You love riding, right? Thinking you want to make a little money at it? Or even better maybe you can make a career of it? Here are several options for making money with horses:
Trainer
This seems like an obvious option, but it can be the hardest. You need a lot of riding and training experience to go train horses on your own, but there are options to still make money in the horse training industry while you learn. The best thing to do is to go work for another trainer. You can learn and get paid at the same time, and if you earn the head trainer’s trust and respect, you can become an assistant trainer. The more real-life experience, the better. New clients are going to want to know why they should spend their hard-earned money on your training. Taking on a project horse to retrain and sell can also be a viable option for some side cash.
Catch Rider
Are you an accomplished rider in the show ring? Are you confident on any type of horse? Catch riding may be a great fit for you! A catch rider is hired to ride horses in the show ring when the head trainer is already riding a horse in the class, or is too busy to ride all the horses they brought to the show. You need to be experienced in the class your are riding in, and have good timing and feel with a horse you don’t know. One caveat: if you want to keep an amateur card in most associations, riding for any form of payment can affect your amateur status. Always check with the association you are riding in.
Exercise Rider
Similar to a catch rider, an exercise rider is hired by people too busy to work their own horse. Instead of showing, you might go to their house or the barn their horse is boarded. You could offer your services to several people at the same barn as well. If you have reliable transportation and the time to go from client to client, this can be a great gig!
Riding Instructor
If you love teaching and also have a lot of experience riding horses, you may make a great riding instructor. You could help as an Assistant Instructor at an established barn or be a traveling instructor. If you have your own facility to use, then you can start a lesson barn of your own. Summer camps and clinics are other options for making money.
YouTube
Have you heard the phrase “Content Creators”? That is the title of someone that makes entertaining or informational content online. It can be on many platforms, but Youtube is the common place to post content. If you love being on camera, or have something unique and interesting about your riding life you can make videos about, content creation may be for you. Be forewarned, making money through Youtube isn’t easy, but it is still possible to be successful.
Have some other ideas for horsey careers? Comment below!
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