I’m currently going through a divorce. I have my own horse training business. I have clients’ horses on my own property and also travel to clients’ homes to train. Because of the divorce, I most likely won’t be able to keep my property. I have nothing keeping me here if that happens and have been considering living on the road and doing traveling training.
My family has given me mixed reviews. My conservative sister believes I would have difficulty finding training jobs on the road. She also thinks that no one would allow me to park a small camper on their property for the duration of my job. My free-spirited uncle believes I would do well with this lifestyle with plenty of training opportunities. They both live on the east coast. I’m located in the Midwest and the people who I know in my area would be fine with parking on their property. I guess I assumed most people with horses would have the space to park a camper for a limited time.
My question is this: In your opinion, would it be possible to find enough training jobs to survive (I’m not high-maintenance and don’t require much to be happy) and, if so, are people likely to allow me to park on their property while I’m training? I should mention that I don’t train for any particular discipline. I teach manners and respect for pleasure/trail riding, colt starting, refreshers, problem solving, etc. I have been successful with my training for almost 30 years and have my own YouTube channel and business Facebook account.
since you have an extensive background of nearly thirty years and you are asking this question my thoughts are there is not enough business to support the desired outcome
Lots of coaches travel to different barns on a weekly basis. You want to find one barn with enough work that essentially you are a live in trainer, though supplying your own accommodation? Thats probably a long shot. But you could contact breeding farms or other places with a lot of young stock.
Where barns often welcome people with RVs is as barn managers who can be onsite all night especially if the existing BO or BM does not live on the property.
On the other hand, if you feel you have the profile to be a “clinician” rather than a plain “trainer” you could market essentially one month long clinics or residencies where you do several intensive weekends and work on horses in between. I can see that being an attractive model but perhaps expensive for those who would actually need it
Is it your preference to be completely independent and to travel for travel’s sake, or just an option? If you’re not opposed to any particular kind of career, you might do best to look at a variety of paths. As @Scribbler said, you might keep an eye out for full-time or short-term trainer/handler positions at breeding/colt starting barns around your region (or the country). Put out personal and social-media feelers for partnerships with other trainers. Start working your rolodex to understand what your immediate client base of travel-training clients would be, and seriously brainstorm how you would grow your base. Decide whether you’d be more successful trying to market yourself as a short-term engagement and/or clinician-type provider, or as a local travel coach/trainer who drives to different barns in your area each day to work with recurring clients.
Be honest with yourself - do you have a big enough rolodex and name recognition to kick things off, and the appetite to continually market yourself to the world so that you have at least a couple months’ worth of engagements lined up? It really depends on your risk tolerance and overall needs, I suppose - you could be conservative and take a part-time retail job and grow your travel training business on the side, or you could live in the RV and cobble together non-traditional opportunities as you go. Only you (or comparable pros in your area) can be sure what your market might support. . .
as a side note… you might want to change your state of residency (if you are not in one of these three states) to one of the three (Florida, Texas, and South Dakota.) that support RV lifestyles and Do Not Have state income taxes
There are three states that are very popular amongst full-time RVers because they offer substantial savings when you choose to establish your residency within them. Those states are Florida, Texas, and South Dakota.
All three of these states share the benefit of not having a state income tax, which obviously means you’ll save a bunch of money right from the get-go. They also have middle- or low-level rates on vehicle registration and insurance, although again, the exact fees will vary.
I don’t know of a barn that would bring in an unknown trainer to live on property and provide horse training for an unspecified amount of time. That isn’t the culture in my area nor was it the culture in the communities I lived in prior. Most new trainers around here seem to flounder for a solid 12-24 months before they develop enough new clients that people start taking interest. Some of these trainers are really really accomplished and people are still hesitant to engage because they wonder why they left their last community.
The reputation of the trainer is a critical piece and that’s hard to convey even with a robust social media presence. If you’ve been training in your area for 30 years, have you considered renting an RV pad locally and staying in an area where you are known?
You could always try to build relationships in a target community and offer quarterly weekend clinics to gauge interest and the sustainability of your business before uprooting your whole life.
Clients may be amenable to you parking on their property.
But as an employee (even freelance), rather than invitee(guest) they may run into legal or insurance issues.
I’m in the Midwest too & would have to research a longterm guest on my acreage.
Would you expect to plug in to their electric or run a generator?
Could you find an RV park you could relocate to and train at client barns from there?
I assume you would move your own horse(s) to wherever you were working.
Thank you all so much for the responses! There’s so much valuable information and advice for me to consider. I’ve just been weighing my options now that I have the freedom to try a different lifestyle. Some things were brought up that I hadn’t thought of, which is very helpful. I’m grateful to you all for taking the time to respond to my post. This is my first time on a forum and it’s been a positive experience. Thank you!
I you stay at RV parks, you’ll also need other transportation too. Actually, you’ll need local transportation anyway, unless you intend to drive the RV/camper everywhere.
I think that the type of service you provide may work for doing clinics or shorter term projects. Hopefully, once the manners are installed, horse starting process is over, etc. the client will either not be in training (pleasure/trial rider) or will be training with someone in their specific discipline.
There are some similar types who have transitioned from training business to more clinic business for general horsemanship training. Some of them bring their own horses to the clinics for demonstrations. An example is Mark Rashid.
You will have to make some adjustments to your business model and be able to gather enough interest to make it worthwhile, but if you have the experience and skills, I think you could be successful.
If you are in a single, geographic area and have build a steady clientele that allows you to make a living then I’d think twice about leaving that situation. It’s the “bird in the hand,” if you will.
The life of the “traveling road show” sounds good on paper and some folks like it and make a life of it. But for others dew is off that lily pretty quick.
The biggest question you have to ask if you decide to take up life on the road is, “What will be my business model?”
Are you going to try and do a Parelli/Lyons/Rashid/Branaman type of program? Or are you going to concentrate on doing some sort of specific type of clinic, like jumping or dressage? Are you going to become a “horsewhisperer” and deal with problem horses? Or maybe be like a fellow named Joe Guy. He traveled through our area some years back as an itinerant “horse tinker” fixing specific problems and then moving on? I met him while he was here and he fixed a few horses at our place. He was actually a competent fellow who believed in “wet blankets.” If he had a fault it was “itchy feet.” Here is some info on him https://joeguylongrider.com/
Or maybe you have some unique plan that would be suitable for you but not many others.
After you decide you can think about marketing, living conditions, etc.
There’s opportunity for both success and failure in the “traveling” model. That’s true of life in general, but if you “stub your economic toe” in your home area you’ll likely have a “safety net” of friends and/or relatives to help you out. On the road you are literally dependent on the kindness of strangers. Even nice, helpful strangers can follow the Three Day Rule.*
Spend some time thinking about this before you take the plunge and good luck in whatever you decide.
G.
*Ben Franklin’s famous observation that after three days guests and old fish start to smell.
It is kind of an interesting idea. I could imagine some breeding farms might want someone to come and halter break their foals and start their young stock without having to maintain their employment year around. Farms in a remote area might welcome a self contained travelling trainer. I am not sure how you would find those clients though.
