Work with them or having your own horse??

L

lauren123

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2007
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I always said when I was younger that I wanted to work with horses. Then when I decided I wanted my own horse it was explained to me by my lovely parents that would i rather work with horses and not have my own horse or have my own horse and not work with horses. I chose the have my own horse not work with horses route. However speaking to a friend she has a job with horses that involves exercising the 6 hunters and racehorses a family have near me. She herself did use to have horses.

It got me thinking would i want to go back to working with horses sometime? I do really enjoy it but the pay isn't that great I doubt.

Would you all rather have a 'office' job and have your own or would you to like to work with horses someday or again someday?
 
Hmmm. I think if I were starting over again as a school / college leaver I'd ignore my parents and go into working with animals - preferably horses. I think the outdoor and active lifestyle keeps you fit and healthy. Yes the pay is not good but for someone like me who has no degree and no great qualifications office work didn't used to be well paid either. I left school with the basics and got sent on to secretarial college which I hated with a passion. I then ended up with egg on my face on the dole because I ran away from college etc. Anyhoo, long story short - I think you should follow what you really want to do cos life is bloomin short. I was lucky enough to talk my way into a permanent job which led to me getting on the property ladder at a young age which eventually led to me keeping my horses at home. Gosh I wam waffling! Sorry. :D
 
I've done both. I love having my own but have never been happier tha working with horses but I did cheat and own my own at same time lol
 
No desire whatsoever to work with horses! I am a writer more than a rider! I love my own horse but really wouldn't want to get involved in looking after anyone else's, other than as an occasional favour for a friend. For me, horse-riding is a fun hobby, but writing is my real passion, and also working with horses looks like it's badly-paid and not very rewarding for the most part.
 
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I've had the debate and chose to work to fund a hobby not turn my hobby into my job. But I'm not sure I made the right choice tbh.
 
I work with horses and have two of my own so I have the best of both worlds! - and personally I love it. People usually say "when I worked with horses it took the pleasure out of doing my own"... but I have just never had that. I can work a 12-hour day and still have the energy and enthusiasm to get one of mine in for a ride before dinner. And they're kept where I live and work, which is just perfect.

I am in complete agreement with Trewsers, life's too damn short! Horses are my passion so that's what I do, there's no money in it and people may think it's not a "proper career" but for me that's not an issue. I was a gloomy, negative person before I worked with horses and now I'm cheerful and positive and never really have anything to complain about! I really do feel that it was my calling. I think you should go with your heart and do what feels right!
 
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I did work in Belgium with horses back in the distance past when I was very young.....sort of at that 'what shall I do with my life' stage. I absolutely loved it and it was a fabulous job with the whole yard and day to day running left to me, and I got to ride some fantastic horses but there was no opportunity to have my own horse with me. And I missed him hugely despite knowing my family were taking very good care of him.:(

So I came home and knuckled down to boring academic stuff and life took me in a different direction, but I always had my own horses with me from then on, no matter what life threw at us.:)
 
No, I wouldn't be any good working with horses for a career. I am too nervous to both handle and ride a variety of horses, and my riding skills are not good enough to pass my BHS stages needed for teaching exams. I love my horse more than anything, but I know that I wouldn't have the same passion and dedication to devote to someone elses.
 
I always wanted a job that would fund my hobby. I love horses but I wouldn't want to work with them. Riding is my hobby. Yes I'm passionate about it but I'm also a massive science geek and I'd never not want to work in that field. I've been a drilling fluids engineer, a scientific researcher and now a science teacher. I like coming home and toddling off for a hack. It's my relaxation. Working with horses would sour my interest. It would probably also frazzle my nerves! Give me hormonal teenagers any day : p
 
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I worked on a competition livery for a couple of years and I was one of those who in the end lost my zing for my hobby, I think honestly I was a bit 'hippy' in my approach for that yard, I like to think outside the box and don't agree with just strapping a horse down to get a job done etc but that was what I had to do for work so it was a bit demoralizing for me, perhaps if I worked somewhere with a similar ethos it would have been different. If I went back and did it all again I wouldn't choose a career based on what I enjoy, more on what I am good at and what pays well so my hobby is easier to afford!
 
Working with horses is great, I spent about 4 years doing so. I never really enjoyed the riding and ended up losing some confidence in the saddle but I loved the mucking out etc etc. Leading in lessons wasn't great and although I did enjoy the bit of teaching I did but I probably wasn't very good! I worked 8am till 6pm and then did ale for 3 years and managed okay. In the end I just got sick of the bitchiness at the place I was working and decided to move on. I do miss it though and I would love to get a job with them again even mucking out a couple of times a week. I used to poo pick fields instead of taking my lunch break in winter as it was too cold to sit still, think I did that in summer too! The only time it was really tough was when It snowed. A lot of extra work and as the horses were all stabled 24/7 they still had to be exercised which was interesting!
 
I would love to run my own yard, I know its unrealistic and will never happen but I would love to do it. But I wouldn't want to ride, I'd be
happy mucking out, sweeping, filling haynets etc all day!
 
Yes please, you can do all the riding and I will just muck out! Not sure if Ale would enjoy Italy though!!
 
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