am also a Lawyer and on days like today would jack it all in for a pitch fork without a second thought. However, as mentioned above, in the pooring rain in Feb it may not be as fun.

I made the decsion a long time ago that as much as I love horses, in the long term unless you are a pro, horses do not pay - or at least pay enough!!! As such, I chose my career to pay for horses!

I would advise you to cont as you are, prehaps start looking at yards to rent and get a YM. Just enjoy the time that you do have with your horses. Personally, I think I enjoy my horse more for the fact that I have limited time with him and as such, really appreciate that time!
 
Hear, hear, I started life as a nurse and eventually was Assistant Director in the NHS, work took over life, have 2 horses at home but was riding at 9pm at night, OH was brilliant did most of the chores, anyway, last May I said stop I want to get off and did so, took my pension (I am 50) and now work a couple of days a week just to fund my 2 horses and horse activities and life is brilliant!!
 
I did my LLB and completed my LPC but hated it - I then did a year of PGCE as a techer. Now I feel I have the best of both worlds- I teach and earn decent money- I do have to work really hard BUT I finish at 4pm and have to only work 39 weeks a year... so there is pleanty of time to be on the yard. I also am very supported by my partner so the horses never ever get second best, and I always seem to have time for them. I would never go back to law where although I would have finished in the office at 6- I would still have been working after hours....
 
Running a yard\working with horses was always my 'back up plan' in case of extreme exam failure. I did actually try it out for part of my Gap Year (as a WP) , lost a stone week for the first month and got my Stage II to show for it.

However I took my parents advice and stuck to the academic stuff and never needed it, today I have a full time 9-5 which allows me to keep my horses in my back garden. Today I am working from home so I can actually see them from my desk!

However I have always wanted to run a yard, and sitting at a PC for 8 hours when its sunny outside is really difficult. Its now moved from my back up plan to my 'lottery win' plan :->
 
Can you look for a job with a law firm that is part time or job share and then find a couple of boxes somewhere with the facilities to produce some horses?
My friend has a very high powered job with BA that she loves but was always very torn at leaving her horses, plus she struggled to find good, full time help. Now she does a job share and when she's not at Heathrow is at home schooling her youngsters and teaching people on their own horses. She's much more chilled and happy!
 
My cousin is a trained barrister and wants to quit every time I speak to her but she has got caught in the money trap, she wants it all. From my own experience I would tell you to follow your heart. Life's too short to be doing something so intense as law if you are not enjoying it.

Personally I would do it long enough to fund your own yard and then once the yard is established quit and run the yard.

I had a high earning banking career that I turned my back on ( I had my lightbulb moment when I was answering business e-mails at 1.00am in the morning ) and bought some land. I built a yard and that now covers its own costs and I have never looked back.

I can pick and choose to work if I want and what I do earn is my own pin money. Its not nearly as much as before but in fact I have more disposable income because I'm not paying £1500 per month in livery costs.

If its what you really want put together a business plan to make sure a yard is financially viable and go for it.
 
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