I canāt give any advice about having horses be your main job in some way, since thatās not the direction I went. What I can say is that I went the way of finding a career that I could be decent enough at that would let me afford the horses, plus any showing or lessons or whatever else. I stayed local for my undergrad so I could live at home, worked off my board for my horse (stayed at cheaper places, board wasnāt as bad then either), and spent any spare time I had either working with project horses, riding for others, or just generally soaking up all things equine as much I could manage. Getting involved in many aspects of the local horse community even helped me get an engineering internship and later was influential to me getting my current job (donāt discount the power of networking!).
Now Iām a bit more established in my career, working towards my Masters, and Iāve also established myself at the barn Iāve been at for several years now as an experienced, responsible person with a pretty good knowledge base and set of skills. Other boarders come to me for advice, I help others with their horses, I give a couple riding lessons, I even have a (very) small side business making and selling bonnets. Basically Iām getting to dip my feet into the āhorse professionalā world as much as I want in whatever ways I want, but can also back off as needed and prioritize my own horses above anyone elseās. Once I finish grad school, I plan on diving a bit more into giving lessons in my free time.
Iād also like to emphasize that the career I ended up in is the last thing I ever thought Iād be in. Take the time to explore different fields, try some intro classes, talk to industry professionals. My job isnāt my passion, but itās decent enough to let me do what I love to do.
Also, from personal experience: donāt run up loans and credit card debt. I made some bad decisions in undergrad that Iām still trying to get on top of now