Quitting horses entirely? - vent (long)

[BigMama1]

[QUOTE=Hobbs;9009056]
I personally do not know of any barns that would hire an assistant trainer that can’t clean a stall. In this business you have to be able to do it all…and then telling me they are otherwise perfectly fine to ride and deal with difficult horses. Nope, not buying it. Definite red flag to me.[/QUOTE]

Me too. First thing that jumped out me. If you mentioned that to me in a cover letter or resume you would go in the “no” pile without a second glance. To get ahead you need to be willing and able to do every job in the barn cheerfully and willingly, no matter how physically demanding or mundane it might be.

Stuff happens in barns - staff call in sick, can’t get there in a storm or sometimes just don’t show up. If you can’t be flexible and pitch in to clean stalls, you’re not going to be seen as an asset to the team.

Stating upfront that you won’t accept a job where barn work is required makes you seem like a bit of a princess, no matter what valid medical reasons you have. And any medical condition that limits your ability to muck stalls would make an employer question your physical ability to cope with 12+ hour days, ride multiple horses, sling hay bales or load a trailer.

[RubyTuesday]

Why not just take a break and come up for air? You might find another hobby temporarily to clear the air a bit, it does happen.

[Beck]

What BigMama1 said, times 10.

[danacat]

You could try advertising yourself as a freelance ‘backyard horse consultant and trainer’.

I sort of fell into this kind of thing by accident. Long story, won’t go into it. But suffice to say my reputation (credentials if you will) were well known – and after I stopped training TBred racehorses and running my training farm, ordinary backyard horse owners (who were having trouble of all sorts) started asking me to help them.

They either had a difficult horse, or they had no idea about to care for them properly or better, and, and, and. Endless issues. So I began consulting these people (for a fee) and also helped them train their horses. Clients came out of the woodwark once word got around. And I didn’t have to clean any stalls other than to show some people how to do it.

It was very rewarding to help these ‘backyard’ horses as well as their often clueless owners.

This wasn’t my ‘calling’ in life…but it might be yours.

[RockinHorse]

I feel forced to quit. I have been trying to grab every foot- and hand-hold to stay in the industry for over a month and I can’t remain in this limbo anymore

You have been trying for a month and are ready to quit?

OP, I do not know how old you are but I am guessing you are pretty young. Getting started in any career is tough and does not start with “the perfect job”. Many people, in all sorts of careers work at jobs where the tasks required are things we didn’t want to do or were told we would not be expected to do. It is called paying your dues.

Regarding the inability to do physical work such as stalls, I agree that is a huge disadvantage. Most barns don’t have unlimited staff so they want all members to be able to cover the various things needed when needed. Unless you are an amazing rider, they are probably going to opt for the assistant who can pitch in on the physical labor.

I do understand that a person can have legitimate physical issues and still rid as oldfuzzyhorses (love that screen name!) said. I do think, however, that adds so additional liability a barn might not want to deal with. It is bad enough if there rider has a fall, but if the rider already has back, joint, or weight bearing issues and has a fall it could potentially be a much bigger deal.

[eclipse]

Hmmmmmm I could be wrong but we’ve recently had some other threads posted by a person that wants to quit because they can’t get handed 4ft+ horses and also can’t do physical barn work but can ride all kinds of difficult horses with no problem… same person just changing some wording to get more sympathy?

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?435578-The-Sport-We-Love

[Heinz_57]

You sound young. You don’t mention ever having worked any sort of regular non-equine job, either? You won’t move, won’t work for anyone you don’t already know, won’t clean stalls and won’t work a regular job in a non-equine industry. its time to reexamine your priorities here. Who is currently supporting you? What employable skills do you have other than equine-related?

If you REALLY think you are ready to be a full-fledged trainer out on your own, I would suggest looking for a regular part time job, and then look for a barn that would allow you to run a PT training business. You can make enough at your PT job to cover the insurance costs for your business and it will give you time to build the business without taking huge financial risks. So much of the game in this industry is sales - you need to sell yourself, your brand, and set yourself apart before people are going to pay for your services.

[Beck]

So danacat: you never had to clean stalls at all back when you were starting out? You established your credentials without ever having had to pick up a fork and shovel? Nice!

[cutter99]

Frankly, you sound to me like you are expecting the world to fall at your feet, especially when you talk about a move “bringing” you opportunities.

Every successful trainer I know has worked their ass off. None has been given anything. They all started at the bottom, even the ones with degrees.

[GiantSteps]

OP, I know you. Or rather, I know several young, aspiring equestrians whose resumes look a lot like yours. There are a lot of “yous” out there, which means that competition for the scarce training-oriented jobs in established barns is very tight. All of the “yous” I know expect that a bit of a show record, a bachelor’s in Equine Science, an interim job at a dude ranch or summer camp, and some basic up-down teaching should land them a job that involves lots of riding, little grunt-work, and a reliable, livable income. These jobs are as common as unicorns, and the few that exist and are filled by open hiring are typically won by people who’ve spent a lot of their lives doing grunt work without complaint on top of their riding/training chops. It will take more than what you’ve listed among your qualifications to make you competitive with people who’ve put a lot more time and hard work into their equine careers. The economy still isn’t great for launching careers and the equestrian industry is no exception – if your heart is set on it you need to steel yourself for more than a month of uncertainty and disappointment.

If you want to get a leg up on jobs in established barns you need to be able to demonstrate your skills to potential employers – nobody will or should take your word for it that you’re a great trainer. It’s going to be far harder to convince someone to go all-in on you as a trainer without firsthand knowledge of how you bring horses along than it would be to convince someone to hire you to help generally around the barn while working enough with the horses to demonstrate your skills. So your physical limitations make you a very difficult fit for the structure of the industry. Not to mention the points others have made about other hard labor involved in an equestrian career and whether you would be exposing yourself to excessive risk of injury by pursuing an equestrian career. But only you and your healthcare providers can really assess that.

It will be a lot easier to switch careers at this early stage than after you’ve sunk a lot of years (and associated opportunity costs) into making a go of the equestrian life, so it’s smart to be thinking about leaving now, especially if you’re this discouraged after only one month. It’s not true that everything outside of horse training is a 9-5, so if you don’t want to push paper in an office but aren’t sure that horses are going to work out it’s time to think creatively about what transferrable skills you have and what other options are out there. You can still train horses if it’s not your career. Some of the best horse trainers I know are AAs who have pursued other careers but are 100% dedicated to bringing along their own horses and do a great job of it. I daresay they find it fulfilling and haven’t lost any skill by focusing on one or two horses at a time.

You’re entitled to feel scared about the future, but the all-or-nothing attitude and the assumptions about what you might find fulfilling are not very productive ways to approach this problem. I hope you have an IRL friend you can talk to about all this because it sounds like you have some soul-searching ahead of you.

[Risk-Averse_Rider]

This song comes to mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLpE1Pa8vvI

Best of luck finding your way.

[imanalteraccount]

Eclipse- No, that’s a different person. I don’t expect to be handed any 4’ horses. I would actually like an opportunity to work hard.

[BigMama1]

I have to say the OP is not alone. I know a working student who recently quit her position two months early because it was “spiritually unhealthy” and “not fun anymore.” Barns get a lot of applicants who are certain they have amazing riding and training skills, and are far too special or talented to waste their skills doing feeding and turnout.

You know who gets ahead and makes a career in the industry? The ones who are willing to make themselves invaluable. The ones who will take the lowliest jobs just for the privilege of working with a highly skilled trainer. The ones who come early to ride their horse before the workday starts. The ones who stay late no matter how cold / hot / filthy / exhausted they are, just to watch one more lesson or training session. The ones who do more than asked or who see what needs to be done and do it without waiting to be asked. The ones who are humble about their own skills and open to learning from anyone.

If you can be this person you have to be willing to take a chance. You have to be willing to do anything and move anywhere. You say you are worried about a trainer you don’t know “taking advantage of you.” I’m not sure what you mean by this exactly. Certainly you shouldn’t be abused, insulted, belittled or assaulted. But if you mean expecting you to work ungodly hours in inhumane conditions for little, if any pay, well…that pretty much sums up the reality of life with horses. The question is will you recognize the opportunities such a job can bring and will you take advantage of them?

[BigMama1]

[QUOTE=eclipse;9009563]
Hmmmmmm I could be wrong but we’ve recently had some other threads posted by a person that wants to quit because they can’t get handed 4ft+ horses and also can’t do physical barn work but can ride all kinds of difficult horses with no problem… same person just changing some wording to get more sympathy?

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?435578-The-Sport-We-Love[/QUOTE]

I did wonder that myself

[anon68314200]

op, I strongly recommend trying to setup your own horse business as opposed to trying to work for other people.

The horse business is primarily an entertainment business. If you have a very engaging personality for other teaching lessons or for keeping the owners of training horses happy then you have what it takes.

You may need to float around on the income bracket however. If you’ve been existing higher up the food chain you may need to consider teaching and working at the Rougher Around the Edges types of facilities. I know trainers who have more school horses than they can really afford and employ, and are really quite happy to have nearly anybody come in and teach on them so long as that person is bringing in money. If you hunt around you may find that many Farm/ business owners are pretty willing to talk to anyone who can bring in money in any way shape or form.

That’s really what it boils down to. Can you bring in money for someone else? Or can you pick up a couple of super cheap 22 year old school horses off of Facebook keep them at a super cheap barn and start cranking out lessons. I know people who have a fleet of half a dozen horses and they move around from Barn to Barn over the years.

Saddle fitting is also another very good option. Although it requires a super duper people skills. The clients can be very difficult. You can can be dealing with horses with very serious behavior issues. Also people whose riding very seriously sucks. And they expect you to solve these problems… and it involves a lot of travel. However some people do make very decent money fitting saddles. Very decent. Also fitting bits.

Bottom line a lot of people Make a job in the horse industry, as opposed to getting a job. Keep hunting around, there are options. But it absolutely does require total bravery. And total willingness to take on the extreme risk.

I understand about the Stalls. I mucked for decades and now my wrists are pretty much shot. Repetitive motion will ruin your body. Happens to people who braided for decades also. My hands will go totally numb within a few days if I attempt to do anything in the way of stalls.

[RedHorses]

Look around the horse job sites. Find the ones you like. Apply. Go wherever the job is. Keep the money for a ticket home (or gas if you can drive your car). If the job turns out to be a bait and switch, leave.

You will never get anywhere if you are unwilling to take risks.

[Jazzy_s_mom]

OP- I’m not sure where you are located but I just saw that Wild Turkey farm is looking to hire someone with experience riding jumpers for a groom position. Included vacation and health care I believe.

[Scribbler]

OP, everything in life that is worth having tends to require more work, more humbleness, and more duespaying than we expect, and sometimes more work than it seems worth.

Once you start being afraid to move around and take chances, that is well-thought-out calculated risks, you get petrified and can’t move on. What’s the worst that can happen if a job doesn’t work out? Make sure you have enough for a one-way Greyhound bus ticket back to your parents’ house. It’s not like your employer can force you to stay.

Looking back at your CV, the thing that stands out to me is that you have done almost all of your riding and training on your own. You’ve been fairly successful, which is great. But it sounds like you haven’t built relationships along the way with trainers senior to you, who are the ones who in the natural course of things would be taking on their star students as assistant coaches and trainers. You don’t have any natural mentors.

I am also curious as to the teaching. You say you “always wanted to be a professional,” but you also wanted to protect your amateur status, so you pulled back from teaching. So it sounds like you’ve have conflicting goals along the way. You didn’t move into being a pro when it was possible, because you wanted to stay an ammie, and now you want a pro job when you have the CV of a talented ammie, and no pro connections.

Why don’t you start now with teaching? Start teaching beginner lessons, even for a lesson factory barn if necessary. Let the quality of your instruction and horsemanship, and your interpersonal skills, be visible in every moment of your work, even with the six year olds. Get your little kids riding beautifully, correctly, happily. Build a little fan base and make yourself indispensible. School the lesson horses as needed, show how good you can make old Blaze step out. Move up the ladder at your lesson barn, branch out to have private clients among the boarders. In other words, take your skill set to whatever venue will have you, and prove yourself.

Right now, you are a talented ammie, not a professional. You can’t present yourself as a professional, because you have no real employment record from other barns. You need to get yourself somewhere that you can prove your skills visibly, and earn some level of credibility from your demonstrated ability. If you have the ability you claim, this will be evident, and you will progress.

[ladyj79]

Wait wait wait wait, is this the same poster who also can’t lift water buckets? I’ll look for the thread but this does sound familiar.

Eta: http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?497168-Full-time-Seasonal-Working-Student-Europe-or-US-Any-suggestions&highlight=Can't+lift+water+buckets

Same or no?

[LilyandBaron]

If all the threads are indeed related, then may be time to quit pursuing this pipedream, as has been suggested many times. If you can’t enjoy what most AAs end up enjoying after realizing our 16 year old self’s aspirations were unrealistic, don’t. I thought I was soooo talented, rode at top sales barns, but I’m not a trust fund baby and wanted control of my horses’ fate, so I used my brain for a job to make enough money and have enough time to enjoy my horses, knowing there’s no Olympic glory or WEG on the horizon. My horses and I are happy, regardless.