Where should I start?

Given that I’ve entered the Young Event Horse Futurity with my home bred mare Tiny Dancer and I have to record frequent video logs (vlogs), I thought it may be time to start a real blog to document my journey into becoming a equine professional as well. I can’t say that I stumbled into this. It’s more that my passion was reignited and I saw an opportunity I never thought possible. You see, when I was younger, my best friend and I sat down together one day and drew up plans for an enormous boarding, training, and breeding barn that we wanted to run one day. It was huge, had two barn aisles and a massive arena for us to work in. It would’ve been incredible!

Unfortunately back then working with horses wasn’t something that my parents thought was a “career” and I was talked out of that by them and my mentor at the time for various reasons. I was told that you wouldn’t be anything if you didn’t go to school, so my career path through high school and my early 20s was always changing. I wanted to be a math teacher, or an architect. Then I decided to go into psychology, only to stumble into a career as a Database professional without even trying. None of these things were true passions of mine, they just seemed fun and interesting at the time. I was made to believe that I was a failure if I didn’t go to college, and found myself in mountains of debt before I really should’ve been. Long story short, my career as an IT professional lead me to realize that becoming a horse trainer IS achievable as a career, and if I work hard enough and pay down enough debt I CAN get there. So in 2021, I began the process of creating an online presence for my farm, with the initial hope of just covering my “husband horse” expenses, since he wasn’t riding his horse anyway.

What started out as just farm tours and a handful of lessons for anyone 18+ quickly sparked into a full blown lesson program and required me to expand my horizons and bring in more horses. I was stunned and confused, and at war with myself a bit. See I, like many people, struggle with negative self talk. When you are always telling yourself, “it will never work out”, or “no one will come to me for lessons because I don’t have anyone backing me or referring me to them”, or even, “I probably won’t be able to teach them much beyond what they might already know” you will struggle to move forward. Lucky for me, when I decided to expand my teaching offerings to ages 6+ I was swamped so quickly with clients I didn’t get the chance to really talk myself down. I also ended up with so many other local equine professionals backing me and referring people to me I was genuinely overwhelmed. 2021 brought me the most incredible realization, and most incredible opportunity in my life. I realized I CAN do this, and I AM doing this! What a thrill and a blessing to be able to finally accomplish that childhood dream of mine. And perhaps the best part was the fact that my family and my husband all came together to support it. In fact, my husband even started to challenge my negative self talk as we walked the course of the Maryland 5* as spectators. He said, “you’ll be here with Bill one day won’t you?” And of course, I responded with, “Are you crazy? I couldn’t do this, and neither could Bill.” To which he then said, “But Cali could.” And I shook my head. “Yeah, she probably could, but I don’t think that I can.” And he pointed out that I shouldn’t say that, because realistically if I tried, and had the right horse, I probably could at least get to the 2 or 3*.

Becoming a professional isn’t all unicorns and roses though. It is HARD. The vast majority of the general public probably aren’t going to see this as a real career, and you will run into people who will get frustrated with you for implementing policies around cancellations and reschedules just so you can continue to pay your bills. It’s even harder when these people know that you still have a full time job, because then this is perceived as a hobby or a side hustle and has even less respect. Just as an aside here – if you are reading this as my client, I do not direct this at you, I am simply explaining this so that others who are seeking entry into this profession are aware of what you’ll experience. I am in no way saying that any of my current clients feel this way, but I am also about to explain how this is more than a hobby, and how it consumes you as a person, so please read on if you do feel that this is just a “hobby”.

Horses consume you. They are your passion. They are your life. When you first dip your toe into the pond you’ll find that it’s incredible until you begin to rely on that money to cover your horse expenses. You’ll be ghosted by people, you’ll have no call no shows, and you’ll have people who will stick up their nose at having to cover half their lesson cost for a late notice cancel or reschedule because they have no idea the costs involved in keeping a horse happy, healthy, and ready for lessons. They don’t see the work you do, early mornings and late nights, to keep your farm looking nice and running well so you can teach them or their children. They will get upset if their child doesn’t progress as quickly as they’d like or they may even get upset if they can’t hand pick the horse they ride. You have to let this go, and you have to let the bad people go. They will weed themselves out. When you find a good group of clients they will share your passion. They will come out on the coldest nights and the hottest days. They will pay those cancellation fees or they will reschedule because they know how important keeping up with lessons is, and they also know the costs involved. I once had a parent say “I’m clearly not paying you enough for lessons” when I was explaining the costs of purchasing a horse these days. But truthfully, my goal as a trainer is to make riding affordable as much as I can. This also means I have to be strict with my policies and my boundaries and make sure people pay.

So I’ll finish this blog with two messages. One is a bit of advice for people seeking entry into this field – because YES, this is a CAREER, and the other is to people seeking to get riding lessons and training for themselves or their children.

To my readers who want to be a riding instructor or trainer: Don’t give up. Keep those boundaries strong. Create a solid plan and stick to it. Make sure you communicate effectively. Don’t reply to people when you’re angry. Don’t get so angry about a no call no show. Like I said, the bad clients will weed themselves out and it is OKAY to let them go. Be open and transparent with your clients. If you have a goal, if you’re struggling, if you need something, tell them. Believe it or not if you have a good client base they will move mountains for you, and I’m lucky enough to have experienced that already. So basically – give good and you’ll get good. And most importantly, make sure to look out for yourself. Plan days off. Make sure your expenses are covered and do not hesitate in the slightest to stick up for yourself. YOU DESERVE IT! Don’t give in to a request just because you feel like if you don’t, you’ll lose that client. Understanding people and good clients will respect your boundaries. I promise!

To my readers who are looking to get their children into riding: If they truly love the sport, prepare yourself. Make sure you’re ready for this commitment. Understand that this is their trainer’s income and career. Be courteous, and be kind. Horses are insanely expensive. Do not throw a fit when you have to pay for your lesson because you cancelled just an hour before hand. Think of it this way – you may see your cancellation as “just one lesson”, but what if everyone that was on the schedule that day thought the same thing? After a certain number of cancellations your child’s trainer can no longer pay their bills. If they can’t pay their bills, they have to sell their horses and that means no lessons for anyone! So once again, be kind, and understand this isn’t just a hobby for us. This is our life, and we willingly give it to you. We spend so much time researching, prepping lesson plans, trying to find the best way to teach you or your child. It’s hard work! Most of us take lessons with more advanced trainers to continue our own education as well so we can bring that back to our students. And on top of that we have to continue to care for all our horses or they won’t work for us. The average bag of feed is $20-40. The average bale of hay is $5-15 (small bales) or $70-200 (large bales). Most horses would go through a bag of feed per week or more, and most horses would go through half a bale of hay if not an entire bale of hay a day (small bales anyway). Not to mention that the horses need trims and/or shoes every 6 weeks which costs on average $50-150 per horse, and they need regular vet care which will run approximately $300-400 per year per horse assuming there are no emergencies. Bedding adds up even faster, and all that equipment (bridles, saddles, girths, saddle pads, horse blankets, water buckets, feed buckets, storage for feed, storage for tack, office supplies, legal fees for waivers, insurance, etc). This is not a cheap profession! We just ask for respect and courtesy, and in return we’ll move mountains to make sure that you or your child achieve all your riding goals.

The moral of this whole post is that I am immensely thankful for the client base I’ve been able to build. I am incredibly excited to train the next generation of equine professionals, or even just amateurs who enjoy riding their horses. 2022 is hopefully going to be a continued year of career growth, and lead me closer to a full time career as a horse trainer.