Comments on: The Equine Apprentice

By: Bailey

Bailey — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:23:56 +0000

So helpful! I am 15 and I started halter breaking colts as an apprentice for some people and now I have my own business! Don’t give up because anything can happen!! 🙂

By: Jazmin

Jazmin — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:58:40 +0000

This was SO helpful!! As a 15 year old, I am starting to think about doing an apprenticeship in lieu of college right after graduation. This was a great article and was very much appreciated by me so thank you!!

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 12 May 2011 18:33:46 +0000

This is such good information. And yes, I think that getting your feet wet is a very good idea.
Because you may love horses. But you don’t have what it takes to work around them day after day.

By: Carol

Carol — Tue, 03 May 2011 18:49:41 +0000

In over 25 years as a professional; I taught at private barns, competed at A shows, the Rolex, and major horse trials, and dressage shows stables, as well as teaching at vocational schools, and a college; in all those years I have learned two very important facts/ truths; the first, “the horses are the easy part”; to be a horse professional you will need to understand and deal with humans, an understanding of basic psychology, communication skills are essential; also, a good understanding of business and marketing; all the competitions and ribbons in the world are little compared to the joy of our “private and personal dealings with horses; The young horse who, comes to you in the field all on his own; the horse who suddenly understands and organizes their body in a way to make a certain question, jumping or school figure easy( that “piece of cake response” having one say “relax Mom, I’ve got it!” and they do! Coming in he barn in the morning and hearing the chorus of joyful greetings from every horse; the tiny whinny of the foals; the self realization of a young TB when they are asked to pass another horse for the first time; the pride of a show horse when they hear people cheer and clap for them!; these are rewards to be factored in with the long hours/ days; and financial worries which are part of the life as a professional; unfortunately, they do not pay the bills, vet/ farrier, or feed store; while it may be possible for some of those bills/ services; it is nice to have money in the bank; one of the smartest statements I ever heard from a student, graduating from high school who said “ I am spoiled; “ I want to have my own horse, in a certain type of stable/ level of care with a trainer, the ability and finances to compete with them as desired; therefore, I am going to college to study science; she is currently in a doctoral program which will, I trust allow her to reach her equestrian goals

By: pkl

pkl — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 05:40:00 +0000

Good article and a lot of great information.

By: horsey gal

horsey gal — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:53:50 +0000

okay good article. thanks for the info.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:40:02 +0000

This article is really good! Being an apprentice sounds like fun. (Not saying back breaking and dirty work is fun) But you also learn what needs to be done before the fun stuff. Yeah sometimes its not fun but somebody has to do it.

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:47:30 +0000

great article

By: amanda

amanda — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:21:07 +0000

Thank you for this article. After years of wanting a horse, i finally bought one last september and since then ive decided i want to ditch my job in construction and look for a career with horses. And luckily for me, my farrier who is awesome with horses offered to let me ride along with her, so far ive only been out with her once, but the experience was awesome even though all i did was pick hooves and set up tools. We also got to give a 2 yr old filly her first trim which was the first ive ever handled a young horse, i cant wait to go again!

By: Sarah - HorseJobs.ca

Sarah - HorseJobs.ca — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:36:18 +0000

What great advise!
Becoming an apprentice is an ideal way to discover the good, the bad and the ugly about a specific career within the equine industry.