Some would say that it is impossible to make a living working with horses, but this is not the case. Plenty of equestrian professionals pull in five-, six- and even seven-figure salaries in their horse careers. The trick is to find one in which the income potential is high.
Some horses careers come with better salaries than others. However, these jobs working with horses are likely to require a high amount of start-up capital, which is rarely an option for recent high school graduates and young equestrian professionals.
Horse Trainers
One of the most common horse careers is horse training, which means that the equestrian professional is hired by horse owners to train horses in different disciplines. Some horse trainers have specialties, such as breaking young horses or working with behavior problems.
The salaries for horse trainers vary depending on location and a number of other factors. However, these equestrian professionals can make anywhere from $200 to more than $1,000 per month, per horse in training.
Let's say, for example, that a horse trainer has five horses in training each month and charges $300 per month for each horse. This means a total of $1,500 per month, or $18,000 per year. If he could bring 10 horses into training, that would mean $36,000 per year, or if he charged the maximum listed in this article ($1,000 per hour), he could make $60,0000 to $120,000 per year.
Riding Instructors
A riding instructor is someone who teaches other people how to ride. Like horse trainers, their salaries can vary significantly, but the average is between $25 and $75 per student, per lesson. Most students take riding lessons once a week, so each student brings in between $200 and $300 in a four-week month.
Riding instructors can choose to teach as many lessons as they want each week, and some manage to accommodate up to 300 students total. However, in a conservative estimate, let's say that a riding instructor teaches 50 students (about 8 per day). That amounts to a salary between $10,000 and $15,000 per month, or $120,000 and $180,000 per year.
These are just two of the horse careers an equestrian professional might want to pursue, and there are many others. Horse jobs include farriers, veterinarians, barn managers, show secretaries, horse camp directors and many more, some of which are full-time while others might provide only part-time work.
It is also possible to mix-and-match horse careers to create larger salaries. For example, a horse trainer might also be a riding instructor and barn manager. However, it is important to realize that there are lots of expenses that come with horse careers, from equipment to horse facility rentals to horses themselves.
When looking at salaries for horse careers, equestrian professionals should weigh their options and obtain the proper education to increase their income potential. Continued education is as important in jobs working with horses as in any other career path, and the more one knows, the more he can potentially earn.
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