Which equestrian trade to take up? Sick of office job.

[jobbin21]

Hello all,


Post pandemic, I have been growing continuously sick of my current office job and the idea of working with horses has grown increasingly appealing. However, I do not want to be working 12 hour days again 6 days a week for minimum wage, so am considering becoming a freelancer alongside working part time at my current job.

I have experience working on yards, but am not keen on returning to being a groom and am certainly not knowledgeable enough, or a big enough fan of children to be an instructor. Also, like most amateur horse people, I’ve got lots of small bits of knowledge on all sorts of subjects but no specialisation or in depth knowledge.

I’ve made the below list out of stuff I already have some basic knowledge of and interest in - I of course will be working towards a qualification as soon as I decide on a trade. Out of the following trades, which do you all think would be best / what are your experiences working with the below?

Bit fitting

Saddle fitting

Masterson method practitioner / equine massage

Reiki

Barefoot trimming

Behaviourist

Herbalist


Or any recommendations on other trades I could look at? I am based S.E if that helps.

 

[Kat]

Barefoot trimming will be hard on the body, probably not a great idea if you have any back/shoulder/hand/arm issues, or if you are getting older. Could be a good option if you are calm and confident handling strange horses. They have just got the training course approved too.

Saddle fitting is in demand but seems quite tricky to qualify if you work outside of the industry.

Not so sure about the others.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Hate to say it but TBH you'd be better staying with the Day Job even though it might bore the pants off you as the equine industry is notoriously difficult to get into and doesn't exactly pay well!

The problem is that most things in the equine world will need either training or experience; usually both! And these things won't be cheap. IF for instance you went for something like Equine Massage - to be able to command top-spec fees then the normal pathway would be to qualify in human physio/massage first, THEN add-on equine. This is what my McTimoney practitioner did; she had to spend a LOT of her own capital on getting the necessary training and then spent yet more money on specialising for equine. But none of this comes cheap!

You will need qualifications! Whatever pathway you decide upon, you will need to be able to get insurance for what you do, and that's why you'll need the paper certs to verify your experience and fitness to practice.

For something like saddle-fitting you would need to consider how you might get the necessary training and experience; in my area there is a large saddle fitting business which boasts of its "Master Saddler" affiliation. I do not know the ins and outs of how you'd train as a saddle fitter but DO suspect there would be an Apprenticeship involved - and very likely considerable costs too, and of course you would need insurance for this.

It will be a huge help if you have a measure of "capital" behind you, certainly to start off with as you will need training and qualifications. You will need to be determined and tenacious!, as you will be breaking into the market and will need to get a good client-base behind you. Personal recommendations and word-of-mouth rather than advertising are what will build your business. I am a fitness professional and in the early days when I started out it wasn't advertising that got the clients into the studio, it was personal recommendations.

My advice would be to mug-up on what qualifications you need for your chosen pathway, and the costs of same. Also how you might combine things, for e.g. you have given Reiki as one of your possibilities, but you might also then from that base branch-out into say Masterton........ or you have bit-fitting which you also might combine with saddle-fitting.

But at the end of the day what will REALLY set you off to a good start, or at least a better one, is to have some kind of "Celebrity" endorsement. Unfortunately the equine industry being what it is, you can be damn good at what you do and crack on and be doing it, but to really get serious money for what you do it helps to have a client or two who have achieved some measure of success on your client-list! Maybe a local up-and-coming eventer who has used you and can drop your name around, or similar. Or perhaps if you are offering a Therapy, maybe local vets to recommend you to their clients.

Good luck! The equine industry isn't the easiest to start out in, and I wish you well.

 

[teapot]

Think about how you'd build up your client base too

 

[Merry neddy man]

Also check out how many competitors for the chosen trade in your area plus car insurance for business use and extra fuel for journeys to clients they all add up

 

[Sealine]

A fellow livery recently considered doing bit fitting but bits are expensive and you need a large stock in lots of different sizes which means a large financial outlay to start up. I have a friend who is a saddle fitter. She started work in a saddlery as a general shop assistant and the business owner who is a fitter herself trained her and paid for all the relevant training courses. Another friend trained in horse reiki and massage but wasn't able to make full time living from it.

Whatever you choose bear in mind you need to be a people person. I've noticed the physios, dentists, saddlers etc that are successful are really good with people as well as horses. There is the odd exception to that rule but without the people skills you need to be very, very good at what you do.

 

[Tarragon]

What about clipping? or Willy washing?
Or someone who does holiday cover?
Or if you like hacking, someone who exercises? I exercised hunters for a hunter livery yard for a while. It was perfect for me - I got to ride these lovely horses and had none of the looking after.
If you are keeping up your main job part time, you can gradually expand the days you work on the horsey job as you ramp up business. Start with 1 or 2 days a week and then go to 3 or 4 days after a while.

 

[TPO]

I did the McTimoney-Corley course way back in 2008. It was a year long course, paid up front, with monthly weekend stays in Oxford to attend the college.

You also needed access to a lot of horses for your log book and hours.

I did the EBW course at Equinology in 2009. It was much better than McT-C, much more indepth and more time hands on with an instructor watching.

There was about a month of pre course work and then I think it was a 9 day course with with study day in the middle (that I had to use to go to the nearest town to get a puncture repaired). Then off the top of my head there was another 90hrs of massage required. There was post course work in the form of marking muscle points on horses, cases studies over 6wks and a video of you treating a horse.

There was only one person on the course who had never owned their own horse. She stood out like a sore thumb as being less at ease around the horses. There was one tricky horse on the course (he was 7 but was an orphan so very mouthy) and she was viability scared from him and unable to keep him out of her space. So I'd only look into anything with horses if you are very comfortable and confident around all types of horses.

At that point I went to the EBW course held on an event yard in Wales so had the travel, accommodation and food costs on top. I think all of the courses are held in Essex these days.

The hardest part was dealing with the people! I visited a lot of yards and did free courses of massages for people for my case studies. I saw some really sore and sorry horses. Lots of owners who really didn't care and cba to make any effort at all. I personally struggled with that aspect of it.

Nowadays therapists are 10 a penny. As with every profession there are good and bad. It must be harder to stand out from all the other massage therapists, physios and chiros among others.

It is something that you would have to be very passionate about about driven to do. Building a reliable client base and differentiating yourself from the others will be a real slog initially. Being social media savvy plays a big part.

Also clients tend to drop off during the winter months. I know a few therapists who also retrained to do human massage so that they didn't have to spend their days freezing to death treating horses.

Continued learning and development is a must. There are some really good physios that have pages on fb and Instagram. Their passion shines through and they are constantly seeking out new courses and people to learn from.

I also did a saddle fitting course with a brand in 2009. It was mainly for my own benefit as I liked the saddles but there weren't any fitters in Scotland. Through referrals from the HQ I received a fair bit of interest so set up. I had some really lovely clients but also some real awful visits where I left in tears because of the poor horses who were suffering.

The combination of equine therapy and saddle fitting worked well for me. There was also a fair bit to make on saddles. I am the worlds worst salesperson and would never try to make a sale and preferred to be lead by the client. However if you were of a different nature there would be money to be made and potential for carrying girths, leathers, irons and pads etc

You need to be well insured too especially in this climate.

To be a SMS fitter I think it's a 3yr apprenticeship. I have to be honest an day I've struggled to find a good SMS fitter. There have been some OK ones but none outstanding. I've found that brand fitters have been better but obviously they are limited to only their brand and sometimes that's not enough variety.

Poppy Webber/a day in the life of a saddle fitter has some good videos on YouTube and fb that might give you an idea about the job.

You need a thick skin too and to be very personable. If you've been on here a while you'll seen a few accusations flung at fitters for it to transpire that other factors have been at play. I've been out to see saddles and horses back that were not in a good way and the owner has been quick to blame their previous fitter only for it to come out later that they haven't seen a fitter for years. People are very quick to throw others under the bus

It's not all doom and gloom but your heart had to really be in it. @sbloom is a saddle fitter and may be able to advise further. Again Poppy Webber is worth looking up. Its long days, a lot of learning (& 3yrs on an apprentice wage for SMS) and dealing with people.

Working with horses is usually long days in all weathers. It often makes having your own hard. People prefer appointments outside normal.working hours and when you're setting up you can't afford to be fussy. You might also need to travel a lot further than you planned at a discounted rate just to build up business. Sometimes it means travelling miles at a loss in the hopes of picking up more clients at the same yard.

Barefoot trimming is hard going on your back. Do you have a horse just now? My back is pretty knackered and even picking out 3 sets of hooves a day does me in.

Masterson is very expensive and time consuming to qualify in. I really like it but not everyone is aware of it and it can make it trickier to get clients. I know someone who's qualified within the last year and it took her a long time to achieve that. Due to the expensive and and time between courses she continued in full time employment and started just doing weekends before building up. Now a year later she has reduced her hours/days at work as she built up more clients.

No idea how you train to be a bit fitter or what's involved but I do think that it's an area that more people are starting to invest in when "MOTing" their horses

 

[FFAQ]

8 years ago I was in a similar position but as a music teacher. I took out a loan and enrolled on the Equine Podiatry training ltd course and it was the best thing I ever did. I used to always be at the end of my overdraft and got to the point where I hated music because it was so financially unreliable. Now I am earning a decent wage and have brilliant clients (that part takes some work. You have to kiss a few frogs first ?). It is hard physically, but so long as you know and respect your limits it's fine. It's not like you go from 0 to 100 horses overnight, and you build up your trimming fitness as your client base increases.
As others have said, you do need thick skin. We live in a time where manners seem to be disappearing, and people love to moan about anything and everything on social media. It's hurtful but it's the world we live in unfortunately. It's also awful when a horse you trim passes away, it's almost like losing your own when you have been trimming them for a while. You'll lie awake at night worrying about the tricky cases and who is going to go down with laminitis next, but for me the pros far outweigh the cons. Seeing a horse come sound after a long period of lameness and knowing you helped with the recovery, reading about your clients succeses on Facebook is brilliant.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Have a look at the Equine Careers website. They often have jobs around the country with a bit more stability in fields such a feed companies, rug manufacturers, saddle manufacturers, marketing and many more. Not exactly working with horses but in the equine industry.

 

[Labaire]

I trained as an EBW same as TPO and have done the Masterson advanced course-I decided to not certify in that as couldn’t justify the cost. Everything TPO said is true, you have to work with sore, unhappy horses, saddles that don’t fit yet the owner doesn’t want to know, heavy unskilled riders in saddles that are too small on horses that aren’t right for them, people that don’t keep a level of fitness in their horses but expect to do fun rides/shows with multiple jumping classes and do on. Filthy horses, owners that don’t want to pay. It really is depressing and I didn’t practice for long and decided to make the most of my own career instead (which I am now loving).

 

[ElleSkywalkingintheair]

Pet sitter specialising in horse houses?

 

[Kaylum]

Done the bit fitting course and it was good. But if you want to do it professionally you need to travel and be critical and work with other professionals.

Also had my own online tack shop 25 years ago and been a riding instructor

 

[Follysmum]

House sitting seems to be a good one I know my friends have been so busy and booked up for the next year

 

[sbloom]

The hardest part was dealing with the people! I visited a lot of yards and did free courses of massages for people for my case studies. I saw some really sore and sorry horses. Lots of owners who really didn't care and cba to make any effort at all. I personally struggled with that aspect of it.

Nowadays therapists are 10 a penny. As with every profession there are good and bad. It must be harder to stand out from all the other massage therapists, physios and chiros among others.

It is something that you would have to be very passionate about about driven to do. Building a reliable client base and differentiating yourself from the others will be a real slog initially. Being social media savvy plays a big part.

Also clients tend to drop off during the winter months. I know a few therapists who also retrained to do human massage so that they didn't have to spend their days freezing to death treating horses.

Continued learning and development is a must. There are some really good physios that have pages on fb and Instagram. Their passion shines through and they are constantly seeking out new courses and people to learn from.

I also did a saddle fitting course with a brand in 2009. It was mainly for my own benefit as I liked the saddles but there weren't any fitters in Scotland. Through referrals from the HQ I received a fair bit of interest so set up. I had some really lovely clients but also some real awful visits where I left in tears because of the poor horses who were suffering.

The combination of equine therapy and saddle fitting worked well for me. There was also a fair bit to make on saddles. I am the worlds worst salesperson and would never try to make a sale and preferred to be lead by the client. However if you were of a different nature there would be money to be made and potential for carrying girths, leathers, irons and pads etc

You need to be well insured too especially in this climate.

To be a SMS fitter I think it's a 3yr apprenticeship. I have to be honest an day I've struggled to find a good SMS fitter. There have been some OK ones but none outstanding. I've found that brand fitters have been better but obviously they are limited to only their brand and sometimes that's not enough variety.

Poppy Webber/a day in the life of a saddle fitter has some good videos on YouTube and fb that might give you an idea about the job.

You need a thick skin too and to be very personable. If you've been on here a while you'll seen a few accusations flung at fitters for it to transpire that other factors have been at play. I've been out to see saddles and horses back that were not in a good way and the owner has been quick to blame their previous fitter only for it to come out later that they haven't seen a fitter for years. People are very quick to throw others under the bus

It's not all doom and gloom but your heart had to really be in it. @sbloom is a saddle fitter and may be able to advise further. Again Poppy Webber is worth looking up. Its long days, a lot of learning (& 3yrs on an apprentice wage for SMS) and dealing with people.

Working with horses is usually long days in all weathers. It often makes having your own hard. People prefer appointments outside normal.working hours and when you're setting up you can't afford to be fussy. You might also need to travel a lot further than you planned at a discounted rate just to build up business. Sometimes it means travelling miles at a loss in the hopes of picking up more clients at the same yard.

All of this.

I generally slightly try to put people off being a fitter, we get trashed, over and over, and you can think you won't be, you'll be the super new fitter that never gets trashed, that never has to read a customer telling their side of the story while you sit and chew your cheeks. It's happened on here, though it was about the brand, and not me personally. People spend a lot of money on their horses, for many they're their mental health saviours, they're money pits, they're a constant worry and a lot of heartache, and if you can't provide a magic solution, often without them taking much responsibility at all for helping an animal that will mask pain and discomfort for YEARS, they can be very unreasonable and make things very personal. You need the skin of a rhino.

SMS - do you rate the SMS? Do you want to fit as they fit? It's the main acknowledged route into fitting but it's a qualification that only the SMS themselves offer (unlike becoming a vet or a physio or even a dentist where different organisations can offer the same qualification, or that at least there is more than one qualification that carries similar weight). It's not necessarily like an apprenticeship, most trainee fitters will be earning a half decent wage and will be customer facing at some point as you have to have experience to take the qualification (which is maybe an issue in itself).

I contacted the specialists I bought my saddle from several years before and trained with them, though it's not happened since really, it's very expensive to train a fitter, see them through their early days and keep them stocked with enough stock. I have no inclination to take the SMS qualification, or any other saddle fitting qualification, I like the way I fit and don't want to have to change it root and branch.

I had a fantastic day yesterday at a rehab yard - I left home at 5.45 am, was at the yard from 9am to 6.30pm fitting, with no stops for food, grabbing it as I went. Then there was a talk from 7 till 9. I got home at 11.45pm after diversions which meant that although it wasn't rush hour it took longer to get home than it should, always the hazard of an extra long day, it usually gets longer because of road closures. Today I'm on my knees but have paperwork to do, my 6th day working, as usual. Tomorrow is my day off. Yesterday if I hadn't taken an order for one new saddle I've have earned a bit more than living wage per hour.

And whatever horsey profession you follow, do you want to make your passion your career? It WILL change it, even if in a very minor way, but for me it's meant I've not had the time or money to have my own, and then, after a while, if the horsey world doesn't make you question the whole thing, then seeing the bills and the heartache can put you off owning, even if somehow you do have the time and money.

It's rewarding, for sure, and I'm proud of being really good at my job. If I knew what I know now would I have gone this route? Probably but I can't be sure, and there are plenty of times where I wish I had a regular, steady job.