Sitemaps

What could I do with equine studies2007-11-24 21:21:25

I am interested in double majoring equine studies with biology.

The reason is because I want to learn more about horses, especially how to train them and ride them.

The only problem is I want job security for when I graduate from college.

Answers:

When I was in college, there were of us (myself and five friends) who majored in Animal Science because we wanted to work with horses.

Thirty years later, there's only one of us who is peripherally working with horses: she's a free-lance illustrator who has done a lot of work on equine publications.

The bottom line is that with a college degree in equine studies, there really isn't a lot you can do. Teach, maybe, at the high school or junior college level, if you can find a job.

You might be able to use the degree to find a job in the "front office" part of a racetrack, but if you want to work hands-on with horses, especially as a trainer, then hands-on experience is much more important than college coursework.

I have to say this: one of the six of us who graduated with animal science degrees, my best friend, did find a job working as an assistant trainer on a standardbred training center out in Chino, CA. She spent close to 15 years working with horses, doing everything from breaking yearlings to conditioning horses for the track. She said she loved the work.

But after 15 years, she was living in a mobile home at the training center that had electricity but no other utilities. She had to shower and get water from a communal bathroom used by other people, had to use communal toilet facilities. She was working 12-hour days with one day off per week. She had no medical insurance, and when she ended up having to use the eye ointment she'd gotten for her dog to treat her own eye infection because she couldn't afford anything else, she decided to leave the training business. She now works as a mutuel clerk.