Okay okay…you’re a barn rat whose spent every summer and break from school since you were 12 working at the barn. You know horses inside and out. You’ve moved hay out of the field in July, cold hosed a leg and gotten a tricky horse into a trailer. You’ve got the horse moves down. Now, in your last semester of high school you’re day dreaming about college. You promised your parents you would go, get an education and make a good living. You’re gonna live in a dorm, ride on the team and study….IDK….
Here’s the deal: the horse business is A BUSINESS. In the U.S. alone 1.4million people report being employed full-time in the Equestrian Industry. This includes: vets, farriers, barn owners, breeders and the racing industry. The Equestrian Industry contributes $39 Billion into the U.S. economy. So, it’s a real job, but that doesn’t mean you’re not sending your parents into an early grave when you tell them you’ve decided to major in Equine Sciences.
Before we go any further, this post is not suggesting Equine Sciences is not a valuable field of study or worthwhile major.
The problem is, and this might get indelicate: money. As a contrast to another area of study that makes parent’s hair turn grey overnight, Music, the market for a professional horse person is not the same. This is to say, there just aren’t going to be as many consumers of horse products/services as there are music. To drive this point home, in 2016 the Music Industry contributed $143 Billion into the US Economy. And that’s because almost all of us consume music in one way or another. Either by listening to Billie Ellish or a jingle that plays over an advertisement.
When you break down your expertise further into a specialty area say, Barrel Racing, Jumping or boarding your pool of potential customers gets smaller. Meanwhile, your cousin who majors in Trombone Performance has more options, because more people hear trombones than learn to turn and burn. Those are just the harsh realities of the horse business. And just like in any industry, the best of the best make more money. For example, Nellie Miller was the top Barrel Racer going into the 2019 NFR Championship. Her prize winnings before that show totaled $154,610. That’s a lot of money! That’s also within the range of the average median STARTING SALARY of a pharmacist.
We don’t know how much money Ms. Miller had to spend in order to get to her races, how much on vet bills, fuel, lodgings, tack, training fees but all of that has to be subtracted from those winnings to understand how much she REALLY made at the end of the year from her winnings. We also don’t have the figures for how much money she makes training other horses or coaching other riders or through promoting products. Needless to say, Ms. Miller worked REALLY REALLY hard in 2019 to make that prize money, and probably worked EVEN HARDER to get to the top of a competitive sport and will have to DOUBLE DOWN on her hard work to stay on top in 2020….(plus invest wisely a portion of her earnings into a retirement fund).
So yes, there is money to be made and “wealth” despite what the IRS says, comes in many forms that can’t be accounted for by dollars and cents. For example, I can’t calculate the monetary value of considering my dogs as co-workers or listening to whatever kind of music or podcast I want to while I’m at work….but it’s valuable to me. That said, deepest heartfelt gratitudes are not considered legal tender and will not get you a new transmission at the repair shop. You need to make money to live. AND that’s why Moms Dads and Grandmas sweat profusely when you “major in horses at college.”
When I talk to students I do mention certain business skills you need to have in order to survive as a business person. Among them: writing clearly. This is both useful for applying to jobs and also sounding like a competent person a bank would loan a bunch of money to so she can start a horse barn. Researching, and critical thinking skills are part and parcel of your business plan. You need to be able to convince someone you know what you’re talking about. If you’re trying to apply for a grant for your therapeutic riding program or horse rescue, those are done in written form, backed up with research. You really must be able to use written language to make a clear point. I cannot be any clearer about that topic. Of all the skills you learn in school writing clearly, correctly is in the top 3 most frequently used in your lifetime as a business person.
There is also a basic understanding that a legal business has to follow business laws (tax, liability, DOT). And that an illegal business can land your little behind in jail for things like: tax fraud, liability lawsuits, contract violations etc…etc…etc. It is the boring, confusing, kind of scary things that get you in more trouble than anything. Jail time, huge fine, gotta sell everything I own to pay for that kind of trouble. So that’s when you need accountants, tax preparers, attorneys, real estate agents and insurance adjusters. Professionals who with some explanation on your part about what your business is can keep you from making life altering mistakes. A good accountant is worth her weight in gold. Someone you trust, who can explain to you the value of an LLC or how to use Quickbooks is an asset worth paying for.
But there are other skills you need as a business person that aren’t in particular horse skills. Decision making, networking, branding, web-design. Some ability in these areas save you money because you maybe don’t need to pay someone else to do things for you, like perhaps your website. Or maybe you generate a lot of money selling horses because you make wonderful sales videos. Equestrian businesses are “high-input” businesses, meaning, they cost a lot to make some money. So if you can save money by knowing how to do things you’d otherwise have to pay for, well you lower your inputs. If I knew in 1997 I was going to run a barn I would have Majored in Entrepreneurship and minored in Diesel mechanics.
As it is, my educational background and professional background both contribute strongly to my ability to get things not directly horse related done quickly. I’m comfortable with a myriad of computer programs, I can easily and professionally respond to emails, talk to insurance agents about claims, understand the ins and outs of ethical behavior, develop contracts and releases that shield my business from harm…whereas my husband who is a professional farrier and went to Farrier School has a much harder time getting these types of things done quickly. What takes me an hour could take him week…mostly spent asking me to do it for him. Knowing your way around the more boring, printer and scanner aspects of your computer is a necessity for your business.
So…another option for horse crazy people is to consider a “Horse Adjacent” career. Perhaps studying something else that you have an interest or a passion for, like say design. Perhaps you become a creative director and help businesses develop their brand. You’ve got a big market for that skill set: every business in the world. But, you can use those skills and specialize in part on Equestrian Businesses. Helping high end breeders market their stallions and foals. Perhaps you think Real Estate seems like a fun gig, you can specialize in Equestrian Properties while still selling houses in town. All the while using your steady income to afford your horsey lifestyle outside of work. There are options for horse people that don’t lead you full-time in the barn. If you balk at having to move a thousand bales of hay in 104 degree July heat annually as part of your barn budgeting strategy, that’s okay. You can do something meaningful that pays well and you can make it work for the horse industry as well. The options are endless for horse-adjacent careers. As I mentioned above, horse businesses require all kinds of professional services. Horse people also need: doctors, physical therapists, mental health therapists, personal trainers….the list goes on. You could find a horse-adjacent career that satisfies multiple interests in your life!
So as you move closer to deciding what you will study balance your desire to do what you love and feel a passion for vs. the reality of that passion and what that passion is going to pay you to be alive. At 17 or 18 years old it’s difficult to wrap your head around the nagging stress of not being able to afford things. Not just vacations, but being able to fill your gas tank all the way to the F and still pay your phone bill and eat all within the same week. We ancient people we’ve been there and know that nagging stress has a way of eroding away fun and passion. It’s worth giving a good think about how the horse business really works out on paper before committing 4 years of your life and student loans into something that may not work out how you’d like.