# How to become a horse/riding trainer?



## Cheyennes mom (Aug 6, 2010)

Hey guys! 

So I have NO idea what I want to do when I'm older. I've always wanted to do something with horses but I always figured it was a pretty unrealistic dream. However, I met this horse trainer in my area who trains horses for a living. He isn't famous, yet he still makes a living that way training reining horses. I thought it was a REALLY cool job and it kind of made me think that horse training was actually a possible future for me. 

I've been training my horse Maverick on my own. He was already broke and everything when I got him, he was just very inexperienced and didn't know any specifics of anything really. He's a 6 year old Arabian. Through working with him I've learned a LOT. My trainer's always encouraging me about how his value has raised a LOT since I've been working with him. I'm always the first one to ride her new horses (after her obviously) because she claims that I could ride most broke horses by now with my experience and she'd like to get me riding as many different horses as possible to boost my experience level. Personally, I think she's exaggerating and trying to boost my confidence by saying I can ride most horses but hey, it's still nice of her to say haha 

Anyways, that's a little bit about me, now question time. I'd like to know more about horse training. How do you get into this profession? Is it hard to make a living off of this? How do people generally base their time and costs per horse? Are there different costs depending on what's going to be done for your horse? What are things I should look into to make my decision? Is it always done at your own place or do people travel to different places to train horses? How many people generally want their horses trained? Is it a popular business? What are some of your experiences with training horses or sending your horse in to be trained?



The other part of this thread that I'd like to touch on is being a riding coach. I know a lot more about this than horse training because I always stick around to watch my trainer's lessons and I've talked to her a lot about it. She isn't certified though, what she teaches is based on her 40+ years of experience so she can only tell me so much about it. What I know is that riding lessons generally base from 20-40 bucks an hour for one rider. The horse is often supplied by the trainer, or by the rider. The rider must wear a helmet and boots with a heel. They learn stable management, riding, grooming and tacking up, safety, tack, etc (or at least that's what I learned in my lessons). 

Next year I'll be starting a riding program that'll teach me more about riding and stable management and then when I've finished that program I can apply for a connected program to become a certified instructor. My coach says that I'm ready to be giving beginner riding lessons already based on my knowledge of riding over the years so in the summer I'll ask around to see if anyone would like beginner lessons for $20 an hour. I've already given mini lessons to a few beginners who are my friends, a jumping lesson to a more experienced friend, and some mini lessons to some kids at our barn. They all said that they loved lessons with me and that I did a good job explaining details and why we did the things I told them to. Giving those lessons was even a learning experience for me and I decided that that'd be something I'd be interested in continuing as well.

More questions... How hard is it finding people to give lessons to? Are people generally pretty good at keeping the dates in mind and to come to lessons when they're scheduled? What are your experiences with teaching beginner and advanced riding lessons? Any tips for me on finding people to teach, advertising and teaching in itself?



I'll take pretty much any information you can give me on horse training and rider training. Thanks a lot for reading through my whole thread!


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Some go to school to get their start in training and it may depend in what discipline you are looking to train in. I found that those kids that I went to high school with that went to college for training while I started from the bottom stall cleaning, turning out and grooming we ended up in the same positions(actually riding) in about the same amount of time. I was making a little money and they were spending theirs on college. But I didn't have any idea on an alternate career other than horses/ranch work so college would of been a waste for me at the time, in my opinion. The kids that did go to college had other ideas and ambitions.
I have found that most work their way up, stall cleaning, grooming and saddling, lopers, assistants, colt starters and training assistants then eventually venturing out to train on their own. Many get weeded out in the process. Long days and mostly 6/7 days a week not including shows on very little pay and crappy living conditions, usually a camp trailer behind the barn..LOL! Some trainers offer you a few holes in the barn for your own outside horses to ride and make a little extra money on.
More than likely you will start out with some lesser known trainers, but with a good work ethic and build a reputation for yourself you can work yourself up to the big name trainers. It is easier to make a name for yourself under a bigger trainer, the clients recognize you and may send a horse or two your way when you are out on your own or send clients. And when advertising your services it helps if potential clients can associate with who you had worked for. Not saying that a big name trainer is the ultimate because their is plenty of awesome trainers out their that no one has heard of. All it takes is a big money client that can afford to send 10 futurity prospects to you and hopefully one of them makes the cut a wins you a check  But horse show trainers are a lot like movie stars, its about who is big right now.
I realized I can not deal with the public or clients. I love training horses, but not the people. I just ride horses for people I know anymore and very rarely that now.

Anyhow that's how I got started, hopefully someone else has some insight or better advice! LOL!


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Go to college, such as William Woods in Fulton MO, Stephens College in Columbia MO, or Lexington KY has many degree programs for horses.

That is what I would suggest, as would give you best exposure to training, and help you meet people in the field.

Or can apprentice with trainer.


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## Fargosgirl (Jan 12, 2012)

The biggest thing I can recommend is experience. Decide now what kind of trainer you want to be so you can focus your experience in that area. Like you, when I was young I wanted to be a horse trainer, what I didn't realize is that most horse trainers are specialists catering to very specific clientèle. Colt starters rarely are able to produce a "finished" horse, a reining trainer probably knows little about how to show well in jumping, many English trainers don't excel at teaching western events. 

Showing is often a BIG part of being a successful trainer, once you have a good foundation in basic horsemanship, find the sport you enjoy and show, show, show, to learn all the ins and outs of how to compete well in that area. Because most people who pay the real money for trainers have their horses for competition, they need someone who can show them all of the little things that make the difference between the top horses/riders and all the wannabees. Also consider an apprenticeship to a trainer, to get experience with different training techniques.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Can start working at trainer's barn for little or no pay and go from there. Be prepared to ride the worst crazy horses and get used like a slave.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SaddleOnline (Oct 20, 2011)

Start off by riding as many horses as you can- the more horses/problem horses you ride, the more experience you have to help with future rides. Ask your instructor if you can help her with the beginner riding lessons- maybe you can be the one to teach the kids how to tack up/groom, and then you can watch their lesson and take notes. Ride in or audit as many clinics as possible, the "bigger" the name of the trainer the better. Everyone has a different teaching style, take what works for you and turn it into your own thing. 

I would finish up by attending an equine university- keep in mind that needs to be more of a finishing school mentality, not a "hey I woke up and decided to be an instructor" type thing. I graduated from William Woods University back in the day and LOVED it- but there were so many people who wanted that EQS degree but had NO experience to back it up. You can't become an instructor purely from an Equine degree, but you can become a MUCH better one. 

Best of luck!


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## Cheyennes mom (Aug 6, 2010)

COWCHICK77 said:


> Some go to school to get their start in training and it may depend in what discipline you are looking to train in. I found that those kids that I went to high school with that went to college for training while I started from the bottom stall cleaning, turning out and grooming we ended up in the same positions(actually riding) in about the same amount of time. I was making a little money and they were spending theirs on college. But I didn't have any idea on an alternate career other than horses/ranch work so college would of been a waste for me at the time, in my opinion. The kids that did go to college had other ideas and ambitions.
> I have found that most work their way up, stall cleaning, grooming and saddling, lopers, assistants, colt starters and training assistants then eventually venturing out to train on their own. Many get weeded out in the process. Long days and mostly 6/7 days a week not including shows on very little pay and crappy living conditions, usually a camp trailer behind the barn..LOL! Some trainers offer you a few holes in the barn for your own outside horses to ride and make a little extra money on.
> More than likely you will start out with some lesser known trainers, but with a good work ethic and build a reputation for yourself you can work yourself up to the big name trainers. It is easier to make a name for yourself under a bigger trainer, the clients recognize you and may send a horse or two your way when you are out on your own or send clients. And when advertising your services it helps if potential clients can associate with who you had worked for. Not saying that a big name trainer is the ultimate because their is plenty of awesome trainers out their that no one has heard of. All it takes is a big money client that can afford to send 10 futurity prospects to you and hopefully one of them makes the cut a wins you a check  But horse show trainers are a lot like movie stars, its about who is big right now.
> I realized I can not deal with the public or clients. I love training horses, but not the people. I just ride horses for people I know anymore and very rarely that now.
> ...


Oh...sounds like you had a nice experience of horse training lol


Palomine said:


> Go to college, such as William Woods in Fulton MO, Stephens College in Columbia MO, or Lexington KY has many degree programs for horses.
> 
> That is what I would suggest, as would give you best exposure to training, and help you meet people in the field.
> 
> Or can apprentice with trainer.


I'd love to go to a college, thanks for the suggestions 


Fargosgirl said:


> The biggest thing I can recommend is experience. Decide now what kind of trainer you want to be so you can focus your experience in that area. Like you, when I was young I wanted to be a horse trainer, what I didn't realize is that most horse trainers are specialists catering to very specific clientèle. Colt starters rarely are able to produce a "finished" horse, a reining trainer probably knows little about how to show well in jumping, many English trainers don't excel at teaching western events.
> 
> Showing is often a BIG part of being a successful trainer, once you have a good foundation in basic horsemanship, find the sport you enjoy and show, show, show, to learn all the ins and outs of how to compete well in that area. Because most people who pay the real money for trainers have their horses for competition, they need someone who can show them all of the little things that make the difference between the top horses/riders and all the wannabees. Also consider an apprenticeship to a trainer, to get experience with different training techniques.


Hmm...hard to tell what discipline I'd train specifically...Right now I'm doing a lot of English, jumping mostly...But I've also been doing a lot of Western as well...Gymkhanas and stuff like that.

I've been showing a lot too already in english and western pleasure classes and I've done a couple jumping classes as well. I also do a lot of gymkhanas. People generally know my name in our club. I get introduced to a lot of people by my coach...EVERYONE horsey in our area knows her, she's everywhere. So she makes sure that I'm known by everyone because I'm practically her daughter and I pretty much live at her place in the barn haha 

Apprenticing would be a great experience for sure...I could ask my coach if she knows of any trainers that I'd be able to follow around for a while and see how they do things. 
Thanks! 


waresbear said:


> Can start working at trainer's barn for little or no pay and go from there. Be prepared to ride the worst crazy horses and get used like a slave.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Haha that's the funny thing, because that seems to be ALL I want to do right now. Ride bad horses who throw me off and make me get back on and try again.


SaddleOnline said:


> Start off by riding as many horses as you can- the more horses/problem horses you ride, the more experience you have to help with future rides. Ask your instructor if you can help her with the beginner riding lessons- maybe you can be the one to teach the kids how to tack up/groom, and then you can watch their lesson and take notes. Ride in or audit as many clinics as possible, the "bigger" the name of the trainer the better. Everyone has a different teaching style, take what works for you and turn it into your own thing.
> 
> I would finish up by attending an equine university- keep in mind that needs to be more of a finishing school mentality, not a "hey I woke up and decided to be an instructor" type thing. I graduated from William Woods University back in the day and LOVED it- but there were so many people who wanted that EQS degree but had NO experience to back it up. You can't become an instructor purely from an Equine degree, but you can become a MUCH better one.
> 
> Best of luck!


I'm definitely trying to ride as many horses as possible for sure! My trainer always lets me ride her horses, especially the new ones if she wants to see how they look or how they react to different people because I'm her most experienced rider and I always seem to be around lol Also, she isn't much of an English rider so if she has an English horse on her hands she'll start with it western and then hand the horse over to me to work with for a while in English and she'll give me a lesson on that horse. So that's a pretty good experience for me. It's really nice to be able to ride her horses for sure!

As for lessons, I've also been helping her with those  She's asked me a few times if I could start a lesson for her if she just came home from work and needs to change and eat quickly before the lesson. And she always tells me when she's giving a lesson so that I can run over there and watch. So with me watching a LOT of her lessons and on top of that, taking lessons for 4 years with her, I definitely know how to work with kids like the ones she's taught. I've taught a few lessons myself and they went really well so I'm hoping that I'll get some regulars sometime!

Thanks a lot for the advise!


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Fargosgirl said:


> The biggest thing I can recommend is experience. Decide now what kind of trainer you want to be so you can focus your experience in that area. Like you, when I was young I wanted to be a horse trainer, what I didn't realize is that most horse trainers are specialists catering to very specific clientèle. Colt starters rarely are able to produce a "finished" horse, a reining trainer probably knows little about how to show well in jumping, many English trainers don't excel at teaching western events.
> 
> Showing is often a BIG part of being a successful trainer, once you have a good foundation in basic horsemanship, find the sport you enjoy and show, show, show, to learn all the ins and outs of how to compete well in that area. Because most people who pay the real money for trainers have their horses for competition, they need someone who can show them all of the little things that make the difference between the top horses/riders and all the wannabees. Also consider an apprenticeship to a trainer, to get experience with different training techniques.


We start young horses. Most training barns do for that matter, and turn out finished horses every day. Not sure where you got idea that "colt starters" don't turn out finished horses, but you are wrong.

And no matter how much you show yourself, if you want to have good customer base, you need to have the skills to train and show many horses, of all attitudes and abilities. Plus good business skills for that matter.

The networks developed by going to college can be invaluable, particularly for someone that doesn't come from background in horses, where they showed at higher levels.

And can also help weed out what disciplines one is interested in, as Western, H/J, Saddleseat and Dressage are all available.

Focus can be on training horses, riding instruction, barn management, or specialize in broodmare/foals. Last time I looked, I think Lexington had 30+ programs, from AA to PhD.


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

I say go to school for something other then horses! Teaching, nurse, become a police officer or whatever floats your boat for a few reasons. 

1. Turning a hobby into a job is the fastest way to ruin something that should be enjoyable. I work right now at a barn teaching, managing, riding/training new horses, and the whole 9 yards! There are days when I just DON'T want to get up and teach X amount of lessons, ride the spook and spinner, make schedules and tell people what to do. I just want to ENJOY being at the barn, not turn it into something I MUST do. 

2. Every single local trainer I come upon is just "getting by". It really not a salary you can raise a family on or support your hobbies (ie, your horse). Get ready for LONG hours in the cold/heat working for CRAZY "horse people" with an equally crazy horse. 

3. Injury, whether it's over time (arthritis) or something acute (leg fracture) or even a psychological thing (very bad accident). Whatever the circumstances are, what if you cannot work any longer? 


You can still be a horse trainer and a riding instructor, but I wouldn't recommend it as a main source of income. I'm in nursing school now and one of my goals is to do a little training and instructing on the side. I really enjoy teaching and riding, but I never want to feel like my hobby is something I HAVE to do. It totally sucks the fun right out of something to be enjoyed.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## albertaeventer (Feb 5, 2013)

If you really want to train/coach, I would get a good job that is decent paying and flexible, then train or coach on the side. Like many already said, it is very difficult to make a living in the horse industry. There are several informative threads over in the Equine Careers and Education forum if you haven't checked those out yet.

I wouldn't recommend going to college university for equine stuff unless you have a LOT of money and a few years to burn. Everything learned there can be obtained through an internship or working students placements, and in all honesty you don't really come out any farther ahead compared to the next person. 

I've done both sides of what you want to do, I've trained and coached. Training was great, if it could stay just me and the horse, I would probably still be doing it. You have to be excellent at dealing with people and really love it though, and that's where I lack, I am great with people when I want to be, but I just don't really want to put in that effort, the customer service side is not my thing. And good trainers will train the horses AND the riders. Coaching I really enjoyed, but I enjoy just going to the barn and riding my horse more, on my own time. I don't want to be stuck there working and answering to others, I found that doesn't really work for me, and even with the money it wasn't worth it to me. I THOUGHT that's what I wanted to do with my life 10 years ago, training and coaching, and I got an equine science degree and put in a good effort for about 8 years, but things change. It wasn't fun anymore, and working for not much pay was taking it's toll on me, I was barely making enough to scrape by. Getting a newer car or saving for a house was not doable at all on that wage. Training and coaching are 2 things I could fall back on anytime if I wanted to get back into the industry, part or full time, someday that might happen, but right now that's not what I want to do. I want to have fun and enjoy my time at the barn and with my horses. I want things to be on my terms.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you have a backup plan if the horse thing doesn't pan out. You might get sick/hurt, lose interest or just decide to try something different later on, you really never do know! I sure wish I had planned ahead better!! It's absolutely crucial to have a backup plan, I can not stress that enough. I was stuck working minimum wage jobs after I got out of the horse industry, because my equine science degree doesn't transfer over to anything else. And neither will coaching/training/working in a barn translate over on a resume. Something to keep in mind. I ended up having to go back to school before I could break into a different career, and had I planned better from the start I would have accounted for something like this down the road. You could get a degree, then try the training/coaching thing, if it doesn't pan out at least you have your degree to fall back on. Or do training/coaching on the side, lots of options for sure. But don't limit yourself, as no one knows what will happen in the future!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do


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## cowgirl4753 (Aug 3, 2012)

I did the start from the bottom and worked my way up. Rode everything anybody would put me on, listened to anyone who wanted to teach me something. Got a job at a barn cleaning stalls and feeding, moved up to exercising the lesson horses. Then helped with riding the show horses, then training. Long hours, hard a$$ work. But at the time I loved it.
Moved to a different barn training my own clientel, starting colts, dealing with problems. Got used and abused so to speak. Burned out fast. I went from loving it to hating it. Dealing with people, having to get on bronky colts. Now I dont train anything but my own. And I am finally starting to like riding again. Its a hard way to barely make a living. But it has its moments 
Id work with a trainer like your doing and work up from their. People will get to know you through others. Word of mouth is a big thing in the horse industry, it will make or break you.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Fargosgirl (Jan 12, 2012)

Palomine said:


> We start young horses. Most training barns do for that matter, and turn out finished horses every day. Not sure where you got idea that "colt starters" don't turn out finished horses, but you are wrong.


 I've worked for a couple different high level show trainers and they for the most part refuse to start horses, not that they are incapable, they just don't want to take the risk of first rides if they don't have to. May be it's just in our area, but a horse usually spends about 60-90 days with a colt starter before a finish trainer will accept the horse into training. I know only of _one_ starter locally that is able to take a horse from first ride to placing in the ribbons in serious reining competitions. There are also about 10 "colt starters" to every qualified trainer in our area, many of the "starters" are nothing more than bronc busters(I myself would have fit that description in my late teens). I may have misspoke reflecting what the local norm is here.

To the OP: I could not agree more with everything SlideStop said! I tried to be a trainer for a while in my late teens early 20's, I went about it all wrong, and I had to quit because I made one mistake and ended up breaking my arm(instead of the horse). That break cost $5,000 in medical bills, I did not have insurance. I couldn't work while healing, it was financially devastating, if my parents hadn't supported me during that time I'm not sure what I would have done. After my arm had mended I discovered how emotionally devastating it had been, I had lost all of my confidence in riding. I kept working with horses, barn managing at a show barn, but I quit riding completely for 2 years, and still have confidence issues when riding, ten years later.

During the years working at the show barns I seen the other things Slide mentioned. The trainers would actually hate certain horses, and yet have to ride them anyway, which usually ended badly for the horse. A lot of the students and riders were major divas causing big headaches, fights, meltdowns, ect. all of which the lead trainer would have to deal with. The icing on the cake was that the students and boarders were often late or behind with payments and would regularly argue to get their bills reduced. The second trainer I worked for was extremely talented, had TONS of experience, and still barely made ends meet, with the help of her husband's veterinary practice.

If you think that training really is your calling, I stand by what everyone has said here about getting horse experience of every kind possible, showing, classroom, riding apprenticing, barn managing, anything you can do with a horse. It may seem like a dream job, but it can also be a nightmare, consider it carefully before you make any final decisions, and life changes,your dream can change too.


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## Cheyennes mom (Aug 6, 2010)

Palomine said:


> And no matter how much you show yourself, if you want to have good customer base, you need to have the skills to train and show many horses, of all attitudes and abilities. Plus good business skills for that matter.
> 
> The networks developed by going to college can be invaluable, particularly for someone that doesn't come from background in horses, where they showed at higher levels.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply and the suggestions of programs 


SlideStop said:


> I say go to school for something other then horses! Teaching, nurse, become a police officer or whatever floats your boat for a few reasons.
> 
> 1. Turning a hobby into a job is the fastest way to ruin something that should be enjoyable. I work right now at a barn teaching, managing, riding/training new horses, and the whole 9 yards! There are days when I just DON'T want to get up and teach X amount of lessons, ride the spook and spinner, make schedules and tell people what to do. I just want to ENJOY being at the barn, not turn it into something I MUST do.
> 
> ...


Yeah, I see where you're coming from for sure. I'm taking some classes in psychology and counseling next year so I'm gonna see where that takes me as well. I could always pick one (or both) and then I'd have something else to fall back on if the thing I picked didn't work out or whatever.


albertaeventer said:


> If you really want to train/coach, I would get a good job that is decent paying and flexible, then train or coach on the side. Like many already said, it is very difficult to make a living in the horse industry. There are several informative threads over in the Equine Careers and Education forum if you haven't checked those out yet.
> 
> I wouldn't recommend going to college university for equine stuff unless you have a LOT of money and a few years to burn. Everything learned there can be obtained through an internship or working students placements, and in all honesty you don't really come out any farther ahead compared to the next person.
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing your experiences, it's much appreciated 


cowgirl4753 said:


> I did the start from the bottom and worked my way up. Rode everything anybody would put me on, listened to anyone who wanted to teach me something. Got a job at a barn cleaning stalls and feeding, moved up to exercising the lesson horses. Then helped with riding the show horses, then training. Long hours, hard a$$ work. But at the time I loved it.
> Moved to a different barn training my own clientel, starting colts, dealing with problems. Got used and abused so to speak. Burned out fast. I went from loving it to hating it. Dealing with people, having to get on bronky colts. Now I dont train anything but my own. And I am finally starting to like riding again. Its a hard way to barely make a living. But it has its moments
> Id work with a trainer like your doing and work up from their. People will get to know you through others. Word of mouth is a big thing in the horse industry, it will make or break you.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Sounds like you had a great experience! I'm going to talk to my coach next time we have a good conversation about if she knows any trainers I could follow around. She knows almost every horse person in our area so she'd have a lot of people that I could talk to. So I might follow someone around for a while and see. That'd get me more of an idea of what I'm thinking about.


Fargosgirl said:


> To the OP: I could not agree more with everything SlideStop said! I tried to be a trainer for a while in my late teens early 20's, I went about it all wrong, and I had to quit because I made one mistake and ended up breaking my arm(instead of the horse). That break cost $5,000 in medical bills, I did not have insurance. I couldn't work while healing, it was financially devastating, if my parents hadn't supported me during that time I'm not sure what I would have done. After my arm had mended I discovered how emotionally devastating it had been, I had lost all of my confidence in riding. I kept working with horses, barn managing at a show barn, but I quit riding completely for 2 years, and still have confidence issues when riding, ten years later.
> 
> During the years working at the show barns I seen the other things Slide mentioned. The trainers would actually hate certain horses, and yet have to ride them anyway, which usually ended badly for the horse. A lot of the students and riders were major divas causing big headaches, fights, meltdowns, ect. all of which the lead trainer would have to deal with. The icing on the cake was that the students and boarders were often late or behind with payments and would regularly argue to get their bills reduced. The second trainer I worked for was extremely talented, had TONS of experience, and still barely made ends meet, with the help of her husband's veterinary practice.
> 
> If you think that training really is your calling, I stand by what everyone has said here about getting horse experience of every kind possible, showing, classroom, riding apprenticing, barn managing, anything you can do with a horse. It may seem like a dream job, but it can also be a nightmare, consider it carefully before you make any final decisions, and life changes,your dream can change too.


Yeah I get where you're coming from for sure. I have had my eye on having something to do with psychology for a while and people have told me I should be a counselor so I'm thinking I'll study equine stuff and psychology and something I'm sure will ring in my ear or I'll find something that isn't either, who knows! I have a LOT of time to figure it out since I'm not even graduated yet so lol

I'm going to be taking a riding course very soon and I'll be taking psychology classes next year so that'll also help me I'm thinking 


Thanks for all the replies everyone!!


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

My experience has been mainly western, cow horse, reining, cutters and a little bit of ropers. 
In my experience, if you send your colt off to a horse show trainer that specifically deals with a certain event the trainer does not do the colt starting. The colt starter, assistant or assistant trainer starts your colt. This is all dependent on how large the barn is and how many people are working under the trainer as to who actually does it. 
The people just starting out as trainers or specify themselves as colt starters are the ones who start the colts. And there is a market for just colt starters. I think that if you stick to one event or start limiting yourself you better be able to show and win otherwise you won't have much of a clientele. 
Some people just need someone to put a couple, 30, 60, 90 days on and they can take it from there and those make a living doing it. I also know of a few guys that do a lot of day work cowboying that take horses who just need some outside time and show them a job.(of course that is supplementing the day wages they are already getting) The horses already have been started but need a job to apply the training to and get used to being outside of an arena and riding alone to make sense to what they learned already and further the training, get a little gentler and handier by being around cattle, working pens maybe at the sale yard or feed lot and some roping.

There are opportunities, you have to know who your possible clients are in your area that you plan to work in and find your niche. Hopefully through hard work, talent and word of mouth you can build a clientele that can support you.


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## plomme (Feb 7, 2013)

I agree with the posters who are telling you to go to university for something else. Get a useful degree in something that will make you money. It does not sound very romantic, but it is practical and you'll be able to have horses. Nursing, engineering, economics, medical school, vet school, whatever. Get a biology degree specializing in animal behaviour, be a psychologist specializing in behavioural neuroscience. But maybe take a year off after high school and be a working student. Just one year. Work for the best trainer you can find, do a show season, go to Florida, whatever. Find out all about how that is. If you like it, be a working student again during the summers. A lot of people who love horses, love riding, love training, etc. find day to day stable work to be hell and can't escape it fast enough. Some people are scared away by the financial realities of running stables or training/lesson businesses (seriously, ask people about their net/gross income and expenses). Some people find that this work day in and day out drains the joy out of horses and they might not even have time to pursue their personal riding goals. 

Of course, other people love it more than anything and nothing makes them happier than an equestrian career. But you do not want to be stuck and burned out with nothing else going for you at 30 because it's much harder to go back to university for a new degree than to get a good one in the first place. Horses will always be there, but it is a hard place to make a living. Which can seem fine when you're 25, but suddenly you're not 25 anymore and you would like to buy a house and it would be really nice to go to Berlin and you need a retirement account. Or you might want to buy a really fancy horse.

Aside from being a working student in between semesters, you can always get certified and teach or train on weekends.


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## cowgirl4753 (Aug 3, 2012)

plomme said:


> I agree with the posters who are telling you to go to university for something else. Get a useful degree in something that will make you money. It does not sound very romantic, but it is practical and you'll be able to have horses. Nursing, engineering, economics, medical school, vet school, whatever. Get a biology degree specializing in animal behaviour, be a psychologist specializing in behavioural neuroscience. But maybe take a year off after high school and be a working student. Just one year. Work for the best trainer you can find, do a show season, go to Florida, whatever. Find out all about how that is. If you like it, be a working student again during the summers. A lot of people who love horses, love riding, love training, etc. find day to day stable work to be hell and can't escape it fast enough. Some people are scared away by the financial realities of running stables or training/lesson businesses (seriously, ask people about their net/gross income and expenses). Some people find that this work day in and day out drains the joy out of horses and they might not even have time to pursue their personal riding goals.
> 
> Of course, other people love it more than anything and nothing makes them happier than an equestrian career. But you do not want to be stuck and burned out with nothing else going for you at 30 because it's much harder to go back to university for a new degree than to get a good one in the first place. Horses will always be there, but it is a hard place to make a living. Which can seem fine when you're 25, but suddenly you're not 25 anymore and you would like to buy a house and it would be really nice to go to Berlin and you need a retirement account. Or you might want to buy a really fancy horse.
> 
> Aside from being a working student in between semesters, you can always get certified and teach or train on weekends.


Very well put!
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## Fargosgirl (Jan 12, 2012)

> Yeah I get where you're coming from for sure. I have had my eye on having something to do with psychology for a while and people have told me I should be a counselor so I'm thinking I'll study equine stuff and psychology and something I'm sure will ring in my ear or I'll find something that isn't either, who knows! I have a LOT of time to figure it out since I'm not even graduated yet so lol
> 
> I'm going to be taking a riding course very soon and I'll be taking psychology classes next year so that'll also help me I'm thinking
> 
> ...


Since you are interested in psychology, I'd suggest you pursue your goals with horses, and in the field of psychology. There is actually a big market for equine therapy. Physical therapy, counseling troubled youth, Autistic children have been known to respond really well to horses, as well as various other emotion disorders, I just read an article about horses being used to help soldiers with PTSD, just to name a few ways you could combine your interests. 

You would be working with very different class of horse, usually extremely gentle calm horses, and while there are personality issues to deal with in any job, your pay check won't depend completely on keeping temperamental clients happy with you and their horse.


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

^^ agreed!!! Look up EAGALA, PATH, and American Hippotherapy Association. They are jobs that would allow you to incorporate horses into them (well, not so much PATH).
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## tbcrazy (Sep 27, 2012)

SlideStop said:


> ^^ agreed!!! Look up EAGALA, PATH, and American Hippotherapy Association. They are jobs that would allow you to incorporate horses into them (well, not so much PATH).
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


How does PATH not incorporate horses with their jobs/training...? Just a little confused by that, since it's the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

Because you can become a psychologist, then do EAP. You can be a PT/OT/Speech therapist and do hippotherapy. There aren't any educational requirements or prerequisite to be a TR instructor. Anyone can just go out and study the guidelines and become path certified. Meanwhile EAP (at least one side of it) and hippotherapy require you to be a therapist of some sort. The whole goal is having something to fall back on. You can practice PT/OT/ST and psych in the real world. TR, no so much. Unless you go for special ed. PATH couldn't hurt though, but it doesn't require you to be a professional.
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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

I also agree with those who have said to get a degree in something non equine related. Even if you don't end up using it, it does give you a base of knowledge outside of horses which allows you to connect better with clients and be able to make intelligible small talk at events in order to attract clients and sponsors. As well it can serve as a career to get a start up fund going, while you are working on expanding your equine business. I know many coaches who have a day job to support themselves, actually most in my area are not full time riders.

Speaking from a dressage point of view - college programs for riders are not held in much esteem. What stands up if you decide to be a "horse trainer" is real world riding and competitive experience in international rings. First you must learn to ride before you can expect to teach a horse or rider. If you yourself don't know the progression of training a horse, how can you expect to relay it to a horse or rider? This costs money, takes a lot of lessons and is a big investment into your future in horses.

I am just starting out coaching and riding for money. I myself have international riding experience and have trained my own horses, with the help of coaches, and of course have my own coach to defer to if any of my students or horses run into problems. So far I have been able to work through most of the issues that I have come across in my clients' horses and riding, but I do always encourage my clients to ride with my coach in clinics, or at least audit if it is not in the budget to ride. Even with my experience and the potential client base, it would be impossible for me to sustain myself by riding horses and giving lessons while still competing myself, having a truck and trailer, taking lessons, etc.. And so I have a day job, I organize horse shows and I teach for a small amount of income.

I imagine in 20 years if I am still interested in coaching and riding, at that point I will have experience at a WEG or Olympics and can then charge more, and hopefully sustain myself on lessons and clinics. But without that experience, at $40/45 minutes, there is no way I would be able to support myself without a real job.

Even with a lot of experience and riding internationally and being very good, it is very, very tough to make ends meet as a f/t horse trainer without someone else supporting you.


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## plomme (Feb 7, 2013)

$40 for 45 minutes?! Your students are very lucky.

Oh god, dressage ... I think that if you want to make money in dressage you should not even bother with university, you should just spend 4 years figuring out how to enchant very wealthy women of a certain age with several small jacket-wearing dogs into buying you horses and sending you to shows. Regardless of incredible talent, business sense, training prowess, etc. these dog-owning ladies, who also drive very large cars, tend to be what ultimately make everything possible for the international dressage riders I know  Including my own trainers.


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

Lol yes the ladies haha. And they for the most part are the most kind generous people out there! They really do run the sport.

Yes my students are lucky, but I figure I'm learning how to teach and guinea pigging on them a little. I figure I'm about due for a rate increase though... Buy most of my students are not of the strictly dressage variety  I would however like to get a young horse going in the near future.. need to find an owner first! I found a great horse all the way across the country hahaha
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## tbcrazy (Sep 27, 2012)

SlideStop said:


> Because you can become a psychologist, then do EAP. You can be a PT/OT/Speech therapist and do hippotherapy. There aren't any educational requirements or prerequisite to be a TR instructor. Anyone can just go out and study the guidelines and become path certified. Meanwhile EAP (at least one side of it) and hippotherapy require you to be a therapist of some sort. The whole goal is having something to fall back on. You can practice PT/OT/ST and psych in the real world. TR, no so much. Unless you go for special ed. PATH couldn't hurt though, but it doesn't require you to be a professional.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Got it- thanks for clarifying. They would be much better off if they actually did have more formal requirements, in my opinion, or at least had a more regulated study course. I'm finishing my degree in elementary Ed, with an emphasis on reading instruction and special ed. Without that, I know I wouldn't be as effective as an instructor (I am certified through PATH). It bothers me that the standards aren't high enough sometimes; allows for instructors on extremely different ends of the spectrum knowledge wise. But I suppose there are positives and negatives to any organization like that.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## mangomelon (May 11, 2012)

I've wanted to be a horse trainer for as long as I can remember  My very first riding instructor made me promise her I would not repeat her mistake and spend 2 years spending money learning something she could have just learned through experience with another trainer so she could have a job that didn't make enough money. She made me promise her if I wanted to train horses that I would get a degree in something else besides horse training so that I would always have a back up and horses would always be fun instead of just a job.
So I'm going to go to school and get a degree in accounting because that's something I enjoy doing and I know it'll always be there for me if I need it. But I definitely plan on training horses! I've been working with several trainers and trying to ride any horse anyone will let me on and I've finally worked up to the point where my trainer will have me get on her lesson horses if they're misbehaving which I was super proud about 
Anyway, good luck! but definitely plan on a back up career...
~Margo


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