Average Salary to Comfortably Afford Horses?

[Foxtrot_s]

Not read the thread throughout - but sponsorship is impossible and unless you have proved yourself through and through, the big money does not come. You have to have something to offer your sponsor or all you get is another saddle pad or two, or helmet replaced, etc. Knocking on the door is not really enough. Tough but true.

[meupatdoes]

As a general budgeting tool, you are living within your means if you spend:
25% on housing
25% on expenses (car, insurance)
25% on savings
25% on fun

So if housing costs are reasonable and board and training in your desired area is 25% of your expected take home, you’ll be fine.

In San Francisco or NY though, you would have to flip every penny over three times to ride FEI on $75k a year.

[GoodTimes]

@Gwyneth

Yes, I’ve came to realize this even when I was a junior and having my parents contribute to most of my horsey costs!

However, it seems that most jobs (by searching online) rarely make more than 100k, unless you want to do some high level corporate job or something like an actuary (or a doctor, of course, but I’ve already ruled that out as a career for me).

For people who do make over 100k, what do you do? Anything in the health field?

I’m pretty close. I work in cardiac ultrasound and make 90k. I just work a regular 40hr M-F week which allows for riding in the evenings and showing on the weekends. Some places have options for overtime or on call which could easily push someone into 100k+.
For most healthcare professions in Canada you’ll find that salaries are highest in Ontario and Alberta, remote locations/provinces may pay a premium because they have a hard time recruiting staff, Quebec generally pays the lowest, the other provinces fall in between. The gap across the country is generally fairly small though.

Have you considered general ultrasound? The pay would usually fall between 70-100k depending on the province. You’d be looking at another 2-3 years of school, but would have the ability to live and work in more rural areas. Clinic hours are usually regular, hospitals may be shift work.

Cardiac perfusion is another one that pays well, but will limit you to cities. Also very competitive to get into, Michener in Ontario only accepts 10-15 people every two years.
If you’re interested in setting your own hours than physio or chiro may interest you.
Keep in mind the more you specialize the more likely it is that you’ll need to live in proximity to a city.

I encourage you to do a lot of research into the availability of jobs for PAs. I’ve worked in several clinics and hospitals and have never encountered a PA.

Saying all that SO and I have a combined income of $170k and could not realistically afford a small farm where we live. We have 4 acres (not zoned for ag) and I have my horse on outdoor board at a facility with an indoor and good trainer. I can afford to show, but am still limited. We likely could have everything you described though if we moved further north, or towards Ottawa, or to the maritimes.

[Gwyneth]

@GoodTimes

I’m pretty close. I work in cardiac ultrasound and make 90k. I just work a regular 40hr M-F week which allows for riding in the evenings and showing on the weekends. Some places have options for overtime or on call which could easily push someone into 100k+.
For most healthcare professions in Canada you’ll find that salaries are highest in Ontario and Alberta, remote locations/provinces may pay a premium because they have a hard time recruiting staff, Quebec generally pays the lowest, the other provinces fall in between. The gap across the country is generally fairly small though.

Have you considered general ultrasound? The pay would usually fall between 70-100k depending on the province. You’d be looking at another 2-3 years of school, but would have the ability to live and work in more rural areas. Clinic hours are usually regular, hospitals may be shift work.

Cardiac perfusion is another one that pays well, but will limit you to cities. Also very competitive to get into, Michener in Ontario only accepts 10-15 people every two years.
If you’re interested in setting your own hours than physio or chiro may interest you.
Keep in mind the more you specialize the more likely it is that you’ll need to live in proximity to a city.

I encourage you to do a lot of research into the availability of jobs for PAs. I’ve worked in several clinics and hospitals and have never encountered a PA.

Saying all that SO and I have a combined income of $170k and could not realistically afford a small farm where we live. We have 4 acres (not zoned for ag) and I have my horse on outdoor board at a facility with an indoor and good trainer. I can afford to show, but am still limited. We likely could have everything you described though if we moved further north, or towards Ottawa, or to the maritimes.

I haven’t looked that much into becoming a sonographer/ ultrasound tech, but I’ll do some more research into it.

The potential lack of job security/ guarantee does worry me a bit with PAs. In fact, I’m starting to gravitate toward med school now (even though I thought I already decided against it) and just choosing a specialty that has good hours, like pathology.

[HJdaydream]

Sonographer here :yes:. I love it! I take call when I want to make horse show money. Although it can be annoying, it is a really nice way to make extra money for horse stuff when I need/want it.