What kind of jobs can you get? IMHO…none. If you are in a STEM field stay in it and have horses as a hobby.
According the the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is predicted need for 139,000 new engineering jobs 2016-2026.
According to BLS the median wage for agricultural engineers is $83,000. If you want to go into other engineering, the pay is higher. Petroleum engineers get paid the highest with a median pay of $131,000.
You can play a lot with horses for that kind of pay.
Depending where you live. Some cities have no horse access. Some cities $100,000 doesn’t go very far in real estate and horse care. Pick a career that doesn’t require living in Manhattan or San Francisco.
If you don’t have a specific vision for what you would like to do related to horses, I would stick with the STEM path. If you do have a specific vision (work in nutrition, podiatry, training, saddle-fitting, there is really a wide range), I’m not sure that an ES degree is really the fastest and most direct route.
When I was in college I spent about a year as an animal science major before realizing I didn’t really want any of the jobs I was likely to get (or at least what I could imagine at the time), so I switched to an ecology program and it has worked out really well for me, with an assistantship to get my MS (and allowed me to use my AS credits towards my bachelor’s). No regrets here. I’ll get to retire at 57 and will likely do something horse-related as a part-time gig to offset my horse expenses.
Probably not much unless you plan on adding another degree after. I have an animal science degree, and many of my classmates did get jobs in various fields after (I can think of people who work at pet food companies, producer organizations, etc.), but ultimately, I believe that it’s best as a pre-vet degree, most of the people in my program wanted to be vets and it prepares you well. A bunch of us also went on to get graduate degrees and I think it was mostly because really, what DO you do with that degree alone? A masters made many of my class mates much more employable after and I can think of ones who are nutritionists, work in behaviour consulting, work for pharmaceutical companies, some are in university administration, etc. PhD’s…a little bit less direct, and two of us from that undergrad class are, after about a decade, applying to vet school after all of that.
The other thing to remember is when you are charging money, the clients are the humans and not the horses. You don’t get to duck dealing with people by working with horses. Ans arguably people in a well run office or business are easier to deal with than individual clients in a training program.
Don’t do it. As others have said, there’s really no use for an equine degree. Getting a hands on horse job (training, riding, grooming, etc.) is more about experience, connections, and hard work than having any certifications. For the horse-adjacent jobs you’d be just fine getting a standard degree with some crossover, like business or biology, and then focusing your job hunt accordingly. That way if you decided not to follow the horse route you’d still have a degree people value in other fields. Depending on what part of the STEM field you’re focused on you could probably find a number of ways to incorporate horses into your professional life without going all-in on an equine degree. Vet school could be something to consider, although that comes with a whole other set of challenges.
In my opinion the best thing you can do if you want to be around horses long-term is get a degree in a high-paying field and go the amateur route. The professional horse world can be pretty brutal - low pay, long hours, harsh conditions, not much stability. Realistically it’s just not something that works out for most people, no matter how passionate they are. There have been several threads on here about careers in the horse industry and the pitfalls of working student jobs that you might find useful. If you’re really serious about pursuing it as a career you should consider a taking a gap year for a working student position or something before you make any big decisions you might regret later (like spending $$$ on an equine degree). Given your experience level you may have a hard time finding a legitimate working student gig, so vet any potential jobs carefully. Volunteering at a horse-related non-profit is another way to get your hands dirty and get a sense for what the work can be like.
I know one graduate who was able to get a job at New Bolton. The money wasn’t good, but the experience was outstanding. She couldn’t find another opportunity to make a living, however.
Highly recommend working in tech, OP. I’m a dummy with a Public Health BSci and I work remotely in tech and do well for my geographical location, and even better for my age group.
Having an engineering degree (aka technical knowledge and vernacular) translates well into so many industries and roles.
ETA: college sucks. But having money after college to be able to ENJOY horses without having it be your full time career is cooler.
Focus on energy-related careers. Energy storage, renewables, grid resilience, transmission engineering, etc. These fields will be booming for at least the next 10 yrs and very lucrative.
Agree with all the others. One of my former boarders has an equine science degree. She’s a recently divorced single mom of two that feeds for me once a week, and for a billionaire a couple of more times. She’s in her 40’s, and makes $20/hour.
I don’t recommend it.
Not really anything much. If you insist on doing something in animals you’d probably be better off going a general route rather than anything horse specific.
As for STEM - I’m not a math/science person, work as a journalist and can’t afford horses currently (that said I wouldn’t trade journalism for anything) - my riding instructor in my early 20s, the first real riding instructor I had after getting out of a rough lesson/boarding barn situation worked as some kind of engineer. Really cool woman, had a small facility that took boarders, she taught lessons, had a motley mix of boarders as she wasn’t too far out from a city across the state line (she had some casual trail rider types, a few adult ammy dressage riders and one gentleman who was a fox hunter whose horse HATED loading onto trailers for some reason.) she had an outdoor arena, indoor arena, some wash stalls and a small XC course for practice (I mean like “jumps in a field” when I say XC course). She was primarily an eventer, the main lesson horse was her retired eventing horse, a Trakehner gelding (If I had to pick a favorite breed out of the horses I’ve ridden I’d say TBs as the first horse I owned was an OTTB but after knowing that horse I’d say out of the warmblood breeds/types I’ve probably got a soft spot for Trakehners.)
Do you genuinely dislike your current path in a STEM field or are you just wishing you could spend all your time in horses? Because as everyone else is saying, life in college and life post-college are different. (I can’t even speak well to the “typical” college experience as I did community college and online courses.)
Since my early 20s I’ve volunteered off and on, schedule allowing, at a therapeutic riding barn to get my horse fix (been more off lately between pandemic and journalism schedule and the fact that this place is approx. 45 minutes away from where I live/work so getting over there regularly is just not in the cards right now). I think this is a somewhat underrated option to just be in/around barns. You probably will not be around well-connected professionals as you would be in a working student gig, but you will likely be around a mix of horse folk from all backgrounds (and a few non-horse folk who wanna help out and learn about horses in the process).
Okay sadly that is more than I make. 
ALSO: I LOVE journalism but if you wanna make money it is NOT the career to pursue. (I went in knowing I wouldn’t get rich.)
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been volunteering with a therapeutic riding program since I was a teenager and I’ve picked up so many foundational horsemanship skills there that I wouldn’t have had a chance to learn at the barns I rode at. You get exposed to all of the same skills that other barns use (saddle fitting, feeding, groundwork, first aid, etc) in an environment that’s already used to teaching volunteers with varied experience levels. It’s a practical solution for getting people experience actually working with horses instead of just showing up to ride; whether we like it or not the days of kids getting dropped off at the barn all day are pretty much over and realistically not making a comeback any time soon. OP doesn’t say how much experience she has, but if she’s only been riding for a year or so at a standard lesson-type barn it’s entirely possible she’s never had a chance to work a shift of barn chores or trudge through pastures in freezing rain or experience any of the other delightful realities of caring for horses. These non-profits are some of the last places people can show up with little to no experience and actually build their skills in a safe environment. And as a bonus it’s completely free and helps out a good cause!
As someone with an Equine Science degree, I would say…do something else. 
I spent far too long trying to make a career out of it LOL. Unless you plan to stay on academia, it’s not worth it.
I am currently in my “quarter life crisis” - what do I want to go to grad school for?! lol…I have done a lot of searching on various job sites looking for jobs that I think I would like (actual job, hours, pay, areas for growth) then go backwards to see what kind of education I need.
I suggest staying with STEM - go into nursing, engineering, etc. The nurses I know make upwards of $115K+ with an associates degree, working 3 12 hour shifts. I contemplated going back to school for nursing, but its just not for me.
If you want to stay in the STEM / Equine area, I try vet tech, vet school, etc. I would encourage you to do some shadow days with vets, techs, etc…I did several shadow days with my vet and as much as I love animals and healthcare, I couldn’t handle when owners didn’t do what was best for the animal (due to finances, just differences of opinion, etc).
Also think about do you want your hobby to be a hobby or be a job? I currently work as a recreational therapist. I used to love to play UNO. After playing UNO for 5-15+ hours a week for the last 2 years, I am kinda done with the game UNO.
Good luck!!!
What I wish I knew back when:
Things that you love don’t always translate well into careers. Even aside from the money issue, many find that they don’t love grooming, cleaning, training other people’s animals - or dealing with those people.
Probably most people don’t LOVE their job. Your career doesn’t necessarily have to define you or be your passion. That is why you get a paycheck.
OTOH, being in a job you actively dislike can be soul crushing, no matter the pay. I turned down one job that paid way more than I was making after seeing what it was like and realizing that I would dread going into work every day. No matter that people were saying “Do X job! Plenty of opportunity and great pay!” if it doesnt suit you, dont do it - too many hours and years of your life to be miserable for a paycheck if it is avoidable.
Especially in today’s environment, you need to do some career research and see what sorts of jobs might work for you and be available. And you need to be flexible as many of us have worked in different areas as we moved or changed or new jobs became available.
I have an equine science degree, and originally planned to go on to vet school, however I decided ultimately not to pursue that path.
I was able to get a customer service job with an equine retailer out of school, and worked my way up, eventually finding myself in marketing. After realizing that I enjoyed marketing I pursued my MBA and still work in animal health, although more on the pharma side these days.
Some of these responses are pretty harsh, calling it a waste of time and money - I don’t feel that way having completed the degree. It is still a science background and it opened doors for me to other careers and further development.
If I were to do my major over again, I might’ve switched to business, but then again I wasn’t really interested in it back then so I’m not sure I would’ve been as successful. I really enjoy the combination of science and business degrees that I have now, and was able to go back to school part time and have my employer pay for part of my second degree.
Good luck with whatever you decide OP!
The only people who get rich with horses are those that were previously very, very rich.
The old joke is, “How do you make a million dollars in the horse business? Start with $2 million.” Although with inflation and rising costs, today you might need to start with $5 million rather than just $2 million. 
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