Making a living with horses? Even if you don't...

[mininik]

MiniHGal: Thanks for the input.

Like you, I would not want to be a small animal vet and would hope to specialize in equines. The seven to eight years of schooling and huge-mongous student loans don't excite me (of course) but I also know going through vet school would be a career choice, not "just another job." I also understand there are other options from just being a vet such as going into research, etc. and I like that flexibility.

Someone else mentioned it and I have taken into consideration not turning a beloved hobby into a career for fear that it might ruin it for me but I just can't picture myself being truly happy doing much else and only having horses as an aside. As for my ability to do well in college? I honestly have no idea as I've not even set foot on one yet. I'm sure I won't be the best student out there and I'll likely get burnt out at times but I won't let my thinking that stop me. Vet school or no, I have decided that I am going to college and the more I think about it the more I think I'll probably find my answers there...

Oddly enough, one non-horsey job I think I'd enjoy and be good at is yacht sales. No, not necessarily multi-million dollar YACHTS (although that'd be pretty sweet LOL) but weekender-sized sailboats, family motorcruisers, etc. I lived aboard for several years and have been involved in fixing up and reselling smaller sailboats. It always amazed me how poorly presented most boats are not only by their owners but by boat brokers, as well, and how long they'd sit on the market as a result.

: I know I could do better.

 

[Feather1414]

How well off do you think a reproduction specialist would be? Thats what I REALLY want to go to college for, but if there is no demand for it, why bother?

 

[mininik]

Hmm. Well, what would you consider "well off?" $60K a year? $160K a year?

While I don't know what the average income would be for a(n equine?) reproductive specialist, something to keep in mind is that it surely varies like anything depending upon your location, experience and business skills.

:

 

[runamuk]

How well off do you think a reproduction specialist would be? Thats what I REALLY want to go to college for, but if there is no demand for it, why bother?

If you specialize in something like AI, embryo transfer and not just for horses I am guessing the money isn't bad......If you want to do this specifically in horses you will most likely need to live in an area where this practice is more common.....like say Kentucky :bgrin

 

[mininik]

Funny, I immediately thought "Kentucky" or "Texas" when I read her post, too, runamuk.

:

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

another one I know of is well sounds a bit silly but sperm brokers...people who import sperm from other countries from some wonderful warmbloods ect ...If you can take the jokes and such I would think you could be succesful money wise with this as well as have free time

:

 

[Leeana]

I'm suprised no one brought up equine photographer.

(they might have, i didnt read all replies)

Equine Photography would be a nice job.

Leeana

 

[Feather1414]

another one I know of is well sounds a bit silly but sperm brokers...people who import sperm from other countries from some wonderful warmbloods ect ...If you can take the jokes and such I would think you could be succesful money wise with this as well as have free time

:

Yea, I have always wanted to breed minis as well. So I was thinking that I could make the most of my living off embryonic research ((which it really does fascinate me, I know all about the "Pocket Change" story, and such. Keeping up to date on Olympian Ranches stuff)) anyways... do that as mainly a day job, open up a training center. Breed a few mares and show those babies.

I would REALLY like to work for a larger farm with AI, and such like that, but we will see where life takes me. I just need to be able to get time off in the summer to show my horses!

 

[kaykay]

feather what your talking about is very similiar to the facility i just toured by my farm on sat. They do anything and everything to do with horse reproduction. AI, sperm counts, foaling mares, reproductive evaluations etc etc. they also have a repro vet there 3 days per week. its a beautiful farm and they just added on again to their barn so they must be doing ok

 

[Kim Rule]

Okay, I'm a mother, and a teacher...but I gotta put in my two cents worth.

When I was in high school, in the EARLY 70's there weren't many equine science programs at colleges. But there was one at the University of Vermont...and it was very prestigious. I had found an article in a horse magazine about it. I went to my parents and told them that I finally found the college I wanted to go to, and I wanted to be a horse trainer. My father laughed. My mother told me to marry a rich man. I went into my room and cried.

When I became an adult, I had to sell my horse. My parents got a divorce, and they sold the house where I could keep my horse. I couldn't afford to board her.

In the early 80's when I was a married woman, I decided to go to the advertised Tennessee Walker show. I stumbled onto someone who wanted someone to show their horse. In that weekend I had offers of training horses. Within a year, I had a barn of horses, and was training...strictly on a small scale you understand. I had a non-horsey husband who did not understand the passion I had for my horses. He was jealous. Insanely jealous. He didn't want to hear what went on at the barn, he was mad that I wasn't home to clean the house enough! He left me for a younger, more pliable woman. I quit training.

Fast forward to my 40th birthday. I was a single mom of a 4 year old. I was laid off from my job. I decided that I needed to go back to college, and be a teacher. I had met people who had horses for hobbies, and wound up teaching riding. I put myself through school...into a very non-horsey profession.

Okay, today....I have my minis in the back yard...and I'm loving it. I call it the perfect horse trainer's retirement! As I look back over the years, yes, things would have been different if my parents had taken me seriously...I wish they had. But I did get the experience of training and teaching riding...and ALL the work that entails. It's a hard job...and not very rewarding monetarily unless you become one of the BIG guys...and then that involves compromises that many ethical people don't want to consider.

I can tell you that being a pro takes the fun out of showing...

I can tell you that if you surround yourself with people who are not supportive...it's like swimming INTO a tidal wave.

I can tell you that the work is HARD, the clients can be unforgiving...or will become your best friends...I never found an inbetween.

It's hard to save for retirement in the equine industry...that wasn't important when I was your age, but it is now!

If this is something you REALLY want to do...go for it. Following your dreams is the only way to live your life...just be willing to put everything into it.

 


Be prepared to look at all your options...throughout your whole life!

 


Kim R.

 

[Jenn]

I have a degree in Equine Business Management and it got me nowhere! I'm now working in a completely unrelated field (I'm the editor of a small-town newspaper) and enjoying it much more than I ever did any horsey job I had.

The only way to make a million dollars in the horse business is to start with 10 million.

There are thousands of talented trainers and managers out there who couldn't make it on their own. It's MUCH easier to work for someone else, collect a regular paycheck and be able to go home at the end of the day and not worry about anything - whether you're working in a horse-related business or not.

Equine photography can be lucrative - it is for me during the few weeks each year that I do it - but you have to have a talent for it. Some things can be taught, some can't. You pretty much have to be born with the ability to make something of yourself in the business. I can look at photos I took when I was eight years old and they are 100 times better than what most adults take. It's not an easy business by any means. You also have to be able to travel - I could have a ton of business if I was willing to travel, but I have a family on the way and so I don't go outside the province.

Working with horses for a living definitely sucks the enjoyment out of having horses for fun. I got burned out very easily - most people do - and now I have a couple of geldings (only one I own) that I go visit when I feel like it. I don't show anymore except by special request, and that's only when I know the horse will win.

"I coulda" is one of my favorite sayings ... had I continued on the path I was on, I coulda been a professional trainer in any breed. And I probably would have hated every day of it. Now when I have horses to train, I send them to someone younger and dumber than me to get it done - I'm too old to be getting tossed off horses. I'd rather pay someone else to do it for me.

But, I wouldn't change anything I've done for the world. Somehow, I stumbled across the career I was meant to have - writing and photography - and probably wouldn't have found my way here had I gone to school to become an accountant or something. I'll always love and enjoy horses, but I certainly don't want to get into breeding or training - almost a shame when I have all this knowledge and talent in both fields.