I say find a job you DO enjoy. You’re not in YOUR career yet. I fell into helping people manage their financial lives years ago and LOVE this career. It interests me, I really help people, and it’s lucrative. Lucrative helps with the horsey habit. Someday you’ll want to retire and need to have saved for that. I’m not seeing the BM job as providing that.
Having an outside job allows you to go to the barn just to relax and play. Lots to be said about that.
A barn manager job isn’t a walk in the park. I wouldn’t trade places with any of the ones I knew when I boarded. I also doubt you will be truly ‘off’ at 3:30. The ones I knew had trouble finding time to ride. There was always some drama to sort out. If your current job involved looking after young, spiteful, children, I think it would be an easier transition.
I’m sorry for the brutally honest assessment.
It sounds like you hate having a desk job. What opportunities can you find with your degree to work outside? What is your degree in?
OP,
If you dislike your job, there are more options than ‘desk job’ and ‘farm manager’. What is your degree in? If you hate sitting at a desk why not look into a new career, but one that is more stable (…haha) than running a farm.
What is your degree in? Are you looking for outdoor work?
There are other opportunities in the horse business other than barn manager.
Every product you see in a feed or tack store is connected to a customer service position to a sales job, to marketing, to product development.
I have an acquaintance who works for Smartpak in customer service, talks to horse people all day, works from home, loves her job and the company. I have no idea what kind of income she has with Smartpak. But for me, I’d rather have quality of life and less money, than a job I don’t enjoy.
My degree is in Accounting. I worked for a farmer as his bookkeeper/payroll/etc for a couple years and that morphed into my current job of working for the USDA. It’s not exactly Accounting-related specifically but it is in some other ways.
You all are 100% correct that I really just need to find a job that isn’t totally being stuck in an office. I really just don’t think it fits my personality. I wouldn’t be opposed to getting more schooling or training under my belt, but I honestly don’t know what I’d go back for?
I enjoy finance, payroll, book keeping, and budgeting and if I could find a job where I could do that remotely and take more breaks throughout the day that would be amazing. I enjoy jobs where I can use my organization skills. I enjoy jobs where I can mark things off my to-do list and actually feel like I’m accomplishing something. I think that’s part of the reason I struggle so much is that if I get one thing done, there are a hundred other things that are waiting.
If I take a small pay cut we can afford that while still putting money in savings and still putting money toward retirement. I do have that Accounting degree, so not only do we have our retirement accounts through our jobs, but we also have personal ones through a financial advisor and even have a 529 account for our theoretical future child. I’m all about being as prepared as possible–which is why I’ve sat in offices over the last five years. But now that we’re more settled with the house, property, and horses, I’m starting to think about money versus quality of life and trying to find a better balance.
Life is short - do what you would enjoy 
You’re young enough to throw a little caution to the wind!
Isn’t everyone grumpy on Sunday night? The reason I started riding (when I was 27) was because lessons were on Sunday, and it helped with the Sunday night blues.
I agree with Libby2563. Find a job you like, and make horses your passion. Work can remain secondary, but it lets you afford horses.
I’m inadvertently going to offend someone with my generalizations, so I apologize in advance.
But there is a reason most barn managers are either youthful people at the start of their careers or disgruntled, crazy, bitter, old women. The job burns you out physically and mentally. Now, every now and then you have that unicorn person who was just born for the role and excels at it while feeling truly fulfilled. But most of the time, people quit in early adulthood or stick with it and lose their minds.
There is no harm in taking a break from your office job and giving it a go. I encourage it! But… I would go in thinking of it like a sabbatical, internship, or gap year- not a permanent career change. Keep your resume, skills, and references up-to-date, because there is a good chance you will need them again after a few years.
Adding a personal anecdote: I was the typical 20-something budding horse professional who burned out early on. Quite a few times I’ve gotten the bug to return to working in the horse world. Every time I go back to a “horse” job, I never last very long. I’m so much happier when horses are strictly my hobby.
I would take advantage of management courses.
You may not be interested now, but having those courses will open doors for you down the road.
Have you considered getting a CPA?
I’ve heard the test is very intense and requires a lot of preparation and study to pass.
Maybe that will give you a goal and a sense of purpose which seems to be lacking in your current job.
There certainly are remote jobs in that field, both the option of doing payroll as a service to small businesses but also a lot of organizations are learning that remote work is okay now.
That said, I don’t think from what you said that what you need is a remote position - you need it for a company that you believe in and are excited about what it does. Those exist too.
The ability to cross things off and feel like they are done is probably best found in a larger organization where there’s more than one of you in that role and you can back each other up, as opposed to being the sole go-to who is constantly inundated.
Since pretty much every business needs people in that role, you should have a pretty wide set of possibilities to choose from.
Ok so I didn’t read the responses and I apologize if I am repeating what you have heard already.
I would apply. An application is no guarantee of an interview, but an interview is your opportunity to find out if you think this job is a good one or not.
I know when you’re young in your career, you are likely to consider interviewing for a job an opportunity for “them” to decide if “you” are “good enough”. But in reality, it’s a two-way street, and you’ll never know if this is a good move or not until you go through the process and hear about it, ask questions, and then weigh the options against your current position/career.
I interview a lot of people. If you’re not in love with your career - now is the time to make a change. Change is not bad on a resume, unless it’s all the time. We interview people all the time who have made career changes, and some that have done it more than once or went back to an earlier career. That doesn’t tend to hold them back. What holds people back is changing jobs every year or so…but even still, at your age - it’s not too late to make a few moves.
I say submit an application and see what happens. If you don’t even hear back, you won’t have to worry about making a decision. But if you don’t apply, you’ll never have the chance to decide.
I would also add that there are career frustrations specific to being in your 20s. Very rarely does someone in their 20s have much autonomy or decision making power in their job. Indeed if you are going for a high stakes career you might still be in professional school or grad school or articling or interning etc. If it’s a job that’s learn as you go with just a BA, this first decade is also somewhat probationary until you figure out how to move forward in the field. So it’s really easy to feel that you are stuck in a cubicle with little chance to make things happen.
I don’t know a lot about careers in accounting but I would say you personally need to find an employer that makes things happen (as opposed to just keep things ticking over) and then figure out how to be one of the people that have decision making power. That probably means eventually moving out of a government bureaucracy (great for stability, not so much for engagement) and adding some formal management qualifications. Perhaps your current job will pay for you to get some extra training, maybe one of the part time MBAs or similar?
It’s worth having a research interview with one of your managers about career paths in your department, if you can phrase it as enthusiasm to move forward rather than discontent! Maybe there are sideways shifts you could make in the federal government bureaucracy that would be interesting.
The older I get, the less I care about my job as a part of my identity.
Personally, I have stopped chasing a job that will “fulfill” me. The best job I can have is one that pays my bills, leaves room for some wants, and intrudes on my “real” life as little as possible. I work a job now that I neither love nor hate, but it’s low stress and pays well. I’m sure there are other jobs our there that I would enjoy more, but my life is not centered around my job. My job is just a tool to facilitate my needs and wants.
YMMV. There’s no harm in putting in an application and finding out all the information before making a decision.
If your only in your current job for the money it gets old. I have always said you need to enjoy what you do. I would apply for the job and then see what it pays / benefits( if any) and if you are actually offered a job see if you can afford to do so and go from there.
No matter how much you think you will love being a barn manager, I promise there will be days it will
suck and you will not enjoy your job. Weather, horses will get sick/hurt, boarders will be a headache etc etc.
if you’re young and have the opportunity to re enter your career path in 3-5 years with similar salary to what you are leaving and it’s what you really want then go for it.
if it doesn’t work out, you’ll at least know that you tried and it wasn’t for you.
I don’t think health insurance is very commonly
offered…so something to consider. My job includes
PTO after 1 year of work.
It’s hard to beat the federal government for vacation time, holidays, and flexible work schedules (at least where I worked). At different times I worked 8 hour days, 9 hour days with every other Friday off, or 10 hour days with four day weekends. Asking for a day off was never a problem. The matching TSP contribution and health insurance are also pretty nice. Have you looked for any opportunities for a lateral transfer to a different office or even agency and a job you might enjoy more?
A few things come to mind, all generalizations and ultimately my own personal opinion. There are jobs and there are careers. The former, we don’t normally want to do but it pays the bills and let’s us enjoy the things we actually like. We get financial stability, health insurance, vacation time and relatively normal lifestyle. The latter, careers, are things we would enjoy or even love to do, but usually don’t pay enough to support our lifestyle if we are on our own. Careers tend in involve a significant other who makes the real money. If you are in a position to not have the need for financial stability and know you can easily re-enter your current job field if it doesn’t work out, by all means go for it. You are still young, and life goes by so quickly. You don’t want to look back in 30 years and wonder “what if”
Yeah, since you are with USDA, it might be worth looking into getting education to qualify as an NRCS conservationist or similar. You get field time going out and helping farmers and ranchers with soil and water conservation practices. Something like that might be much more interesting, and you already have your service time to apply to jobs that are offered internally.
I’ve worked my way up in federal service and it’s pretty excellent in terms of the flexibility, pay and benefits that I have now, which allow me to pursue horsey endeavors.
I really don’t know how my BM does it, feeding every morning, managing horses, giving lessons, training, picking up slack if stall cleaners don’t show up, and trying to keep the property up to snuff while making very little money, much of which would dry up if she is too sick or injured to train and give lessons.
I knew that turning my hobby into a business/job would likely ruin it for me, so took a year off work/job hunting to be a barn rat and that confirmed that a career with horses wasn’t what I wanted to do full time
THIS ^^^^
I kept telling young colleagues that when you are “old,” there is no greater peace of mind than a fat bank account. I assume you are ~25. in 30 years you will be 55. If you save/invest $5,000/year invested at 6% for 30 years, you will have ~$400,000…along with a Federal Pension.
Same as others on this thread, at one time I also asked the question, why am I doing what I’m doing when I have no free time? I am glad I stuck with my job, saved my money, and now can afford multiple horses, lessons, tack…etc.
I know someone who took over managing a large equestrian facility. She is approaching 65. Same as has been described above, she is burned out, has little time for her own riding, and has to pitch in when the help doesn’t show…and never has time off for herself.
If you don’t want a “desk job,” my suggestion is to look at the USDA positions that require use of your accounting experience like in “operations” or dealing with farmers where you actually have to visit farms or agricultural facilities…eg., jobs where you are not sitting in an office.
The USDA is a huge entity. Look around and see if there are jobs you would enjoy, then either apply or prepare yourself to go for the postion.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
