I’ve been glued to the coverage of Rio these last few days (thanks NBC!). One of the things that struck me was how many riders out there have another non-horsey job. I guess I just always assumed campaigning a 4* horse was a fulltime gig. Is this fairly common on the other side of the pond? I can’t think of anyone over here (at least not who would have a chance of a team spot). Perhaps I’m just woefully ignorant?
Amy Tryon was a full time firefighter. She was on the US team in 2004 & 2008. In 1996, Kerry Millikin was on the team & I believe she was working full time as a nurse at the time.
[QUOTE=vagabondrider;8787058]
Amy Tryon was a full time firefighter. She was on the US team in 2004 & 2008. In 1996, Kerry Millikin was on the team & I believe she was working full time as a nurse at the time.[/QUOTE]
Amy wasn’t a full time firefighter in her heyday. I have read that she definitely was while working her way up.
In 2008, the individual gold medal winner was a dentist.
I think once you make the team, you don’t really need to do anything else to support your riding. Clinics come with ease and people are paying big bucks for those clinics, riders travel from all over the world to train with you, and you can charge out the a$$ for it. Horses and owners come out of the woodwork. I wouldn’t say life becomes easier and less money focused, but you can kind of take a breather.
There are MANY 3* riders that have normal jobs to support their riding, though. I feel 3* and 4* are on the same playing field in regards as the time it takes to campaign them
[QUOTE=Ready To Riot;8787127]
I think once you make the team, you don’t really need to do anything else to support your riding. Clinics come with ease and people are paying big bucks for those clinics, riders travel from all over the world to train with you, and you can charge out the a$$ for it. Horses and owners come out of the woodwork. I wouldn’t say life becomes easier and less money focused, but you can kind of take a breather.
There are MANY 3* riders that have normal jobs to support their riding, though. I feel 3* and 4* are on the same playing field in regards as the time it takes to campaign them[/QUOTE]
nope. I can think of MANY where that is very untrue. Making a team rarely helps a professional riding career in a significant manner. There are other factors far more important…and the hard work and scrambling never ends.
Also…take with a BIG grain of salt those with “other” jobs. Most have significant family money. And are not working the 60+ hours a week of most in their other profession. They are working but often have the flexibility to devote a significant amount of time to riding. But also often have a big support system helping keep them and their horses at that level.
Ready to Riot, can you please direct all Canadian team riders to the utopia you have described? I’m sure they’d all LOVE to have what you just described!
You don’t really need to do anything else except ride and teach and try to sell horses 18 hours a day, is what she meant, I’m sure. It’s total gravy.
One of the Brazilians (?) was said to be an anesthesiologist anddddd the owner of a rubber plantation. Both of which seem like brilliant ways to finance an upper level career.
Kevin Keane is an equine vet who’s ridden at Rolex.
Penny Rowland also a vet that has ridden at the Upper Levels.
[QUOTE=Highflyer;8787932]
You don’t really need to do anything else except ride and teach and try to sell horses 18 hours a day, is what she meant, I’m sure. It’s total gravy.[/QUOTE]
Lol basically. While I’m not taking away that they work hard in the horse industry, I’m saying they only need to work in the horse industry. They don’t need that supplemental income to be able to continue to campaign.
Also, I’d be much more excited about clinicing with or walking courses with someone from the team opposed to someone who hasn’t made the team.
Example: I paid $60 to ride with a well known 3* rider (who actually produced an Olympic mount and sold to said Olympian after she had qualified to run Rolex and make her 4* debut) in my area. She was great. But if I had to pick her over Michael Jung (and money didn’t affect the choice), I’m going to go ride with him despite the fact that I could get so many more lessons in with the 3* rider for the price.
At Millbrook last weekend there were only two amateurs in the Advanced: Sean McIntosh and Kevin Keene.
We sponsor an award for the top adult amateur at Bromont and when we were designing it we decided to award it to the CCI1* as there are typically very few if any true amateurs at the 2* and 3* level on any given year.
I’m not sure whether the apparently large proportion of adult ammies at the Olympics is due to the presence of competitors from so many nations including some where it is not possible to earn a living as an equestrian professional? Or perhaps the adult ammies who do make it to the 4* level are just super hardcore and amazing!
[QUOTE=clivers;8788737]
the apparently large proportion of adult ammies at the Olympics [/QUOTE]
I didn’t get that impression at all - but am interested in hearing if that is the case. I don’t really count someone like the Chilean rider as an ammy, since his employer owns his horse.
[QUOTE=Blugal;8788756]
I didn’t get that impression at all - but am interested in hearing if that is the case. I don’t really count someone like the Chilean rider as an ammy, since his employer owns his horse.[/QUOTE]
I didn’t really have that impression either but have not looked into it much. I probably should have written “if there is in fact a larger than expected…”
[QUOTE=Ready To Riot;8787127]
I think once you make the team, you don’t really need to do anything else to support your riding. Clinics come with ease and people are paying big bucks for those clinics, riders travel from all over the world to train with you, and you can charge out the a$$ for it. Horses and owners come out of the woodwork. I wouldn’t say life becomes easier and less money focused, but you can kind of take a breather.
There are MANY 3* riders that have normal jobs to support their riding, though. I feel 3* and 4* are on the same playing field in regards as the time it takes to campaign them[/QUOTE]
I would say, if doing a nine to five professional job is too time-consuming to combine with a horse show career, then travelling around doing clinics is going to be just as time consuming. Indeed, so would training other people’s horses and teaching riding. All of that is taking time away from riding and training your own horses, and going off to shows. I would say it is more likely that someone would cash in on their name after they have peaked as a competitor.
Also, worldwide, I doubt that many Olympic riders make it to the touring high-end clinic level. Maybe the Americans do, because the American riders tend to do well in the jumping and eventing. And they have a big home market. But that leaves about 40 other countries that never medal in the Olympics, and have smaller or less wealthier home markets. Their riders are never on tour with big clinics.
In many ways, having an established career as a professional, and being at a point where you could take a season off to compete, might be easier than travelling everywhere to do clinics. Well, having family money or wealthy sponsors would of course be the best bet!
Most of the estimates I’ve seen for campaigning a 4* horse in the US are in the $30-50k/ year range-- it’s very hard to both work enough hours at the kind of job that pays well enough to do that and actually have the time to ride and keep a horse or two fit and travel to compete for 5-7 days at a stretch. So then you need an owner or sponsor to pay some of the bills. And then you aren’t an amateur.
[QUOTE=Blugal;8787090]
Amy wasn’t a full time firefighter in her heyday. I have read that she definitely was while working her way up.
In 2008, the individual gold medal winner was a dentist.[/QUOTE]
I’m pretty sure she was still a fire fighter full time at least when she went to the Olympics the first time, if not the second. I recall that she traded shifts with coworkers to get the block of time off needed to go so worked back-to-back shifts before and after. She also taught lessons and clinics and had some sponsorship in addition to the fire fighting income.
[QUOTE=Ready To Riot;8788658]
Lol basically. While I’m not taking away that they work hard in the horse industry, I’m saying they only need to work in the horse industry. They don’t need that supplemental income to be able to continue to campaign.
Also, I’d be much more excited about clinicing with or walking courses with someone from the team opposed to someone who hasn’t made the team.
Example: I paid $60 to ride with a well known 3* rider (who actually produced an Olympic mount and sold to said Olympian after she had qualified to run Rolex and make her 4* debut) in my area. She was great. But if I had to pick her over Michael Jung (and money didn’t affect the choice), I’m going to go ride with him despite the fact that I could get so many more lessons in with the 3* rider for the price.[/QUOTE]
I have no information about how good a clinician Jung might be. I suspect that he may not be as he does not teach often and I would likely find the language barrier frustrating.
I am not more excited to clinic with someone who has made the team vs not. That is irrelevant to me.
What is relevant is that person’s skills in providing good instruction, and their understanding of the present day requirements for effective riding in our discipline. Period.
[QUOTE=Ready To Riot;8788658]
Lol basically. While I’m not taking away that they work hard in the horse industry, I’m saying they only need to work in the horse industry. They don’t need that supplemental income to be able to continue to campaign.
Also, I’d be much more excited about clinicing with or walking courses with someone from the team opposed to someone who hasn’t made the team.
Example: I paid $60 to ride with a well known 3* rider (who actually produced an Olympic mount and sold to said Olympian after she had qualified to run Rolex and make her 4* debut) in my area. She was great. But if I had to pick her over Michael Jung (and money didn’t affect the choice), I’m going to go ride with him despite the fact that I could get so many more lessons in with the 3* rider for the price.[/QUOTE]
Just because they can ride well does not mean they can teach well.
Many people that are a natural at a sport have a tough time teaching those of us that are not natural athletes.
They can’t always articulate well.
[QUOTE=Highflyer;8789078]
Most of the estimates I’ve seen for campaigning a 4* horse in the US are in the $30-50k/ year range-- it’s very hard to both work enough hours at the kind of job that pays well enough to do that and actually have the time to ride and keep a horse or two fit and travel to compete for 5-7 days at a stretch. So then you need an owner or sponsor to pay some of the bills. And then you aren’t an amateur.[/QUOTE]
thats a too low estimate. And would not include international travel.
Trust me. I’ve looked at the issue up close and personal. Even spoke with Kevin about how he did it. In his case, clients are at shows with him and he has a flexible schedule and help with conditioning work. I’ve spoken to others as well. Most have atypical circumstances. And a lot of “professional” riders are actually partially funded by their family. Not all of course…but a majority. My point…don’t believe everything you read. There is often a lot more to the story then being disclosed.
You guys are latching on to Amy for example. I remember her saying it worked for her as a firefighter because of the shift work and working out (to keep herself fit) was part of the job. So even when she was working, she was doing things that helped her riding. She also had a great support system at home. She was a tough lady and worked hard and eventually did just do horses full time. but that job was not one that could support horses so she did teach etc. So not sure she was an ammy at that time. Plus…most do not have the drive she must have had.
Also we are looking at this with a lean towards the USA based view. We are one of the most challenging places to be focusing on how to do this because I have heard it bemoaned many times that unlike 4* riders in other parts of the world, our 4* riders ‘have’ to teach all day and clinic and not focus on their own riding to stay alive. Abroad is by all accounts a different situation. One that we are not attuned to as we read about it in our cubicles.
From a friend who moved to Australia (Christian Trainor) I learned that the life there was not one where people were accustomed to ‘training’ with a professional trainer and going to compete at shows with them present. It was very much a do it yourself situation and compete at will. She has successfully built herself a solid business now, but it took the years in between and people who were willing to try the “American” way.
I do not propose to know how they do it in every country but I do know that England, Ireland, Germany, France are far more supportive countries to an equine lifestyle and occupation than say the US. The first and most obvious example is the crowd participation in their competitions. (either in attendance or with tv viewership) Also the base of finances and structures of cost expenses in those parts of the world are very different. I could easily see having a small yard with a few horses, married professional couple and 2 full time jobs. Remember that the work days are comparable or shorter and the vacation times are more generous.
I believe, and could well be wrong, but that over there it’s just not as big of a ‘thing’ to be a 4* rider. It’s not the stacked pedestal that we have it being here. Don’t believe me watch any of the Badminton or Burghley videos from the 80’s or 90’s. LOTS of first timers every year. Lots with solid hunting backgrounds and local horse trials. But again, hunting is over very large fences and they just aren’t “American” in their view of how difficult things are.
~Emily
