Quitting horses entirely? - vent (long)

[Twisting]

If work was fun they wouldn’t have to pay you to do it.

I used to be like you. Petrified by the idea of working in a job I hated for the rest of my life. Positive I would die old and miserable. Had some pretty crippling depression because of it. I was positive I would hate every job because there was nothing I wanted to do. I needed a job though, and one with health insurance and benefits. So I joined the military. You know what? I absolutely hated my first career path. I was every bit as miserable as I thought I would be. Things were actually worse for me than when I was unemployed, depression wise.

It got me focused though. I realized that I needed to get my stuff together and figure out something that I could tolerate doing for the next 20 years. Yeah, tolerate. Very, very few people get to do something they are passionate about, and no one loves their job every single time they go to work. For me it was finding something that challenged me mentally. Language acquisition and translation work. (I am still in the military, BTW. That wasn’t the part of my job that I hated. Fixing aircraft was the part I hated.)

Figure out something you can tolerate doing for 20-30 years, because it really is worth it. 8 hours a day still leaves a lot of time to ride, have hobbies, have relationships, and generally enjoy life. Here is another secret. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure as hell lays the foundation for a happy life. Not having to worry about paying your bills or what’s going to happen if you’re in an accident gives you the peace of mind and freedom to enjoy your downtime.

No one should work at a job they hate, but there is a pretty big stretch of land between hate and love. Find something in the middle and go for it. Give up horses, don’t give up horses, that part is up to you, but find yourself a job that will give you the base you need to be able to make that choice.

[vxf111]

It seems to me that there’s a lot of middle ground between waking up and discovering you’re Beezie Madden and giving up on horses entirely. Maybe it’s time to set more realistic goals and take active steps to achieving them instead of wishing/hoping the big fish job will land in your lap?

[Willy_Von_Whompers]

Twisting…I wish I had exactly that advice when I was about 18. I always had this nagging feeling that I’d myself sold out by taking a regular job with benefits and chains around my neck.

I even tried the boarding barn teaching biz on the side of a full time job (turns out I LOATHE teaching people…LOL) so that was a no go. I love the horses forever and the work is no problem, but no sane person loves having a boarding barn (when you need the income), so back to the corporate world.

It does feel like you are going against all the advice about “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” and having a pension and health benefits seem so boringly middle class and weak! Betraying your passion big time.

However being able to look at a decent retirement, with your body in more or less one piece and money in the bank does have it’s joys too. And when I take a cold hard look around at the “local” pros (not talking Ed Gal here) they have a pretty tough grind of it. One health disaster away from losing it. And certainly having to suck up and compromise in order to keep some clients. So maybe it’s not all that and a bag of chips. Finally I can see that.

And when I look hard at things - look at the sheer amount of money behind such people as Ed Gal, Hans Peter, Isabelle, Laura B.(T)…not their own $ except for Laura, but vast insanely unlimited resources, Glock anyone?) and even THEY have their ups and downs. They are not always number one in the world even though they are excellent professional riders. If they didn’t have the cushion of money to bring along young horses, buy talented ones, they’d be out of the ring for long periods of time. And busting their guts teaching others, which doesn’t get you in the ring and winning (usually) unless Charlotte is your pupil and you are Carl.

It is sad that money dictates what we do and don’t do, but it is a huge factor.

[Pennywell_Bay]

My non- horse job took me 17 years to find a job hat I love and am satisfied in. AND that makes me enough money to support myself and a small farm and string of horses.

Often- it doesn’t happen overnight if you are lucky for it to happen at all.

Even in my non-horse job- I started lower level and built myself up with education, experience, a good attitude and being honest with my strengths and weakness. I also took any chance to go above and beyond. It didn’t pay off overnight but eventually I landed in a great paying job that I love and I get to work remote and have flex time. I have shown that I am dependable in jobs that maybe I was over qualified for but still gave 100%.

To me- the OP sounds entitled and spoiled. Very few people walk into their dream job right out of school or when they step into the work force no matter your career. It is something you have to work for and towards. Generally no one is going to hand you those things.

Personally- I’d advise finding a job outside the horse world that will pay you enough to put money away to be able to eventually take time off and do some horse jobs.

My stalls are easy and I have it set up to be so. As a farm owner with a string of nice horses, I would not be hiring someone e who couldn’t do stalls because of a physical limitation, as I’m certain other things that are more exciting are equally physically demanding. I guarantee my 4 foot hunter is harder on your body than mybstalls.

[IndysMom]

I got some very good advice when I was younger. To succeed in the horse business you need either a lot of money or a lot of talent-preferably both. I had neither so I went and got a job that gave me enough to live and to pursue my horse obsession. For most people that’s what they need to do.