Apprenticeships, how to?

[dogsbody1]

@dmveventer

Honestly it doesn’t sound like you were involved long enough to find out, and may not have come across as that willing to learn considering how many things you considered them to be doing wrong right away. It’s not something that happens in the first few weeks or even months of working there, and if you go in just hoping to get something out of it for yourself you’re going to be disappointed, but you’d be surprised how much they’ll bring you in on once you prove you’re a team player.

Well, I do plan to keep volunteering. I hope I didn’t come across as unwilling or not a team player. They did seem disorganized to me (as compared to your run-of-the-mill kids’ lesson program), and there wasn’t an instructor the way you’re describing. The lesson was run by an OT who was not horse experienced and was relying on the volunteer to do all the horse handling. It was a quiet afternoon at the barn, and while I’m sure there were other people on the premises, it didn’t feel like it. It felt like it was just us, which I think was more unnerving than if I had the feeling someone more knowledgeable was waiting in the wings.

Still, at the end of the day, like you said about the saddle, it doesn’t take a seasoned horse professional or a perfect tack fit to lead a chill horse at the walk for a few laps in each direction. It’s also completely possible I caught them on a bad day. They’re a newer program with only a few horses. My initial takeaway was that volunteers and horses don’t mix — there is too much flakiness, a program needs real staff. But maybe this program does have more involved staff, and I just managed to miss them.

I did kind of rush to judgment (your post is making me realize that), but I also think it was a strange scenario and maybe outside the norm for therapeutic riding programs. I will also say it was my second time trying to schedule an orientation; the first time, I showed up and there was literally not a soul at the barn. So I’ll admit even going into it, I had a little trepidation around their organization. Still, I thought the horse was a gem and I love working with kids, so I’ve signed up for more sessions. Could be a good opportunity to make an impact at a place that’s just getting started!

[BeeHoney]

There are a lot of options–barn work jobs with the opportunity to ride/do lessons and working student positions would probably be the most common scenarios. I don’t know of too many apprenticeships. The MFHA does offer a professional development program, but that is geared towards training hunt staff.

I do think that you are at a disadvantage–there are a lot of young people out there with more current riding experience than you and that are still being supported by parents and so are able to accept very low pay (still on parents’ health insurance, personal vehicle provided by parents, etc). Your perception as a teenager that you need to be wealthy to pursue riding as a career is in many cases close to the mark.

I don’t think your idea of making and selling horses is a bad one, but it is VERY hard to make and sell enough horses in any discipline to make a living out of it. The economics are complex–do you already own a farm or would you have to pay board? If you have experience and a lot of confidence bringing young horses along, and you already own your own facility/truck/trailer you could work as a working student at a barn to get your foot in the door and make some contacts and then perhaps start working on some projects of your own. But it’s risky–salesmanship is a special skill of it’s own, horses can go lame, vet bills can snowball, and horses can be quirky animals that don’t always turn out to be easily sold.

My best advice to you would be to keep on with the lessons, look for barn work that might include extra riding opportunities, and try to get your foot in the door to a possible working student position or even part-time working student position.

[xeroxchick]

There is a type of job where you work for someone who hunts, keep the barn, excersize the hunters and take the owners to the hunt. If you can find one, it usually includes a place to live. It can be a pretty good gig, but not something where you would have any money. You have to be able to pick out nice horses, keep them rideable and safe, and know how to trailer, etc.