mid-life crisis, can you make a living as a horse physio?

I

impresario08

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 February 2014
Messages
779
Visit site
Question in the title really...I am having a mid-life crisis and I think a desk job is no longer for me. I would love to start part time and eventually build to being able to do it full-time, but the only thing that keeps me in my current job is the stable pay.
 
Well they certainly always seem busy, but think you need to be very proactive to get the business.
Can you do some work in the evening/weekends to see how it goes and this will also give you a better idea of the costs involved.
 
You would have a long period of full on training ahead of you, there are 2 routes either ACPAT or the less time consuming, but still not something you could do alongside a full time job, veterinary physio route, otherwise you could try a massage therapy type course but I am not sure that would be a viable full time job as most people will prefer to use the more effective and better qualified physio, I know I would never pay for mine to have a massage, which I can do to a degree, over a physio treatment if they needed it.

If you are already qualified ignore most of the above but don't forget how physical it is, my equine physio has "retired" due to the demands on her own body, the one I now use has stopped doing horses full time and gone back to people again because her body was failing.
 
Last edited:
Yes, it is a long training, bearing in mind that just horses might not make enough of a living and also doing human physio gives an insight to fixing the rider's problems too.

So you have to have good A levels to get into human physio training, which is a 3 year degree)don't mention horses) , then you have to practice in the NHS for a year to be fully qualified and then you have to go and do the veterinary training. I think my physio said it took 7 years for her to be fully qualified.

How about Bowen Therapy? If I was younger I think I would look into this. It helped, no cured, a shoulder injury and a knee injury that human physiotherapists hadn't done. It is gentle, non invasive, treating the muscles and balancing the body and is scientific. My Bowen lady is married to a doctor.

The training is in modules, and costs a few hundred £ but didn't look to be astronomically expensive.
 
Once trained you can definitely make a living, and it's a flexible model where you can fit in your own horse. However I second what has been said about the physical nature of the job - my osteopath (horses and humans) has also just retired because it was doing too much damage to her. I can't see a way to scale a business (as with farriers) by taking 'apprentices' to do the physical work under supervision, I don't think it works that way.
 
be positive said:
You would have a long period of full on training ahead of you, there are 2 routes either ACPAT or the less time consuming, but still not something you could do alongside a full time job, veterinary physio route, otherwise you could try a massage therapy type course but I am not sure that would be a viable full time job as most people will prefer to use the more effective and better qualified physio, I know I would never pay for mine to have a massage, which I can do to a degree, over a physio treatment if they needed it.

If you are already qualified ignore most of the above but don't forget how physical it is, my equine physio has "retired" due to the demands on her own body, the one I now use has stopped doing horses full time and gone back to people again because her body was failing.
Click to expand...

A good friend of mine has also gone back to doing people (& only the odd horse) after doing the full ACPAT route partly because of the physical toll it was taking on her. She also found being self employed was hard going, it's not a guaranteed income so she found it hard to take days off etc. She has family abroad so taking time off to see them was stressful, bit like being a farrier I guess as you have to bunch the work up before & after your time off to fit everyone in.
She works in a private hospital now.
 
I have a friend who does but it was a lot of study to get qualified (several years) and it is physically demanding. Having a recognised qualification means that vets can refer clients to you and you can get paid under insurance claims which opens up a much increased earning potential.
 
I want to be a horse physio when I leave school to work. I'm choosing to try and become a vet first and then do a post grad. As others have said you need good GCSE'S and A Levels. I do my GCSE's next year and I think I have to aim for A's in Science as well as a subject which shows I'm rounded (Music). For A Levels I need atleast two sciences (rubbish at Physics in comparison to the others too, so that's Chemistry and Biology for me). Then I need to get through around 7 years of Uni (fun times :D).

As others have said it's really hard work but I'm hoping it's worth it! I think it's probably easier from my point of view because I still have the chance to choose the right exams to take to give me the best chance of getting there and have really supportive parents who have been saving for Uni since before I was born.
 
Where are you based? I studied Equine in Essex and there were literally hundreds of them in the area, obviously the good ones had made names for themselves and were booked up weeks in advance, but knew what they were doing and were very good at it. Others included more rider input e.g. polework clinics to show owners the benefits of dynamic stretches which you can do on the daily in-between treatments etc. Facebook search Becky Lovell as an example, very knowledgeable, approachable and knows her stuff :)
 
Many years ago I did a day job shadowing an equine physio as I was interested in pursuing that as a career. Afterward she said to me you can see how physical the job is and so you are limited to the number of people you can book in per day otherwise it is too much strain etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top