[QUOTE=bornfreenowexpensive;8869295]
As a lawyer now partner I can chime in here. I managed to ride and compete all along but in the first few years I sold my UL horse. [/QUOTE]
Thanks for chiming in. It’s nice to see so many other lawyers on here to know that it can be done. 
I did the lawyer route too and kept my horse but stopped showing when I started working at a big firm. I worked my tail off, then had kids and moved to Indiana and went in-house as a General Counsel for a former client. This is a great middle solution, I think, except it is much less lucrative than my old job. Worth it on the time part – but I couldn’t have even been in a position to get this kind of job without putting in the time at the firm.
I work “part time” technically (though in law that pretty much means like a normal job), keep my horses at home, work from home 90% of the time (travel the rest). This morning I got up early, was reviewing documents at 5:30, got kids off to school and held horses for the farrier, longed one while my old reliable guy was in the crossties, and was ready to get on by the time I wrote the farrier’s check.
Then I rode in the 60 degree rain. I guess the downside is that I don’t have enough funds to be able to do whatever I want, so I don’t have an indoor. Now back for a few calls then I will go get my kids at school. When they are home I’ll clean the house and cook dinner. At least once a week I clean tack while they watch a movie. :lol: There is always something that needs to be done.
But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. And I am going to a show for the first time forever in a couple weeks! wish me luck because I need it, the cold weather got to my horse yesterday and he was spastic. If he does that at the show it will be an…adventure. Hence why “longeing” got added to the schedule today…horses!
[QUOTE=Imoen;8869657]
Thanks for chiming in. It’s nice to see so many other lawyers on here to know that it can be done. [/QUOTE]
There are a ton of us around…and all have done it a bit differently.
I went for the big bucks…but it comes at a cost. I’m eating lunch at my desk while I type this waiting for a document to print. Have fielded several texts from my vet and main BM…been working on my email and reviewing documents since 5:30am…had 2 conference call…one while I drove into the office. Will probably ride just my one horse tonight…if I’m getting on before 7:30pm I will consider it early. But since it is Friday…I might not work more when I get home after 9pm. And I need to try and figure out how to fit in bit of a workout for myself…
You DO have to like what you do…otherwise you will not be successful. But anything is possible if you really put the work into it.
I am a full-time fundraiser (read, nonprofit=lower salary but high reward) with a set schedule and limited travel. I have recently started paid blogging and writing in the horse industry and am building my freelance business. I do not have kids, and still find it hard to balance riding time with owning a house and having a significant other. I ride as a professional but essentially have the schedule of an amateur, which makes it complicated, plus my commute can be 45-1 hour in the AMs.
I’ll echo what someone said about liking what you do vs. higher salary. I used to live in a high pay, low quality of life area. I am so so glad I moved. I will take the pay cut all day long over how miserable I was. Plus, you can kind of afford to keep horses here!
I would say at least 80% of amateurs balance full time job, families, and riding, so you’re definitely not in a unique position. But commonality doesn’t make it easy!
I think it comes down to:
You may prefer to make the $$$, which usually requires putting in a ton of hours, which means your horse will need to be in formal training with a good trainer since you likely won’t be able to ride every day. There’s nothing wrong with that at all, you just need to think through what’s important to you because you realistically can’t have it all. I did a stint as a pro for about 5 years post college, so for me, I can’t stomach the idea of not bringing along my own horse and riding every day.
You may prefer to make the money and decide to quit riding for 5 years while you make tons in your job and then be able to scale back work and ride the way you want to. Or whatever.
Working Hard. You’re going to work your ass off. Before I had my horses at home and worked mainly from home, I would work an 8 hour day, go to the barn and ride, get home and eat dinner, and then work until midnight finishing whatever needed to be done. And I’d do that every day. I was (and still am!) behind in some way all the time, whether that’s with work, housework, spending time with people, or riding. Balancing work (even if it’s not a 70 hour a week job), riding, a social life, and family is really hard, and you will put in serious hours fitting everything in.
Compromise and Flexibility. If you’ve read my first two suggestions, this one is a natural realization. You will HAVE to compromise, or you will go crazy. There will be a day you just can’t ride because work has completely emptied you. There’ll be a day you can’t ride because spending time with your SO is more important. There’ll be a family function you miss because there’s a horse show. You cannot have it all (or if you figure out how to, you better post back and clue us all in!). You have to be willing to change your plan half way through the day when you realize your evening plan isn’t going to happen. You have to compromise how many horse shows you want to do with what’s realistic; likewise, you have to be realistic about your riding goals with the realities of your life. Chasing something that’s impossible to attain due to circumstances is a recipe for disaster.
This may not be what you want to hear, but I wish I’d heard it sooner. Most people aren’t good enough to be Grand Prix riders riding a few times a week. And most people can’t afford to be Grand Prix riders without substantial financial resources. You need to make sure your goals are realistic or you’ll be perpetually disappointed and unhappy. And as hard as it was, the second I let my own Grand Prix dreams go, I instantly began enjoying life more. It doesn’t really matter what could be, it matters what is.
And most of all, you need to accept the realities of compromise and flexibility. You need to be able to say “I can’t ride tonight because work just blew up in my face” or “realistically, that riding goal is out of range for me” and instead of being pissed about it all day, accept that it’s part of balancing everything.
And when you feel that way, remind yourself that this is a choice, and reality is reality. You’ve chosen this insane lifestyle because you want to ride, and life isn’t fair. And at any time, you have the power to change things to make yourself happier.
There’s always someone who has it easier than you, but blaming them or being jealous doesn’t do anything but make yourself miserable. Remember you’ve chosen this path, and it comes with advantages and costs - and that at any point, you can change things.
Good luck - it’s hard work, but it’s SO worth it!
[QUOTE=Imoen;8867860]
This is the eternal struggle. Using law as an example, young attorneys coming out of a good law school usually have to choose between “Big Law” firms (starting salary of 180k/year + bonus, with 70 hour work weeks) or gov’t/non-profit jobs (starting salary of ~50k/year with a 40 hour work week).
With the former you have the budget to ride, but not the time. With the latter, you have the opposite problem. :sadsmile:[/QUOTE]
I went the more money/less time route. It took 5 years after college before I could reliably get to one lesson a week. I don’t predict being able to ride enough to be competitive on the level I want to be for another 15 years or so, but am considering buying a nice horse for a pro to show in the meantime as a way to stay involved in the levels of the sport that I don’t have time to actually ride in. I’m enjoying my lessons and little local shows, but that’s all I have the time for probably until I own my own business.
PS, I’m happy that I went this route. Horses used to be my whole life, and the time away and fulfilling career allow me to enjoy them more now that they aren’t my whole life. It was hard to imagine before, but having a nice home and fulfilling relationship and social life… Those are all things I wouldn’t give up to dive back into horses full time.
Location is a big issue. Take a job in the middle of horsey-nowhere-land and life gets harder.
In central NJ we have 2 big cities under 60 minutes away and more horse stuff going on than you can possibly believe. This means LOTS of training, boarding, and showing options. You can keep horses at a cheaper little facility, and still be very close to a six figure job, multiple surgical vet clinics, farriers, tack stores, bucket loads of competitions, and more FE-Idiots (and aspirants) than you can hit while spitting.
I work-full time, and take a lesson/ride about every week (right now it is every other week due to finances and coming back from surgery). I showed on a local circuit in high school, but right now I am riding purely for the joy of it and as a stress-reliever. About 2 years ago I did a local dressage show and had a blast, as I had never shown dressage before.
As I am older now, and finances are tight (I am working to get out of debt), I have had to realize that right now this is my riding situation. So I make the most of every minute and thoroughly enjoy my time in the saddle and at the barn. I also volunteer locally with my 4h horse project, so that gets me some more contact with horse-lovers in the area. So I am still involved with the equine community, just in a different way.
I think you have to ask yourself, are you riding with the goal of showing in mind, or riding purely for enjoyment and exercise? I found I fall into the latter, and that fits my life right now.
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