Working Student at 16?

[Scribbler]

What they don’t tell you, is in order to make your passion your life, and make a decent income, you have to be very good at it, like the in the top 10 % for sports or arts ( riding is both). Otherwise keep your passion as a hobby.

The other thing they don’t tell you is that if you make your passion your job, then it is a job, and will expand to include aspects you don’t like.

And if you are not very good at your passion you will make a marginal income doing the parts that no one wants to do.

Your passion is riding. You want a horse career. That’s most likely going to be mucking stalls at minimum wage or teaching beginner group lessons on crocked horses to whiny kids. Days will go by that you never get to ride yourself.

Meanwhile the adult barn clients with professional jobs will waltz in after work ready to ride for an hour before dinner.

[oppsfelldown]

I know every kid wants to go to the Olympics, ride in the big GP and be a world famous trainer - it is just not in the cards for about 90% of us riders.

From my understanding based on your prior post - you are a beginner rider, parents will not/cannot foot the bill for a horse and you are taking weekly lessons (?).

What you can do right now is talk to your instructor about working for additional lessons (ie - working student). Work off as many lessons as you can, audit as many lessons as you can, ride as many horses as you can (get the pattern?)

FINISH HIGH SCHOOL!!!

Once you are 18 and have several additional years of riding under your belt talk to your trainer about helping you find a summer working student program. AND enroll in college.

Go to school, get a degree that will afford a comfortable income - take more lessons, ride more horses, ect. Buy your fancy show horse (or green horse and build them up) compete as either an AA or open rider.

Unless you have a husband that supports the household there are very few riders or trainers that fully support themselves above poverty level. (trust me it is not the way to live).

Those Big Name trainers and riders that you see on TV showing at Ocala or Thunderbird - they are pulling 18 hour days and running on coffee and bad food. Their grooms - are doing the same thing. Living on a show circuit is an ugly way of life.

You dont want to grow up to the the trainer - you want to grow up to be the super nice adult amateur lady that writes the trainer the monthly checks and enjoys your super pony.

[Showbizz]

Another perspective to keep in mind:.

I, too had a dream similar as yours. In rising up the rankings, I saw some very ugly things. It was hard to realize that the life I’d always dreamed of didn’t look the way I thought it would. I now operate a mostly local/regional lesson and training business with an occasional nationally competitive horse. And I’m very happy.

[blondewithchrome]

@Showbizz

Another perspective to keep in mind:.

I, too had a dream similar as yours. In rising up the rankings, I saw some very ugly things. It was hard to realize that the life I’d always dreamed of didn’t look the way I thought it would. I now operate a mostly local/regional lesson and training business with an occasional nationally competitive horse. And I’m very happy.

OP, this is a very good perspective. Working students get opportunities if they work hard and have a good mindset and happen to also ride well. Look at folks like Cooper Dean: he was Heritage’s working student and is a star, totally not your average working student but absolutely a hard worker and an amazing young rider. Cooper also seems to be “in” the business and willing to make trade offs that perhaps every 16 year old would not.

Think about what you want out of this industry and make sure you learn everything you can before giving up school. Most of us can ride because we finished school, went to college, and found jobs to pay for our very expensive hobby. Before being a working student, maybe you can groom for a summer for your trainer, or get a job working as a groom nearby at another barn to see what it takes. It may not be for you, which is totally ok! You can always adjust your goals and find something that makes you happy. Everyone’s “happiness” in this world is relative and just because you aren’t showing at the GP/5* level does not necessarily mean you won’t be happy…you might surprise yourself!

[kashmere]

OP - with no discouragement intended at all, let me tell you about my experience:

I was a WS from age about 15 - 18 with my coach, locally. What that meant was that weekends, after school, and in the summertime for longer stretches where I would stay at the barn (say a week or so at a time), I would do… whatever needed doing, and in return I would learn. Sometimes extra lessons on my horse, sometimes the opportunity to ride some fancy horses, sometimes hopping in the car to look at sales horses - hell, sometimes I would tag along to off-property students’ lessons and be the fetch-and-carry girl (set up fences, pick poop out of the arena etc).

I learned a ton. I credit those years with giving me a much deeper and broader understanding of riding, training, and horse care than folks who have “only” taken lessons. I recommend doing this to absolutely anyone who is able to and wants to really learn. I was/am a somewhat talented rider. I look decent on a horse and I can stick through shenanigans. I learn quickly and usually have a pretty good attitude. If I had decided to, I likely could have made a go at moving up locally - maybe even done decently on the provincial level. National? who knows.

Instead, I went to university. Leased my mare out. Moved home afterwards and rode her through semi-retirement. Caught rides on some… interesting creatures when she fully retired.

Now I have a professional job that allows me to pay for board and lessons at a nice barn close to my house. I am still a nice rider, I have aspirations to break into showing now that I can feasibly foot my own bill. Due in part to all the hours I put in as a younger rider, I still have a lot of stickability and can decently ride most horses thrown my way - because of that, I get the pleasure of working with many of my coach’s other students’ horses. I ride through odd issues with them if the trainer needs to see it from the ground and the student isn’t maybe quite brave enough. I take on extra rides when other owners are on vacation, or sick, or injured. I get to do fun stuff with my coach’s big fancy horse. My WS years continue to serve me well.

My coach is a very talented rider and horsewoman. Been riding since her single-digit years. Has ridden with some top names in the sport and is a truly wonderful rider and teacher. She makes her living entirely through coaching - which is a rare thing. And yet - I could tell you her name and I guarantee you wont have heard of her. We are good friends, and often talk about our jobs and lives and commitment to horses etc. We make around the same amount of money yearly but I have benefits, sick time, etc. She of course, is her own boss, gets to do her passion as her job, etc. There are pros and cons and we’re both happy people She likes having a student who has perhaps more capability and experience than many adult amateurs, and that’s enabled me to have a lot of great experiences working with her.

So - by all means, WS positions can amazing, they have the potential to serve your riding career well for a lifetime, and in many ways. Important, too, is the ability to have some perspective on the realities of life and how most of us enjoy the sport through our lifetimes.