horse jobs

["Olivia Greene" <greene_olivia@hotmail.com>]

I am a certified riding instructor with over 30 years teaching experience.  
Worked for many barns, at racetracks, academic schools (I ran the riding 
programs), taught a college equestrian club, and more. Over the years I 
worked my way up to my own facility and a full-time job there primarily 
instructing. I took care of the farm and animals alone too, as I couldn't 
afford help.

I too never lived in decent housing, never had much money - it nearly all 
went back into the farm and business so I could continue in the work I 
loved. I'm not complaining, it was a choice I made. I made enough to support 
my half of household expences and allow me to compete in endurance.  I had 
my own facility for 13 years.

There was one catch: I was married, the farm was in both our names, and 
although I made a small profit in my business, I could not afford the 
mortgage alone.  It became necessary for me to divorce, and my husband 
refused to let me buy him out (I hoped a house-mate would enable me to 
afford the payments).  I even had the new mortgage approval.  Unfortunately 
my husband's vindictiveness led him to forego payments, leading to 
foreclosure, leading to affecting MY credit, and to make a long story 
shorter, I lost the farm, and with it my source of income.  I even had to 
buy his "half" of my business to prevent all my horses being sold to the 
killers (who lived down the road from me and made a deal with my husband).

All this info. is to caution any one who's looking at making a living with 
horses that even if you do manage to beat the odds and support yourself 
doing something you love and are good at, you are incredibly vulnerable to 
it all being taken away - often for the precise reason that you do care 
about the animals welfare and behaving ethically.

I feel very sad to say unless you have enough independent means, it would be 
much safer to have a non-horse job for primary financial support. Otherwise 
a lifetime of work and investment can incredibly easily disappear, which is 
depressing, to say the least!

- Olivia


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