"Other" (non-medical) careers to support horses?

[equestrian13]

I’ve been asked to write down my “dream career” that I see myself doing in 10 years from now, but without a thorough knowledge of the incredible number of options/possibilities out there, I feel like I am pulling careers out of thin air. Right now, I don’t KNOW what I want to do, so I am gathering more information in order to begin on the right path. I am very hard working and dedicated to finding a suitable career for long-term fulfillment, both on the daily job and my priority of horses after work.

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What I mean by “careers that support horses” =
-Good pay (~50k+)
-Daily flexibility/time off after establishing myself in the career

What I mean by “other” = NOT the following suggestions:
-human medicine (radiologist, registered nurse, physician assistant, dental hygienist)
-lawyer (criminal, patent)
-engineer (software, nuclear)

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Any suggestions for more “unique”/“other” options besides the typical high-paying careers?

Any personal experience with:
-real estate agent?
-construction/other trade jobs?
-culinary?
-military?
-consultant?
-your own business???
(you can see that these careers do not require additional degrees or years of education debts)

ALSO:
-I know it takes years to establish yourself in a career, so I am talking about supporting horses in the long-term while/after climbing the ladder
-I will not work a job I hate just for money, I know it has to be something that fits my interests/personality so I will enjoy what I do every single day
-I know it depends on location/living expenses

Anyone who went into a career they thought would fit their horse habit but realized “if you had known then what you know now” that you would have chosen something different?

[clanter]

air traffic controller, once on site and certified… median salary $120K, those with 20 years of experience are eligible to retire at age 50. Controllers are required to retire at age 56

[AKB]

Remember that real estate agents often do well in the boom years and practically starve during recessions. They work weekends so competing your horse would probably be very difficult. Construction is a tough way to make a living unless you really know a lot about business and building. I know many people who have left construction because of the physical demands, as well as the ups and downs of the building cycles. Most people who work in culinary don’t earn enough money to support a horse. 50-95% of new businesses fail, so forming your own business is not a sure path to success or even a likely path to success. Consultants have to have some expertise in something. It isn’t a career in itself. Military is good, as long as you have a college degree and are an officer, and as long as it suits you. My daughters have one friend who went to the Naval Academy and loves the Navy, but others who left the military because it is hard.

What about engineering or computer science? If you have a BS, you can make good money. I have one daughter who is an engineer and really likes it.

[FineAlready]

There are a lot of attorney jobs other than criminal or patent specialties. I’m a corporate bankruptcy/creditors’ rights attorney. It’s quite a predictable and flexible schedule and the pay is fantastic. I would never want to be a criminal or patent lawyer. Yuck.

[AKB]

If you go and volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, you will learn some construction skills and figure out if you have an interest in the trades. You can make money as a plumber or electrician, but you need to get all of the training and licenses or you will be stuck as a minimum wage assistant. If you like working for Habitat for Humanity, some of the professionals can talk with you about how you can get an apprenticeship. I think a lot of the trades require classwork at the community college level.

[CHT]

Commercial real estate would be an option that would leave weekends/evenings free. If construction is big in your area, then getting into Health and Safety might be a good option, or weld inspection, soil testing and so on. What about the people who go around looking for utilities? (dial before you dig) does require education, but seems like a pleasant career that pays well.

Mechanic: Vehicle, trailer, or train?

Accounting/bookkeeper/HRM? Not the best paying, but usually good hours and benefits. Banker?

I think it will be hard to find a well paying job that doesn’t require much extra education and that is fulfilling unless you have unique natural skills or aptitude.

[NurseHorsey]

Sometimes, the options you think you’ve eliminated or wouldn’t be interested in end up being the ones made for you.

I’m guessing you’ve eliminated the medical field for specific reasons (don’t like blood/guts maybe? or some other reason) but there are a lot of jobs that are available in healthcare. Everyone gets sick. Everyone needs treatment. Everyone wants someone to help make them feel better, whether it’s the front desk person helping a patient fill out forms or the surgeon doing the actual cutting. I never, ever thought I wanted to be a nurse - ever. Then I quit my horrible, soul-sucking first salaried job out of college, decided to take an hourly wage front desk job at a major hospital, and discovered I wanted to be that nurse in the ICU/ED making people feel safe and that they would get better. So now I’m working my front desk job, going to school for my RN on weekends, and training my horse at night.

Moral is, you can’t necessarily plan a career just for the money. Being an RN will eventually bring in the money - but I also love helping people. However, I also love riding. It’s the perfect threesome. You may not find a career you love but you can’t necessarily choose a career just to support a hobby. You’ll spend 8 hours thinking about leaving work and then the next free 8 hours dreading going back to work.

Do some searching, try some different things, and don’t pigeonhole yourself too much. You’ll figure something out

[Simkie]

$50k+ just isn’t that high of a bar. I make that as an executive assistant, with all the PTO I’d like to spend. It’s a decent gig with 40 hour weeks as the norm. And it’s a damned decent option when you don’t really know what it is that you really want to be when you grow up.

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=Simkie;7369612]
$50k+ just isn’t that high of a bar. I make that as an executive assistant, with all the PTO I’d like to spend. It’s a decent gig with 40 hour weeks as the norm. And it’s a damned decent option when you don’t really know what it is that you really want to be when you grow up.[/QUOTE]

It’s all about location, location, location. In Nashville, an executive assistant is lucky if they make in the $30ks…

But our cost of living is (supposedly) lower.

A $50k+ salary in Nashville is good money. In say, southern California, not so much…

[WinsomeTK]

I’ll keep my eyes peeled for this thread… My current job (veterinary technician) I love, but the salary is ridiculous after 8 years and I have back issues so… Not sure I’ll be doing this much longer and sort of looking to possibly maybe go back to school (aargh). And being able to fulfill my lifelong dream of having a horse would be pretty awesome too.

[dani0303]

It depends a lot on what your interests are. I live in CO which is experiencing a HUGE oil boom at the moment. Higher level careers in this field easily net $150-200k a year. Jobs like petroleum engineers, geologists, environmental engineers, etc.

My BF is currently in school for a petroleum engineering major. He’s had companies approach him offering to pay for his student loans once he graduates and a starting salary of $150k. BUT, it’s a very math heavy profession (lots of calc) that isn’t for everyone.

I left school after 3 years of a psych degree to pursue horses. BAD IDEA. I’m now looking to go back and change my major to geology. Lots more opportunity there. The oil companies are hiring geologists out of school in the $125k range.

[copper1]

Engineering of some kind. My daughter is a civil engineer and it pays well, room for advancement and she enjoys it. There are several different types of engineering so might be worth a look.

[Mango20]

How about something with the federal government or intelligence? Good pay, good benefits, fairly flexible schedule, and usually, you can’t take any work home with you.

[HungarianHippo]

If the goal is $50k+ right out of school, then you’d need to focus on Science and Math, and yes, advanced degrees. There’s a reason those people are higher paid–they invested more in their preparation and have skills that are in short supply.

[saffire_100]

Supply Chain Professional. I’m in Canada so US may be different but I make $100k plus major benefits, bonuses, etc. 4 weeks vacation and 3 weeks paid time off. I’m at about 20 years experience but starter wages for buyers or contracts specialists are about $50-60 k. I do work in Oil and Gas. You can get a degree in it or just take courses. Up here, supply chain folks are in good demand so you can get jobs with only a few courses under your belt. You must have good math and logic skills to enjoy this type of work.

[GoneAway]

Military can be a great option, but it depends on many factors. Enlisted salary vs. officer salary, what type of career field you get selected for (you have very little say in that in most instances), that career field’s deployment rate, how likely you are to relocate and how often, etc. You can make boat loads of cash by deploying, but if you deploy all the time, you can’t really enjoy having a horse. I was a former horse professional and definitely love life a lot more in the military, but I have some good circumstances. If you want more info, shoot me a PM.

Federal employment in general isn’t a bad gig, but with the on going budget disasters, many agencies have a hiring freeze and/or are downsizing. Getting in the door these days is very tough.

Health administrator jobs (civilian or military) might be of interest, but will require advanced degrees. Gives you the job stability/demand without the blood and guts of a more hands on medical profession if that is the issue.

[MistyBlue]

Some of those options are commission. Which is great if:
That business is doing well
That business is doing well in your area
You are ready, willing and able to work a lot of hours
You are ready, willing and able to work odd hours
You are extremely good with saving/putting aside for lean times between getting paid

IOW, in careers like real estate you have a stretch of time to get yourself established, known and getting referrals. During which time you’re investing a lot of time and money in self promotion and grunt work. You need to be very outgoing and self disciplined and able to handle cold calling people, approaching strangers, etc. And you only get paid when something has sold and closed. You could put a lot of time, effort and income into marketing a property and it doesn’t sell and that money is gone.

Commercial real estate is a bit different and you can negotiate payment terms sometimes with companies. But…it’s still a huge go-getter career choice.

IN these you’re also an independent contractor so paying your own taxes and no benefits. So while a $10,000 paycheck from a decent sale sounds great, there’s a whole lot you have to remove from that to cover your taxes, whatever insurance/benefits and a chunk to bank to cover no-paycheck times. But it is a helluva lot of fun for someone who loves people, contracts, negotiating, sales and working nights and weekends.

Unfortunately for horsie folks…a lot of jobs with very flexible hours aren’t going to be very steady pay. You could be wealthy for a few weeks and then broke a heck the next few. Since we have static costs related to horses (on top of static costs like housing, utilities, etc) we do better with static income sources unless we’re part of a dual income household.

[DancingAppy]

Statistician. It really requires a Master’s but I’m getting along okay with a Bachelor’s. With Statistics, you can really go into any industry, computers, medical, financials, commerce, government, etc.

Entry level with just a Bachelor’s is around 40-60k, unless you go into Data Science, which puts you more at 70-90k (but you must be much more computer literate). With 2-5 years experience and/or a graduate degree, you’re looking at over 100k, with people who have about 10 years experience earning 150+k. You generally get very good benefits and either bonuses or stock depending on your company. NOTE: These are California salaries.

My job allows me to work from home anytime I want, as I can call into meetings. In fact, I’m the only one in my team in the US, the rest are in Ireland. I’m able to support 2 horses, a mortgage, and a car payment on my salary and have plenty of money to play with as a young 20 something. I have over a month of PTO every year, but I save mine up and do a big vacation once a year.

If you like math and problem solving, it’s a great, high in demand job.

[KLCarp]

[QUOTE=Mango20;7369960]
How about something with the federal government or intelligence? Good pay, good benefits, fairly flexible schedule, and usually, you can’t take any work home with you.[/QUOTE]

Ehhh this field is shrinking, and the bar to get in is just going to get higher and higher. Doing intel without a security clearance is tough, and getting a clearance without the military or govt agency is not possible. Flexible is realtive…how do you feel about mids, swing shift and nights? Plus your locations are pretty limited too. Forget the 40 hour work week…once you get past the first few years, 60 becomes the new normal.

Not to mention with the military downsizing so much, there will be a flood of new, experienced candidates all looking for jobs, driving the salary ranges down even further. The days of the 200K+ deployed jobs are few and far between.

Ive been following this thread with interest, lol, as i will likely have some big changes coming up.

[2tempe]

OP - you haven’t said anything about what type of things interest you. Or what education you have thus far.
There are few fields that give you daily flexibility or time off in the way you seem to be thinking, I worked in banking/investments for MANY years. Was able to support horse activities, and shows, and after about 20 yrs, had the ability to slide out early maybe once a week to ride, had enough vacation time that I could take long weekends for shows. My background was economics/finance and included a graduate degree.
If you think you might like teaching, that would give you some flexibility - as in summers off. There is a growing opportunity in medical records - you don’t need to be a nurse or doctor, this is all about billing and process and claims, even a field for fraud investigation. Still probably regular hours…
In this day and age, look for something that will cover at least part of your healthcare costs…

Many things in life besides job can impact your horse focus. Family, marriage, kids, divorce, health. Physical jobs come w/ additional risk in terms of career longevity.