I am a your average young equestrian dreaming to become the next Reed Kessler and I have finally found a chance! I have just been doing 3’ on my tiny OTTB mare and i recently became good enough to ride my trainers Warmblood. He has done 5’6" and we have been doing 4’ courses easy and my trainers wants me to take him and my mare on the A circuit. My parents have enough money to pay for the shows and lessons (God Bless them) but not much to pay for the show clothes, tack, etc. I am so thankful for everything they do but all the extra things are to much. Right now I work at the barn and get $10 - $20 a week which doesn’t really cover the pricey Tailord and Pessoa items that we all want. So my question is, do you have any ideas to earn money? Like everyone else I am a whiz at leather cleaning and my dad pays me to clean his briefcase and leather seated car but that isn’t exactly a weekly thing, more like an every other month. All ideas are appreciated!
Learn to braid, clip, groom to show quality turn out. Lots of things you can do. If you have your own transportation perhaps a job outside of horses is something to look into.
Braiding, braiding, braiding. If you get fast and good enough you can do a horse or two every morning while you show, and you can probably get at least 300-400 a week that way. Two of the girls at my barn braid my tail every horse show (I braid my own mane, but I SUCK at tails!) and they charge $15 a tail, so that’s $45 right there since they just braid on the weekends. Takes them 10 minutes.
Thanks! Do you know the best website/video to learn how to braid? No one at my barn knows how.
I would invest in the lucky braids dvd, it really helped me.
[QUOTE=sassymares;8495920]
Thanks! Do you know the best website/video to learn how to braid? No one at my barn knows how.[/QUOTE]
Go to the nearest horseshow at four in the morning bearing coffee and donuts, look for a lonely light in the tents, and ask if you can hang out and watch.
[QUOTE=meupatdoes;8495930]
Go to the nearest horseshow at four in the morning bearing coffee and donuts, look for a lonely light in the tents, and ask if you can hang out and watch.[/QUOTE]
This! I learned by hanging out and watching. Now I’m more then willing to teach anyone who wants to learn while I’m braiding.
I will also suggest braiding - I made some money that way as a junior, though not as much as I imagine you could at H/J shows as I evented and it seems to be much more common at the lower levels for competitors to braid their own horses.
Think about other “unpleasant” horsey tasks that owners might not enjoy or might be too time consuming for a busy working professional. As a teenager in addition to braiding I also:
- cleaned sheaths
- pulled manes
- hand walked or hand grazed rehabbing horses or horses on limited turnout
- cleaned tack
- bathed horses before they left for shows
- exercised rehab horses (I wasn’t typically paid to ride, but owners of very naughty ponies or rehab horses w/ very specific instructions for the horse’s exercise program usually did as I was known to be reliable and follow them to the letter)
- make up bags of grain/supplements to take to shows following owner’s instructions
Of course the barn I rode at as a teen wasn’t full service (as in these “extras” weren’t a normal part of board and riders tacked, groomed own horses, did their own packing for shows, etc.) and the trainer encouraged me to make a sign and post it in the tack room with a list of my services and their price - probably because she knew I’d spend whatever I made on lessons, coaching, shows, and other horse related expenses. So it might be worth a chat with your trainer to see if there are similar chores you might be able to take on.
Breeches and tack are nothing in comparison to taking two horses on the road… Think $3-5k/week.
That said, babysitting is really good money and like braiding, it’s cash.
Thanks so much for all of this these are good ideas! How much should I price some of these things, my clients will probably be other broke teens so it needs to be cheap yet reasonable.
Breeches and tack are nothing in comparison to taking two horses on the road… Think $3-5k/week.
Oh trust me, my trainer says that if you are bringing two horses and one of them is hers you only have to pay for your horses travel fees! She is amazing and her rail fee is only $15 a day and trailering 3 and a half hours away is believe it or not $150 there and back!
[QUOTE=sassymares;8495955]
Thanks so much for all of this these are good ideas! How much should I price some of these things, my clients will probably be other broke teens so it needs to be cheap yet reasonable.[/QUOTE]
You need a different market. Frankly, I don’t think you’ll be very successful working for “other broke teens”. Practice, practice, practice and price yourself 10% below what the pro braiders and clippers in your area charge. You need to be compensated your time and expertise, which you likely won’t get from " other broke teens".
You might want to consider getting a job outside of the horse world instead or in the meantime.
Please do not take this the wrong way, I am not trying to be rude.
ETA: Apparently this post has upset the braidng mafia so…
I’m not saying you should go steal work from the “braiding mafia”. I’m talking about doing the ocational horse from your own barn to gain more experience.
Breaking into the pro braiding market is difficult, and you will need to practice a lot on your own before a pro will want to take you under their wing and put their name on your braids.
[QUOTE=sassymares;8495963]
Oh trust me, my trainer says that if you are bringing two horses and one of them is hers you only have to pay for your horses travel fees! She is amazing and her rail fee is only $15 a day and trailering 3 and a half hours away is believe it or not $150 there and back![/QUOTE]
What about your (and her) hotel? My average bill from the horse show office - no trainer costs - is about $600-700 or so for one horse showing in maybe 4-6 classes with no nominating fee. The nominating fee generally kicks in around 3’9" or so and is an extra $150-250 per week, per horse.
I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer but reality is reality. Look at some prize lists of the A shows you are thinking of going to. $250/stall is about the normal, plus maybe $100 in misc. fees (including office fee, USEF fees, any other random horse show fees and mandatory night watch), plus maybe $40-50/jumper class, plus any shavings/hay/grain/any tack room splits. I show on a budget myself and there is nothing worse than an unexpected large bill. Even if you don’t do a tack stall and bring all of your own shavings/grain/hay, which is hard to do without sending a second vehicle, it usually ends up being about $350-400/week per horse just to be at the show with NO entry fees. Do one classic and you’re adding several hundred dollars.
[QUOTE=sassymares;8495963]
Oh trust me, my trainer says that if you are bringing two horses and one of them is hers you only have to pay for your horses travel fees! She is amazing and her rail fee is only $15 a day and trailering 3 and a half hours away is believe it or not $150 there and back![/QUOTE]
What is your trainer’s name?
Other COTHers may want to know where they can learn to do the 4’ on a borrowed WB for $15/day.
Other COTHers may want to know where they can learn to do the 4’ on a borrowed WB for $15/day.
I don’t think she would enjoy having her name on here, and that is her rail fee for every person on her show team no matter what. And she has never done a fee for borrowing horses as I showed her pony for 3 years at no extra cost other than trailer, rail fee, and all the showing fees. I guess that is just her.
What about your (and her) hotel? My average bill from the horse show office - no trainer costs - is about $600-700 or so for one horse showing in maybe 4-6 classes with no nominating fee. The nominating fee generally kicks in around 3’9" or so and is an extra $150-250 per week, per horse.
I calculated from one of the prize lists of an a show in my area and the show office is around $600. My father travels for his job and has points for traveling that he saves so that we can have free hotels. As for my trainers hotel fee, we have around 7 girls going to every show so I don’t think the fee should be to bad. Also the class fee is $30 per class and it comes out around $120 per horse as expected. She hasn’t mentioned the nominating fee so I will ask her about that. She pays for hay/grain/bedding as we bring ours from home and it is included in our bored plus we have never gotten a tack stall. I am planning on braiding my own horse so that helps too.
You dont need fancy tack or clothing. You need safe, clean, and presentable. I work for an fei rider. His brother is an Olympian sponsored by Hermes. My rider rides in the brother’s not at all Hermes hand-me-down saddles, his brother’s hand-me-down helmet, and I’m fairly certain he’s now wearing one of his show jackets. But he won a grand prix last year, placed in two more, including one where he beat his brother…oh whose open front boots were on our horse at the time…we never returned them. learn to love cheap and used and borrowed, especially since all the important things you actually do need seem to be paid for.
Braid, babysit, pet sit/walk, tutor, work at a tack shop so you can get a discount, something that earns more that $10/hour. Buy used clothes on e-bay or English Tack Trader.
You dont need fancy tack or clothing. You need safe, clean, and presentable. I work for an fei rider. His brother is an Olympian sponsored by Hermes. My rider rides in the brother’s not at all Hermes hand-me-down saddles, his brother’s hand-me-down helmet, and I’m fairly certain he’s now wearing one of his show jackets. But he won a grand prix last year, placed in two more, including one where he beat his brother…oh whose open front boots were on our horse at the time…we never returned them. learn to love cheap and used and borrowed, especially since all the important things you actually do need seem to be paid for.
This is a great point. I am using my sisters helmet and I will go raid her closet! Thanks for this.
Braiding is absolutely the best way to make money, especially if your hotel costs are already covered. Once you have the inexpensive required tools, all you need is yarn and practice. The faster you can braid well, the more money you can make, as long as you can manage your time.
The Lucky Braids DVD is excellent, although I believe it only covers manes. If you can find a busy braider who has more work than s/he can handle, that’s often the best way to get work. Your braids need to measure up, though.
