Career diaster

[horselover88]

Hi
I really love horses and I am quite experienced. I know I want a career in horses but I am not sure what I want to do. I don't want to compete e.g. be an Olympic eventer because there is too much pressure and I get nervous. I wondered about being mounted police because I love solving mysteries but my family don't want me doing such a 'dangerous' job. People have mentioned horse therapist and the more scientific side but I'm not sure that actually covers. I was really hoping for some suggestions and advice.

Thanks

 

[carthorse]

There are so many options, I think you need to narrow it down a bit. Things to ask yourself
- are you happy to be on the road a lot?
- do you want to be self-employed or employed?
- are you prepared to do more higher education or vocational training?
- do you want to work as part of a team or alone?
- do you want in depth client contact?
- do you want to ride as part of your job?
- do unsociable hours bother you?

Most jobs with horses do involve hard physical work & long hours, often not for brilliant money, and depending on what you decide it can be dangerous too. I would always suggest thinking long & hard about it, would you be better with a non-horsey job that paid enough for you to have a nice horse of your own to enjoy?

 

[newforest]

To go into the police you need to serve at least two years as an officer on patrol before you can apply for the mounted branch in the UK.
They are not necessarily the ones solving mysteries. They are the ones doing crowd control, football matches, riots, and riding in areas unsuitable for cars. You would need to cope with pressure and dealing with the public who on the most part won't be pleased to see you.
You are not limited to the UK though and as jobs go the USA and Canada might offer you a lot more variety.

You could look into training as a horse dentist, physio, farrier, jockey if you are lightweight.

 

[KP nut]

A horse therapist is a fully qualified (non horse) therapist who then does more training in equine assisted therapy in order to use horses in their work. So you'd need to train as a therapist first.

 

[Hailz22]

horse dentists are always in huge demand here, as well as knowledgeable farriers!
There's also osteos, equine vet nurse, grooms, breeding stables, etc.

 

[Hailz22]

Riding schools?

 

[squidsin]

The sensible thing would be to do a course in equine studies with a reputable agricultural college (eg the BCA, Bicton etc) and that way you can explore all sorts of horsey career options and take it from there.

 

[joosie]

Well as carthorse said you need to narrow it down as there's a lot of options! So you need to think more about your interests, skills, strengths and so on. Do you want to go down an academic path / do you actually enjoy studying the sciences (if not, that will weed out quite a few options!) / would you rather have a hands-on practical based job / would you like something that allows you to go self-employed / etc etc.