@2bayboys: very good advice. Very clear. Thanks for sharing the choices you made, career and otherwise, and how it turned out for you.
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Can I ask, what would “making it” look like to you? Are you hoping to train and compete at a high level, or are you picturing being a successful trainer with a barn full of students?
If you want to train and compete at a high level, the best route to doing that is to develop a financially rewarding career that will fund your training and competing. Or alternatively, have a source of family money that will fund you. If you look at top level riders, many are funded (sometimes very quietly) by family money.
Most trainers who have a successful business model need to prioritize the show ring success of their own clients over their own showing and success. Being a successful trainer means that good horses typically need to be sold, not kept. Trainer income (even for very successful trainers) does not typically come out to enough to support owning and showing top horses. Some trainers are very lucky to find owners who enjoy owning top horses and having them competed, but getting to the point where you are positioned for that requires a lot of money–because you need a lot of show experience and a winning reputation to be considered for that.
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Someone up thread mentioned taking a gap year. While that may not be feasible (I’m guessing your parents are still very involved in your life choices), I’d also highly recommend that. I took a gap 7 years 
and don’t regret it at all. I went straight to training of of HS, then groomed for a few years at some big barns including at WEF. I realized I wanted to make money outside of horses so I didn’t have to work Tues-Sun 7-6 every week. I went to college, worked a bunch of “normal” jobs, made the money, and circled back to training at 35. However, now I’m not paycheck to paycheck and it’s allowed me to train the way I want, and not “sell my soul” as someone else mentioned up thread. I still work absolutely crazy hours but I have a cushion and it makes it less scary/actually doable.
For me, I needed to experience both working in the industry and working outside of it and living the amateur life in order to decide what I wanted. It took me almost 20 years to figure it out, but I learned a ton along the way (including a LOT of things from corporate jobs that are helping me as a trainer) and I am happy with the path I’ve taken.
Owning a boarding barn is feasible if you run it properly and actually charge what allows you to bring in a profit, not just charge the same as everyone else. Have a solid business plan, figure out how much capital you’ll need to get started, and set out to work in whatever field you enjoy that allows you to make that capital. When you have the barn and it’s full of people you enjoy as clients, then you can decide if you want to stay in your office job or not.
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Marry money.
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Just to add a bit of an observation, which I don’t know that everyone will agree with… I think that the “horse business” that has been around for the last 80 or so years is dying. “Regular people” can’t afford to “play” any more. The shows, the expenses of buying, keeping, and competing a horse at the higher levels have simply eliminated practically everyone other than the super wealthy. Do you really want to hang out and “serve” the super wealthy??? In order to chase your “dream”? Because not a lot of those folks are very NICE people, it seems to me.
Look after yourself, and your own interests. Have fun. Learn about horses, and participate as you can. Become a good rider, good trainer, become a “horseman”, have horses in your life. But truly “making it” in the equine industry these days requires a different amount of funds that it used to… I think.
The times, they are a-changing.
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I think this is quite unfair.
I’ve worked for the super wealthy, and have had a few clients that can be considered super wealthy, as well as clients that are more middle class (at least considered middle class in my HCOL area).
Wealth has no bearing on how nice someone is. The wealthiest person I’ve worked for (owned a barn in Grand Prix Village in Wellington, brought down a semi of horses and a semi of cars each season) was the kindest and most generous person I’ve ever worked for. My wealthy clients are as thoughtful, caring, and as invested in horse welfare as my middle class clients.
Pick and choose who you work for and with - there are caring people on every part of the income spectrum.
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This exactly echoes my own experience. I sent a bunch of people I wanted to work for my resume, got a working student position for a BNT after college, worked as a barn manager for a GP rider, and then went to law school.
There were about 5 years where I barely rode, between law school and starting my career. Now, I’ve brought along a lovely young baby horse to the 1.20m level as a DIY ammy. I’ve never ridden better than I am riding right now either. Teenage me would absolutely feel like I’ve made it, but you have to define what that means for you.
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out of curiosity, what does your situation look like? Are you at a full care barn (I assume so, since you’re a lawyer lol)? Does your horse get training rides? Do you show, and how often?
TL/DR: Think hard about what “making it” means to you AND what comfortable/secure life looks like for you. Remember that a job is something you have to do whether you want to or not while a hobby doesn’t mind if it’s not done full-time… and priorities or the vision of “making it” can change over time.
When I was looking at college ideas and option, I was also thinking about how could I “make it” in the horse world. To me, that meant riding, training, showing… being a professional horsewoman. My dad recognized my talent with equestrian pursuits but gently guided me towards pursing an education that would allow me to support an equestrian hobby (or decide to jump in as a pro). I graduated college and “making it” still looked like riding, training, showing, and teaching preferably at an upper level… but I had a job and health insurance keeping my head above water. Fast forward 10 years and “making it” looked like enjoying owning the heart horse I never thought I could afford, exploring new places with him and new horse friends, and some occasional lessons or a local horse show all while digging into a career that I’d grown to genuinely enjoy and at which is was talented and well-respected. Fast forward another 10 years and said heart horse is still with me, survived founder, and is happily showing in the local Adult Hunter Pleasure division… young horse is very intelligent AND athletic and I am fortunate to have the riding/training background to handle it… I can afford to lesson with both hunter and dressage trainers… I am still very secure in my career, married to a wonderful man who is also financially stable, and we are building a farm. In this stage of my life, this is how I see “making it” and I am very happy with how my life has developed. Are there days that I’d rather not go to work and do my job, absolutely, but I go anyway because it pays the bills. Are there days when I don’t feel up to riding my horse(s), absolutely, and (at least when boarded) on those days, I either don’t go or just go feed some treats and pat them on the nose.
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I’m at a full care (but not full service) boarding barn. Meaning, they turn in/turn out, do stalls, and feed/water. I do my own blanketing (but could pay the barn to do it), attend all vet appts, but pay someone to hold for the farrier.
I do a once a week lesson with my trainer. My horse does not get any training rides (never has). I do jump school him myself outside of lessons if I feel he needs it, and take dressage lessons where possible. I am aiming to show about once a month for the summer this year (just did a week of Saratoga in May, another in June, and am hoping to head to Vermont and Saugerties in July and August with something else in the fall). I don’t show in the winter, but would like to in the future (for my location and what I compete in, that would mean a longer trip to WEC Ohio or Florida). I do all my own care at shows to keep costs down as well.
This works well for me, but would be less doable if I had multiple horses or a more difficult horse.
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Thank you!! This sounds like an ideal situation for me lol :))
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One of the things to remember about being a professional horseman as your main source of income is… your ability to pay the bills depends on horses doing exactly what you hope at the right time.
A horse that goes lame, loses confidence, has a stop, is frisky with a prospective buyer, at the wrong time, can be the difference between you paying your rent and your employees and the like and not having money to do those things. It is very hard to maintain your love for horses and your ethics in that situation if you don’t have a large bank account to tide you over through a run of bad luck. Securing that financial support is not always easy but it most typically involves people skills and/or some business acumen if you weren’t born with it.
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I debated this myself at your age. I was showing the 3’6 small junior hunters and then 1 year of the AO’s when I aged out since parents were willing to continue paying horse bills for 1 more year.
When I spoke to all of the successful people around me, both horse people and business people, the consensus was to go to school and focus on a high paying career that would pay for horses. It’s incredibly rare to “make it” in horses and it can all come crashing down at any minute. As a rider, one bad injury doesn’t just mean you lose months of work, you can also lose your rides long term as clients flock elsewhere and then you have to start all over again. If you want to enjoy showing and riding, finding a way to fund that outside of horses is key.
I went the non-horsey career route. For me that meant horses continued in college through my school’s IHSA team and then they stopped for a good while. My early to mid 20s were 100% career-focused. The goal was to move up as quickly as possible, earn as much as possible and save as much as possible. Other than buying a house, there were no major purchases and no crazy vacations. In my late 20s I found a volunteer job riding rescue horses that got me back into the barn on the weekends. It wasn’t until my 30s that I was in a position to go back to horses in a big way. Though I went to dressage instead of hunters as a way to stave off wanting to compete right away. Ultimately I stayed after realizing I enjoy the challenge and also that it’s WAY less expensive to compete at the big dressage shows than in the hunters. (Just came back from Saugerties a couple weeks ago and all in I spent ~$1600.)
I bought my own horse in 2021 after half leasing for a year and have done full board ever since. I started with 1 lesson a week and now am paying for a partial training program (1 training ride and 2 lessons per week). I’m now 35 and have been back competing for 3 years. Year 1 was just a couple local shows, Year 2 was a couple local shows and 1 weekend at the dressage equivalent of an A show and now in Year 3 I’ve sold the lower level horse, imported something fancy with upper level potential and have already been out 2 weekends at HITS with 4 more big show weekends planned this year. I feel like this is the year I “made it”. I’m having an absolute blast with my horse and barn friends, but also have a very stable life with a decent house, well-funded retirement account and a fiance I love. While I’d love to add winters in Florida one day, we’re probably about a decade from reality on that one.
However, I have friends who took different approaches than I did and managed to stay involved with horses. A key point I’ve found to coming back to horses at a youngish age in adulthood is none of us chose to have kids. All the women I ride with that had kids came back to horses much later. Generally late 40s to early 50s.
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One is still living off her parents’ money at 37 running a hobby farm after trying to make it as a pro rider and getting injured. She’s their only child and honestly I think they do it just because they like having their own pretty property to winter in Florida on. However, she’s not showing because they won’t pay for show bills and running a low key farm can’t pay those bills.
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Another married wealthy and is living the “dream” on the circuit with winters in Wellington, but secretly hates her husband so it’s a good thing he’s constantly traveling for work and they only see each other every now and then.
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And another got her PhD, consulted for 10 years (no horses, 80+ hour work weeks, constant business travel) and then used that money to start up a holiday rental business that pays for her hobby breeding farm and ~12 weeks of circuit showing each year.
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The last one made it as a pro. She went to school, rode on the IHSA team, got a business degree, and then spent a few years working in business. She ended up going back to horses as an assistant trainer. She’s a great rider that can get on just about anything. However, she also is an only child with the fallback of a pretty large trust fund if anything goes wrong.
At the end of the day you have to look at what’s important to you, what you’re willing to do to get there, what support systems you have in place, and what risks you’re willing to accept along the way.
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Agreed on this. Horses are expensive, but they are what I enjoy most so disposable income goes to horses, not fancy restaurants or vacations. Though I will admit to budgeting for 1 annual trip to Europe each year. Though it is planned for the shoulder season (usually April) and to more out of the way (aka less expensive) destinations.
I’m similar in that ~35% of my net income goes to horses and horse-related things. I’m an amateur, but take my riding seriously. I ride 4-5 days a week and have a workout program tailored to my riding. When I compete I do so with high scores, blue ribbons and regional finals in mind.
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To add on some advice, be flexible and listen to yourself. What you want may change over time.
In high school I wanted to go to the Olympics - never had the money for that
In college I wanted to train horses and give lessons for a living and did it for a short time. But for lessons I was expected (by parents) to work Sat and Sun and when I told them I wanted Sun off to go out Sat night and just have a day off (or Sat off to go out Fri and just chill on Sat), the often seemingly insensitive reply would be “well you can have Sat (or Sun)off or some day during the week”. So, if I took one of those weekend days off, someone wasn’t happy. As far as training horses, clients of all stripes sometimes just wanted you to go faster with the horse than the horse was willing/able.
Then I broke my ankle and lost all my horse gigs and decided to get a job outside the horse world.
I wanted to own my own farm, just like a hobby farm, but as I get older I’m kind of glad I never had the money for that because it’s nice when it’s storming out or there’s 2 ft of snow on the ground and my friend texts me with “don’t worry about coming out, I fed already” - yes, thank you, I will stay inside.
I train part-time now - selective clients - mostly working with people who have some issue they need to address with their horse. I get them to understand their horse better and develop a better connection then I walk away leaving them with a best friend. I also am helping my friend start some young horses so she and her husband can enjoy trail riding and that’s a similar feeling. I have also, in the past, helped thoroughbred ex-racers find new jobs and new careers.
I found I like that feeling of just helping people enjoy their horses more than going up the levels.
So be open to change and spend your college years exploring different options.
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100%. In the spirit of education for our OP, would you feel comfortable sharing your TC or at least a ballpark of this? 35% of net can look very different depending on your income and this is a great learning opportunity.
For example, 35% of $100k (which in my HCOL city is now considered to be “low income”) leaves only $65k remaining for other expenses, but when you bump that up to $300k, that remainder becomes $195k.
Another way to become established in the horse world is to develop a horse-adjacent business or niche. Someone above mentioned an equine photographer. Good musical freestyle designers also do quite well, so if you study to be a musician or music teacher you could do this on the side and maybe eventually full time while being an amateur rider. Or become a course designer. Judges, TDs, and horse show secretaries/managers become part of the national horse show community while getting paid. There are accountants, lawyers, real estate agents, and insurance agents that specialize in the horse industry. A physical therapist could work for a therapeutic riding program but also or as a back up plan work in a more traditional PT practice. An architect could design horse facilities, a construction contractor could build them. A truck driver could work for a horse transport company. Many careers lend themselves to a horse related specialty within their profession or at least a horse related side hack.
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I don’t think specific numbers would actually be that helpful since COL and other factors can vary so much, especially if you want to talk net vs gross income. That said, this guide can help give OP some general ideas based on where they might want to live: https://livingwage.mit.edu/.
Looking at some of the numbers for where I’ve lived (all HCOL areas), the baseline salary I’d want to comfortably support a horse seems roughly equivalent to supporting ~1.5 kids according to this data. That includes full board, lessons/events throughout the year, some creature comforts for myself, and a buffer to cover emergencies and other savings goals. I could get by on less but I’d have to get a roommate, cut out some extras, and/or dip into savings more than I’d be comfortable with. I’m also an eventer who lives in an area with plenty of great show venues in driving distance so that keeps my costs down; if I wanted to switch back to hunters and start travelling the A circuit that baseline would go up.
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The only thing to keep in mind is that a lot of people in these roles do not have both the time and the money to ride and compete regularly/seriously, if that’s what the OP wants to do.
If you’re going to have a day job to fuel a horse habit, IME it’s generally more lucrative and workable to have it not be related to horses.
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