Making a living from horses

[Horsegirl25]

Is it possible to make a living out of working with horses. I would really love to do the horses full time, wither that be working on a yard or freelance etc.
I am just not sure how much income really would be coming in and if it's worth it?

 

[stormox]

I have, you won't get rich but you will be happy.....

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

You would be better off financially being an equine physio, dentist, farrier, bodyworker, saddle fitter, sheath cleaner etc than being a straight groom; but it's absolutely possible. It's just not a terrifically paid or regulated industry.

 

[sportsmansB]

It depends a bit what you consider a 'living' to be
As a live in groom (so free accommodation) with livery for a horse, you might get £200-300 a week on top of the benefits.
If the bulk of your money from another job would go to rent and livery then actually you could end up with more disposable income.

I tend to think that you need to consider your earning potential outside of horses to compare. If you don't see yourself in a reasonably well paid job and you are physically fit and have a good work ethic, your 'living' could actually be better from horses due to what you can get included in your role. The biggest risk is you fall out of love with them having slogged away at them all day.

Other connected roles such as farrier, physio, tack shop etc definitely worth considering.
I wouldn't advise anyone to go to a horsey college unless its part of a working apprenticeship, there are far more graduates than there are graduate level jobs.

 

[IrishMilo]

I don't know anyone who is well off who works with horses, unless they started with money, have big investors, etc. You can make a fair wage (read: about the national average) if you study a profession as mentioned above (farrier, dentist, saddle fitter, etc.) but having known many yard grooms, they're all pi$$ poor on minimum wage, doing long hours and often for crap bosses. No paid holiday, no sick pay, no income protection, no benefits.

 

[humblepie]

Racing has a minimum wage structure with many yards paying well over. Currently on careers in racing jobs around the £30,000 mark plus pool money (% of horse winnings) racing expenses. Holiday and pensions paid with union oversight. Compulsory accident insurance scheme for employees.

 

[Blanche]

There is another thread started today about the same thing, it’s in the Club House. My reply is equally relevant here.

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/jobs.834035/

 

[TwyfordM]

Racing has a minimum wage structure with many yards paying well over. Currently on careers in racing jobs around the £30,000 mark plus pool money (% of horse winnings) racing expenses. Holiday and pensions paid with union oversight. Compulsory accident insurance scheme for employees.

This - it has its downsides (dangerous - young tb's pumped full of high energy feed is always going to be!)

But it's well paid, and regulated.

 

[reynold]

For a career in racing there are also the racing schools who teach you how to handle the TBs, ride work, etc.

Racing is a good career now compared with how a lot of grooms are still treated in non-racing horse careers.

The British Racing School | Courses & Training | Horseracing Industry

The British Racing School offers training and qualifications for careers in Horse Racing. Courses for complete newcomers to experienced professionals.

brs.org.uk

 

[planete]

The big danger for me personally as a groom was getting physically exhausted by the relentless physical work which started turning being with horses into a chore instead of a joy.

 

[sbloom]

I would also say it's not an easy industry to work in, emotionally I guess, whichever role/sector you end up in.

 

[olop]

I was always told when I wanted to work with horses when I was younger, get a good paid job and get your own horse rather than work with them. I did that and I was miserable! I have dabbled with working with horses and I absolutely loved it, it just doesn’t pay well unless like the other posters have said, you go in to racing.
I now work from home doing a well paid but boring job and it pays for the horse so I can’t complain too much!

 

[ihatework]

What do you mean by making a living???? That’s not a trick question by the way!

There are lots of jobs working with horses but, by and large, they are low paid, labour intensive and long hours. Plenty come with perks but ultimately they are jobs for the young and it’s likely that at some stage you will wonder why your body is broken, what the hell have you done with your life and are you employable in another industry!

So if you are thinking about going into horses as someone without significant finance or a massive support system behind you then do it with eyes wide open. Personally I’d say at a minimum get your exams and at least think about a non horse job that pays enough to have it as a hobby.

If you are going into horses then I would suggest the following:
Scrap any idea of agricultural/equine college and horsey HNDs. Get your school exams and then go do apprenticeships/WP in an area that interests you. Be careful where you go so that you have a supportive and not an exploitation environment- put pay requirements lower than support/training for first 2-3 years, it will pay dividends in the long term.

If interested in racing then there are some structured pathways worth exploring and there are career paths. You need a very robust personality to survive in racing mind

 

[Wishfilly]

I agree that if you go down the route of e.g. physio, saddler, dentist, farrier, clipping etc, then if you are good at your job, you can earn a reasonable wage. There are downsides, but there is also some flexibility in being self employed too. You'd need to consider your expenses (e.g. good car etc) and consider things like the fact that lots of people may want you in the evenings etc, when you may want to be doing your own horse. Some instructors can earn okay money, but again you need to accept not having weekends etc, and often working all hours in the summer to make up for darker evenings etc in the winter! A competition record can mean you can charge more for your instruction, but it's a bit catch 22, because you'll miss opportunities to teach each time you compete!

Another option may be looking to go down a veterinary nursing route at one of the equine hospitals?

It is also worth considering what you'd earn elsewhere and how much disposable income you'd actually have, especially if you'd need to have your horse on part livery to make it work.

 

[Irish Sally]

I wouldn't reccomend it tbh. Working as a schooler/breaker for the past 4 years. Broke multiple bones. Terrible hours. Got absolutely screamed at for no reason multiple times. Sh*t pay as well. If you still want to do it. Go pick up a working student role full time somewhere. If you can stick it and still want to do it then go for it.

 

[Orangehorse]

Well, I would agree with what everyone says. BUT I know people who worked as grooms and had a great time, travelling around the UK going to all sorts of interesting places and those who were with eventers or show jumpers who went abroad too. They had a great time, with wonderful experiences they would never have had elsewhere. Then they got to about 30 and looked around and realised that they had a hard life and had very little money. Two went to train as nurses. There are people who have stuck with it and had a life long job as a groom but it is a lot of hard work which seems OK when you are 20 but maybe not so much fun when you are 35.

If you are determined to do this then you need to go to as many different sorts of yards as possible - dressage, show jumping, hunter livery, eventing, polo, driving, endurance, showing, western to get as much experience as possible and then decide what you really want to do.

Racing gives a better pay structure and grooms certainly stay on for longer, but it can be tough, not only getting on with lots of other staff but also the turn over of horses, getting injured or worse. But if you are on a successful yard then the pay is probably not bad.

If you mean buying and training horses to sell on, well you really need money behind you, a farm at least. There have been people who have done this, just starting with one pony and then sell and get another but you would need another income as well. Yes, there have been people who have done it from scratch - Carl Hester for one - who came from a non horsey background but just happened to be super, naturally talented and he worked hard too. So its not utterly impossible.

Farrier, physio, etc. need good qualifications and it is along training period.

But the standard, simple answer is to do as well as possible with education and earn enough to be able to afford your own horse!

 

[Bonnie Allie]

Hubby is a trainer and has made a strong financial business from it. However, he came from corporate, is well educated, has differentiated his skill set from others and uses the word “no” frequently and with conviction.

His business model has no room for the chancers, the folk who want a quick fix, those who have a reputation for non-payment or anyone who wants to use gadgets rather than a training framework.

So this drives his clients to be fewer in number, but more profitable.

It can be done but you need a business model and to be super clear on the value you offer.

 

[Esmae]

What do you mean by making a living???? That’s not a trick question by the way!

There are lots of jobs working with horses but, by and large, they are low paid, labour intensive and long hours. Plenty come with perks but ultimately they are jobs for the young and it’s likely that at some stage you will wonder why your body is broken, what the hell have you done with your life and are you employable in another industry!

So if you are thinking about going into horses as someone without significant finance or a massive support system behind you then do it with eyes wide open. Personally I’d say at a minimum get your exams and at least think about a non horse job that pays enough to have it as a hobby.

If you are going into horses then I would suggest the following:
Scrap any idea of agricultural/equine college and horsey HNDs. Get your school exams and then go do apprenticeships/WP in an area that interests you. Be careful where you go so that you have a supportive and not an exploitation environment- put pay requirements lower than support/training for first 2-3 years, it will pay dividends in the long term.

If interested in racing then there are some structured pathways worth exploring and there are career paths. You need a very robust personality to survive in racing mind

This, all day long. Follow your dreams by all means but have a plan B in case it all goes wrong for all the reasons stated by other posters.

 

[vickyb]

I am long retired now, but the happiest time of my life was working with horses in my teens and twenties. I worked all over the place, including abroad, and I worked in racing as well for a time (and even in those days, racing was the best paid and regulated horsy job that I did). Being at the sharp end - doing yard work and riding multiple horses - is really a young person's game. What seems easy in your twenties won't seem so much fun in your forties, when every injury you've ever had will catch up with you. It was injury that made me seek an alternative career eventually ( and that injury is still giving me problems nearly 40 years later!). Personally, I would think that learning a skill within the equine field would be more lucrative and have more longevity, especially as these days so many school leavers are not taking up traditional skills.

 

[moorhillhorses]

it’s very hard but worth it

 

[dorsetladette]

I'm looking at finding a way of combining my passion and my skills again.
But when you ask people about working in the equine industry everyone seems to think 'mucking out or coaching' and never really look at all the other things needed to make a business work.
My parents ran a successful stud and livery yard but costs of starting up inhibits me from going down this road.
I intend to finish my qualifications and then work on building a portfolio of clients (targeting the equine world) supporting them with their financial and accounting matters. From basic bookkeeping and payroll through to budgetting/forecasting and sourcing funding options.
I hope this will bring much needed support to freelancers/self employed and small business giving them the confidence to make plans and grow their businesses- coming from an understanding of the equine world.

Well that's my plan anyway.

So my advise would be (if your not born into a business already within the industry) - get skills from outside the horse world that you can transfer into it.

 

[Izzwall]

I was a freelance groom for 10 years and gave it all up 2 years ago when I turned 30. I had about 32 horses under my care, 4 private yards plus I was yard manager at a 22 horse livery yard. Honestly? I mourn my past life, I loved it with all my soul! I love winter so was never bothered by the cold long winter days. I did some dog walking to supplement my income too. It was a lifestyle, hopping from one yard to the next working around dartmoor. It wasn't stressful, I was super fit and I work better on my own so the job suited me to a T.

But. I was coming up to 30, I couldn't afford my own house so could only afford a run-down rented house, my partner never saw me as when I was home I was too knackered to do anything. Sundays was my day off and I couldn't get out of bed until 1pm as after being up at 4.30am all week and finishing at 7pm, I was exhausted. It almost broke us actually. I don't have any kids either as the life style just didn't allow it. I was getting more and more tired as I couldn't afford time off either. Some people were crap at paying on time so had that to chase on top of everything else, which then meant I had to borrow money from my partner to pay my bills.
I went through a car every year as the milage on crap driveways just destroyed anything I drove.

In September 2022, whilst having to scrap my August time off before the winter madness the universe told me no more and I got seriously injured bringing in a livery's horse, who, was actually one of the most easiest mares I look after! 7 months off work, I now can't even go back to working with horses even if I wanted to as unfortunately my foot is so mangled I can't even manage 10k steps a day, let alone 30k steps I used to do and I need an extensive operation next year to try get it to a manageable point.
I now do laser treatments specialising in tattoo and hair removal. I feel like a caged animal sometimes being stuck in one place and I drive my bosses nuts by going for a walk during any free moments I don't have any clients booked in. Having to talk to people all day is hard sometimes and having to keep clean and mud free all the time is actually harder than I thought
But the money side is worth it, I can actually save!! Pay all my bills and treat myself now and again. I'm tired in a different way.
Employed work is not for me so I opened up my own laser clinic this year and can now ride between clients and go for a walk on the moors if I have a spare hour. I'm aiming to buy my first house next year if it keeps going the way it is.

So after working with horses full time for a decade, unless you don't mind being poor, tired, not progress much in life then give it a go. I certainly was at my happiest I've ever been when working with horses. Sometimes when driving to work I hear a song on the radio I haven't heard since freelancing and my soul weeps. But I'm on a different path now and actually, the future excites me rather than just getting through each day. I have kept one yard on which I do before my main job and that really does give a little piece of my past life I'm clutching onto.

 

[Jambarissa]

I worked with horses for a while, did the bhs stages and became a mobile groom and trained with a natural horsemanship trainer and mainly worked on difficult loaders which would be £500 per job (guaranteed walking on and off calmly with the owner) in today's money.

It was pretty decent for a while, I had a couple of rich and slightly guilty owners who would pay me to pretty much keep their horses company. But the remedial work can be dangerous, I couldn't have done it past my 20s.

This type of work is unlikely to work as a long term career, it's not consistent enough or good enough money to live off and when /how will you retire?

I can earn more than that doing 20 hours a week in my office job, then have plenty of time to spend with my horses. It is definitely worth considering something more hybrid if you can't make the full time job work.