Choosing a career to support my horsey dreams...

[Mukluk]

[QUOTE=clanter;8021274]
The median annual wage for air traffic controllers was $122,530 in May 2012.

The lowest 10 percent earned less than $64,930, and the top 10 percent earned more than $171,340.

There is need for about 23,000 at this time

Also retirement is mandatory at 56 years of age.[/QUOTE]

That is well and good- but you have to have the right attributes to be good at it and also enjoy it. I know that it would totally NOT be the right thing for me- as well as many others. But for those for whom it IS a good fit- that’s great.

[SuzieQNutter]

Farmer, in Australia, means ypu have the land and the horses are tax deductible as you need them to round up the cattle.

Yes I round up the cattle with a dressage horse.

[Mukluk]

[QUOTE=zaparaquah;8021409]
I dream big. So sue me. :P.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn’t go around encouraging others to sue you… It is surely a fast path to financial ruin!!!

[cnm161]

I’m an engineer who graduated and started working (almost) 4 years ago. I can easily afford a mortgage and board on 2 horses at a local-level barn, but nothing anywhere near the project you’re envisioning. That’d take some serious cashola that I don’t see in my near future.

I highly recommend mechanical engineering if you enjoy physics at all. It’s enabled me to show my horses to my heart’s content-- although I’m definitely not getting near the international scene soon. I did get to ride my first GP test as an adult amateur working full-time, though. And that felt good.

[clanter]

[QUOTE=Mukluk;8021666]
That is well and good- but you have to have the right attributes to be good at it and also enjoy it. I know that it would totally NOT be the right thing for me- as well as many others. But for those for whom it IS a good fit- that’s great.[/QUOTE]

Well I believe you have to the right attributes to be a surgeon, a doctor or a vet also.

I was a controller it wasn’t any big deal. My father-in-law was chief of staff and director of surgery for a major Dallas hospital, his job was much harder than mine

A police offer has it harder than I did as they have to make a snap decision about using deadly force, which I never had to do I just had to be able to keep everything organized.

[zaparaquah]

[QUOTE=clanter;8021702]
Well I believe you have to the right attributes to be a surgeon, a doctor or a vet also.

I was a controller it wasn’t any big deal. My father-in-law was chief of staff and director of surgery for a major Dallas hospital, his job was much harder than mine

A police offer has it harder than I did as they have to make a snap decision about using deadly force, which I never had to do I just had to be able to keep everything organized.[/QUOTE]

Every job is going to have its own challenges and require certain aptitudes. I’m sort of just looking for suggestions. Although personally, air control doesn’t seem like my cup of tea. But maybe that’s just because I have no idea what it involves.

[Mukluk]

[QUOTE=zaparaquah;8021755]
Every job is going to have its own challenges and require certain aptitudes. I’m sort of just looking for suggestions. Although personally, air control doesn’t seem like my cup of tea. But maybe that’s just because I have no idea what it involves.[/QUOTE]

I suggest that you contact your schools career center and take a career aptitude test. If your school doesn’t offer this, you may be able to find something online. By answering all the questions they determine which careers are a good fit for you. Questions include preferences about job security, working alone vs with others, being a leader vs cog in the machine, interests such as working with numbers etc etc. The first time I took one (in the 80’s) my results suggested pilot or podiatrist (because I said that I wanted to make a lot of money and have a really flexible schedule). The second time I took it, I was more pragmatic and the suggestions were teacher or psychologist. I became the later and I am pretty happy with my job and make enough to support my horse and some showing. I would greatly enjoy being a teacher and some of my work does involve some teaching. May do some teaching down the road. Also consider student loan debt- try to avoid or minimize what you borrow!!! Best of luck to you. Also do not neglect to start saving for retirement as soon as you can.

[poltroon]

Software can be a great career if you’re good at it; it can pay well and it can put you in a position for telecommuting and flexible hours. However, it’s very much a field that rewards its superstars and can be unforgiving to the merely ordinary.

One thing to really look at is where you have to live to do the work you’d want to do. For example, I studied aerospace, which I loved, but I didn’t appreciate at the time that there are only a handful of cities and companies that did what I wanted to do.

Neuroscience is a field that I would expect to serve you fairly well; if you went into academia, though, you’d need to consider where you could live that would be compatible with the horses. It’s a degree that lends itself to many other very specialized and well paying fields.

The advantage of being something like a pharmacist is that every town needs one.

[Blume_Farm]

I too would say stay away from vet school if a high income is needed. Even State schools have too high a debt ratio to income possibility. The future of vet medicine, and human medicine, for that matter is going to be vastly different.

I would recommend getting a PhD in a field that allows you to do biomedical research and work in the pharm industry. I have a friend that is a chemist and works in the biotech industry for a pharmaceutical company and does very well.

Don’t rely on your boyfriend either, as lawyer income is not what it used to be and has a fairly high unemployment rate.

After graduation from vet school a classmate and I bought a farm to do sort of exactly what you are talking about. We wanted a repro center, to do some lay-up work as we were near a track and also build a private riding facility/ breeding farm for our own horses. Sadly, after two years we ended up going our separate ways as she got married and our vision changed (and we were always tight on money which was frustrating). We had been roommates in the house and now she and her new husband wanted the house. They bought me out of my part and we went our separate ways. Remember, when you are young your lives are going to change a lot…marriage, kids, etc. so these types of partnerships can be tough. Things still worked out well for both of us, so no regrets there. Have a GOOD lawyer (not your boyfriend, want someone unbiased) to draw up contracts between you and your friends. The time to make these arrangements are when everyone is happy…because if/ when you need a “divorce” you need it to be as clean and amicable as possible.

[danceronice]

I’m kind of waiting for the day that someone posts this question and everyone (as always) pops up with incredibly hard STEM-related careers like "be a doctor, biomedical researcher, engineer’ etc and the person comes back with “That would be great if I didn’t have a C- average or worse in all my math classes.” If I’d been smart I’d have listened to my father and never even attempted to take physics or calculus (I probably could have fumbled through a computer-sciences course for the required math credit to graduate-our math department proper didn’t have courses lower than calculus.) I’d have saved a lot of time and money and had a much higher overall GPA. Some people, no matter how smart they are overall and how hard they try are never going to have any aptitude at all for STEM-based courses and careers. (And no, it’s not some ‘girls are discouraged!!!’ thing. My brother has an specialist MBA in aviation business. He took the general math he had to, but he’d have about as much chance of being an engineer instead as I would.) Likewise, I’d last about five minutes in any accounting major, either (all of which also require too much math.) Most of these threads seem to boil down to “Hope you’re a math whiz who’s in the top 10% of their class, or you’re hosed.”

[AKB]

Danceronice, I think too many young women become discouraged when they find math is difficult for them. Just because something is hard doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. My younger daughter always found math to be hard. She was tutored in math from elementary school through college. Then, something clicked. She realized that some math, like Differential Equations, was not hard for her. Physics was not hard. She is now a PhD biomedical engineer with a good job.

We all need to teach our daughters that when something like math is hard, you can still do it. If it is important to you to get it done, you can find a way to do it.

[cnm161]

[QUOTE=danceronice;8022445]
I’m kind of waiting for the day that someone posts this question and everyone (as always) pops up with incredibly hard STEM-related careers like "be a doctor, biomedical researcher, engineer’ etc and the person comes back with “That would be great if I didn’t have a C- average or worse in all my math classes.” If I’d been smart I’d have listened to my father and never even attempted to take physics or calculus (I probably could have fumbled through a computer-sciences course for the required math credit to graduate-our math department proper didn’t have courses lower than calculus.) I’d have saved a lot of time and money and had a much higher overall GPA. Some people, no matter how smart they are overall and how hard they try are never going to have any aptitude at all for STEM-based courses and careers. (And no, it’s not some ‘girls are discouraged!!!’ thing. My brother has an specialist MBA in aviation business. He took the general math he had to, but he’d have about as much chance of being an engineer instead as I would.) Likewise, I’d last about five minutes in any accounting major, either (all of which also require too much math.) Most of these threads seem to boil down to “Hope you’re a math whiz who’s in the top 10% of their class, or you’re hosed.”[/QUOTE]

It’s a function of today’s job market. Here’s one of those top-paying-undergraduate-degree lists, which is peppered with engineering/math/science:
http://www.thinkadvisor.com/2014/05/27/30-best-paying-college-majors-2014?page_all=1

That doesn’t mean that it’s all going to be a great fit for the OP (or for everyone), but given the OP’s high-$$ plans, a job with high earning potential isn’t a bad place to start.

As an aside, and very much in agreement with AKB: 17% of my graduating class were women. We started with more like 45%. Both the women and men occasionally struggled with the harder classes, but I found the women’s support systems were more likely to suggest switching majors. It’s hard for almost everyone! Good news is that the work is much easier than school was.

[xQHDQ]

I just have to laugh. I know where you’re coming from, BUT you are stressing way too much about your future. Things happen; things change; your priorities change, etc.

Enjoy where you are. Follow the career path you enjoy. If you are ambitious and work hard, no matter what the area, you will succeed. Some jobs pay more than other. In some areas of the country it’s easier to live (and have horses) than others.

Take each challenge one at a time. You’ll be fine.

[Texarkana]

Careers I wish I had more seriously pursued: engineer, pharmacist. Good money in both fields with the possibility for horse-friendly schedules.

A little-known career I was involved in that pays well to support horses: cardiac perfusion. A bachelors plus 1-2 years technical school will earn you a starting salary of $60-80K, with average salaries for experienced perfusionists being around $100K. The hours can be incredibly cushy in the right situation (in the wrong situation, they are unlivable). One downside is that it’s a small field-- you have to go where the jobs are. If you’re wanting to stay in a specific horse-friendly area near trainers and competitions, you may have a problem. Not a field for everyone, but it is a career that will allow you to support your horses.

For the return on investment, I think nursing is really a good field. High demand anywhere, a large variety of opportunities, and the education can be done in 4 years for a BSN. Plus, in most hospital settings, nurses work three 12 hour shifts a week, giving you a lot of horse time on the side. While the salaries aren’t as high as the other three careers, they can be pretty competitive, with the average experienced BSN making $60-70K.

I’ve gone down the vet school road-- personally, I think it’s a horrible choice for someone wanting the time and money for upper level competition in the future. It’s definitely a labor love. I think the MD route is only slightly better. Higher earnings potential, opportunity for a better schedule, but you still will need to devote nearly a decade of your life to costly education. And the salaries just aren’t there for PHDs! But with all that said, if you’re truly interested in any of the fields, don’t let the horses hold you back! Horses will always be there waiting, but it gets harder and harder to go back to school the older you get.

[Prime_Time_Rider]

I second pharmacy. High demand, good pay and flexible schedules.

[poltroon]

[QUOTE=danceronice;8022445]
I’m kind of waiting for the day that someone posts this question and everyone (as always) pops up with incredibly hard STEM-related careers like "be a doctor, biomedical researcher, engineer’ etc and the person comes back with “That would be great if I didn’t have a C- average or worse in all my math classes.” If I’d been smart I’d have listened to my father and never even attempted to take physics or calculus (I probably could have fumbled through a computer-sciences course for the required math credit to graduate-our math department proper didn’t have courses lower than calculus.) I’d have saved a lot of time and money and had a much higher overall GPA. Some people, no matter how smart they are overall and how hard they try are never going to have any aptitude at all for STEM-based courses and careers. (And no, it’s not some ‘girls are discouraged!!!’ thing. My brother has an specialist MBA in aviation business. He took the general math he had to, but he’d have about as much chance of being an engineer instead as I would.) Likewise, I’d last about five minutes in any accounting major, either (all of which also require too much math.) Most of these threads seem to boil down to “Hope you’re a math whiz who’s in the top 10% of their class, or you’re hosed.”[/QUOTE]

OP talked STEM, plus I’m a STEM person, so of course it is natural for me to do so.

This is currently a winner-take-all economy that really values superstars. If you are a superstar at what you do, you can make a lot of money while leaving people who are just a bit less lucky or a bit less talented than you barely scraping by.

STEM type degrees do tend to hedge one’s bets for high demand skills, but even in STEM the picture is not entirely rosy. Many people leave their field and it can be brutal about overtraining people for jobs that don’t actually exist. Coding jobs are often outsourced to India. I mentioned before that highly specialized people often have only a few choices for workplaces, which can work against you if you want to have a farm.

Being well rounded and flexible is a good way to go. What talents do you have that you can leverage? You can make yourself quite a bit more valuable by being fluent in multiple languages. Great writing and communication skills are important. Network, network, network, because many of the best jobs aren’t advertised anywhere, or even if they are, are hired via inside tips. Learn to make friends, learn to remember what they do, stay connected.

OP is headed down an academic STEM track, but other jobs that I would suggest include nursing, electrician, plumber, firefighter - these are jobs that can be done by lots of people in lots of places, can have very flexible hours, and pay well. People will always need them.

[Faye]

Pharmacy-
No, you don’t have to count pills at walgreen or work in the basement of a hospital. I work for a biotech company on their medical team, and I get to work from home, have very flexible schedule. Salary is decent, maybe slightly better than working retail, starting 120k ish and goes up to 200+ with experience!

Good luck!

[GucciJumper]

IMO do something you love. Being miserable at work is not good for you and money isn’t everything. My law enforcement job does not pay well at all for the work we do. I honestly wouldn’t trade it for anything. I work full time 3-4 days a week and my night shifts allow me to ride every day year round. If I want to take lessons or go to a show I squeeze in a night of overtime.

And for whoever suggested engineer, I wouldn’t recommend it. My friend entered the field about two years ago and does make more than my husband and I combined, but she is lucky to even get out to the barn 2 times a week. She has to travel all the time. She does like her job but it doesn’t give her time to really ride. It’s a job to do because you like it, not just for the money.

IMO you really don’t know what you want. You have several goals that don’t match up. Follow a career path that you love while you decide what you want to do.

I don’t make a ton of money but I’m happy at my job and it gives me time to ride every day. I budget my money carefully so I can afford my horse. No I don’t board at a fancy barn and I don’t have an expensive fancy horse, but I’m happy almost all the time and in my opinion that’s all that matters. You shouldn’t be miserable just to pay for a horse, so you can be happy for only a couple hours of the day when you ride.

[showhorsegallery]

[QUOTE=Frosty M;8021427]
I love the fact that you dare to dream and dream big. Go for it. But be careful about choosing a career just because it’s lucrative. My DH and I taught our sons that school exists to teach you what you need to know in order to do what you LOVE to do well enough someone will pay you to do it. That way you love your work and you have a happy life. Hopefully, you’ll be happy in your work life and your horse life. If I were you, that would be my goal.[/QUOTE]

I disagree, I can put up with a whole lot of not happy at work for $150,000+ in annual salary. I’m not there yet but I think I could be by the end of the year.

The thing about doing what you love for someone else is that it can quickly become something you used to love.

Being your own boss + doing something you love + making good money is a recipe for happiness but the ingredients are not easy to find.

I personally decided to do something tangentially related to something I like that pays well to support the hobby I love that is so damn expensive.

So far things are playing out the way I envisioned if you focus on the results. I’m also a crazy planner. You can’t plan life to the letter, but having a plan is a helpful guide. I may not be exactly where I wanted exactly how I wanted to get there, but having the plan got me a hell of a lot closer than I would have been without it.

I also considered Vet school when I was in high school, but I decided they didn’t make enough.

If I get bored with what I’m doing now, I may go back to school to do pharmacy.

[amt813]

I can appreciate dreaming big and all but to finance an international riding career you are going to have to make way more than some of the suggested career paths mentioned on this thread - sorry to be a realist, but $100,000 a year isn’t going to finance international competition.

I am a lawyer, my husband is a doctor, we both make six figure incomes and I have to seriously save and plan to attend a few big “A” shows a year. Additionally, while I work in house and have much better hours than many attorneys who work for the large firms (and a lesser salary to go with it) I am still lucky to be able to ride four days a week.

While I am sure there are the exceptions, most of the time “big salaries” and “reasonable hours” are not used in the same sentence. Usually you have to give up one for the other. I find that “most” of the very successful amateurs either have a lot of family money or are married to professionals.

If you have the aspiration and talent to compete at an international level I would suggest pursuing riding full time. I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but I think that in order to compete at the level that you described in your original post you will need to devote several hours everyday to training and need substantial amounts of time to travel and compete. To realistically obtain this goal its my opinion that you need to devote everything to riding.

Best of luck!