Tips on horsey jobs?

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Lajc91

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Hi there!
I am looking for some tips and info on how people find horsey jobs! I am well aware of the long hours, hard work low pay etc but I am looking more about the practical side of things! I work a few shifts a week at a local yard where I have seen a huge turnover of staff! I would absolutely love to work with horses full time as it is my passion and I enjoy it but I would be giving up a very secure job with holiday, sickness, maternity leave and a very stable contract to go somewhere with none of this! Am I 100% crazy? Are people able to survive in such a cut throat business while still maintaining house, bills, childcare etc? I don't mean to bash equestrian employers etc I am genuinely wondering whether this would be a good move for me or if I should give up my dream and live the 9-5 I seem destined to be stuck in 😂 thanks!!
 
Give up and get a normal job!

But if you are adament you are working with horses the only equestrian discipline that is controlled with properly holiday, sickness, maternity etc leave is racing. You don't need to ride, a lot of yards love people that work hard on the yard and are able to go to the races to lead up etc.
 
Thanks for your reply! Sadly I have a normal job 😂 I just don't love it lol and genuinely curious as to whether I could pay my bills and have a job I don't hate! Haha have never considered racing yards! Could be something to look into thank you!
 
i dont know if my job was normal but it at the time was shifts as and when, sometimes 12hr nights, sometimes 13hr days, sometimes 24hr stay overs..hated it. It was so stressful not knowing what i was doing from one week to the next and if i had hours or not. and my body clock was all over the world.

I had enough and applied for a job at a yard and got down to the last two so did the trial etc...and whilst i love working with horses and all the stuff that goes with it i was totally exhausted at the end and my trial was only to be about 4 hours (morning shift) i ended up staying on cause there was only one staff on and she was about to explode with all the work she was expected to do alone. That entire day was hell from trying to get 5 horses into a barn in one go with one horse who would "lead them" (that didnt work..so had to get 3 of them wrangled up in a loose yard/field in 5 mins cause a lesson was due) then a horse who wont be caught had to be moved, said horse then took off the wrong way and ended up in a road, jumped a barb fence into a field of new horses...so separate them and try to corral that horse...blabalballaabla - i was told this all is a daily occurrence but management would not do anything about it just tell them to carry on.

All the fulls wanted totally mucked out and new beds down every day, in between all this drama the school horses had to be groomed, fed and tacked for lessons etc.

Ill admit it probably wasnt the best place to begin with, but even on a trial i felt overwhelmed. I was still keen as i really wanted out of my job, but chance said i didnt get the position and two months later the place was shut down - and i was offered a perm role in my job with set hours that really suited me. Fate or what idk. But it really opened my eyes to what a busy yard can be like...long hours, hard work, stress and honestly not a lot of work with horses..a lot of work fighting with bad horses and a lotof walking to and fo and making things look nice for other people..who then dont appreciate it

This was all for min wadge. I counted on my fitbit that day 25k steps.
 
Wow equi!!!! Sounds like quite a shift 🙈
I know I am very lucky in the position I am in at the moment I have a good job and it's hours that suit me etc the only thing is I don't enjoy it and can't decide if I want to keep going doing it for another god knows how many years before retirement 🤣🙈
I also know I'm very luck to be in the position I am in horse wise as well I know the yard inside out (have practically been running it for years at weekends) my 2 horses are there and she is in the position to want me full time. I suppose it's just the logistics of it all that's freaking me out a bit! It's a big step and a big change I maybe need to be a bit braver 😂 x
 
Lajc91 said:
Wow equi!!!! Sounds like quite a shift ��
I know I am very lucky in the position I am in at the moment I have a good job and it's hours that suit me etc the only thing is I don't enjoy it and can't decide if I want to keep going doing it for another god knows how many years before retirement ����
I also know I'm very luck to be in the position I am in horse wise as well I know the yard inside out (have practically been running it for years at weekends) my 2 horses are there and she is in the position to want me full time. I suppose it's just the logistics of it all that's freaking me out a bit! It's a big step and a big change I maybe need to be a bit braver �� x
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This yard you know "inside out" has a "huge turnover of staff"? if so be very careful about taking any job offer there, you may know it too well, become stuck in a rut with little chance of moving onwards from there if you do find it is not what you hoped, as EKW has said the racing industry is well structured and there are jobs within it that are not all yard based so if you have office skills you could get a job with some prospects as well as spending time with horses, don't forget thjat most jobs within the equine industry will limit what you can do with your own horses and some if you have the horses on site may mean you end up working to pay for livery and not much else.
 
Lajc91 said:
I would be giving up a very secure job with holiday, sickness, maternity leave and a very stable contract to go somewhere with none of this! Am I 100% crazy?
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Keep your day job!

If you are so set on working with horses, maybe you could try to reduce your salaried hours a bit, go on a four day week, and set that extra day for equestrian work.

People have often asked me why I don't give up my normal work to go and do for a living one the several things that I do for pleasure. But I worry that if I did that, it would no longer be a pleasure; it would become just a wage-earning activity and I'd no longer enjoy it as much.
 
You’re mad to consider giving up security to go into one of the most insecure industries going.
I’m sure there are plenty of people in the industry who love it and standards have improved but for me since leaving I wouldn’t ever go back.

I had an absolute blast when things were good but I also had to put up with unfair employers, loopy grooms, poor pay, little or no sick pay.
 
I'm just about to move on to a 'proper' career ladder after the last 8 years doing horses out of school and college. I have had a blast but realistically I have hit a salary ceiling and I want to get on the property ladder before I die! I would suggest you get some BHS qualifications (groom or coach) and freelance on weekends so then you have a bit of extra income from something you enjoy but still have the stability of a job. I reccomend you get the BHS levels because you can charge more for your services.
I have done the maths and even working as an instructor (most highly skilled job in the practical horseworld) you can't really earm more than 30K a year. Depends if that is important to you but it is to me! I've done it 'for the love' for as long as I can but it's time to move on :)
 
Your utterly bonkers!
I worked with horses full time for many years but gave it up until last year for a monday to friday 9-5. I loved all the riding, the lifestyle and all the adventures but looking back I was always tired, sore and poor. I was so lucky with my jobs and did everything from film stunt yards to 4* event riders but its still horrifically hard work, utterly relentless and your social life is not existent.

Having said that I worked on quite a few private yards where people kept a few horses at home, these were usually fair pay with set days of work, holiday, good facilities and often as sole charge you could run the place how you liked it. They always looked after me as an employee and I almost become part of the family. If you don't fancy racing this could be a possible route for you if you have the experience to run a yard by yourself and don't want to put up with the chaos of livery yards or riding schools.
 
confirmedponyaddict said:
I'm just about to move on to a 'proper' career ladder after the last 8 years doing horses out of school and college. I have had a blast but realistically I have hit a salary ceiling and I want to get on the property ladder before I die! I would suggest you get some BHS qualifications (groom or coach) and freelance on weekends so then you have a bit of extra income from something you enjoy but still have the stability of a job. I reccomend you get the BHS levels because you can charge more for your services.
I have done the maths and even working as an instructor (most highly skilled job in the practical horseworld) you can't really earm more than 30K a year. Depends if that is important to you but it is to me! I've done it 'for the love' for as long as I can but it's time to move on :)
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100% this
 
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