Could you do the same?

Equine Clipping Business

Originally from Long Island, N.Y., 34-year-old Kristen Abano was a horse girl who majored in communications and English. After college, she worked in office administration at Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists in Elmont, N.Y., for a year before relocating to south Florida. Eager to be more hands-on in the equine industry, Abano began working as a veterinary technician at Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington, Fla.

“Once I got into vet med, I thought that would be where I’d work the rest of my life,” she says. “That was my dream job at the time, but the burnout is real in that industry. Toward the end of my time as a vet tech, I started doing some grooming [for private clients]. When I left the clinic in early 2020, I started my own business as a professional groom and made it a legal operating entity in 2021.”

It took three years for Centerline Equine Clipping to create full-time income, but the business has doubled every year. Her own horse, Ace, a Haflinger/Quarter Horse cross, models for her business marketing photos.

Centrally located near the show horse hub of Wellington, Fla., Abano is able to service south and southwest Florida. She works on everything from six-figure show horses to the 40-year-old backyard pony.

“Body clipping is not just about aesthetics; some horses need this medically,” says Abano. “Take Cushing’s horses, for example: I have these on a four- to six-week schedule to stay ahead of their coat growth, otherwise they may develop further health complications.”

While most of her business is body clipping, Abano offers plenty of other services, including sheath cleaning, mane tidying, private client grooming for shows, and preparing horses for photo sessions.

“Photoshoot prep is one of my favorite services,” she says, noting that she can do all the grooming and hand over an immaculate photo-ready horse, or stay for the duration of the shoot to help with details and getting ears up.

“My favorite part of what I do is getting horses to look and feel their best,” she adds.

Working Thoroughbred Sales

In 2023, an amazing 14,462 Thoroughbreds sold at public auction in North America for gross receipts of $1.2 billion. The average price per horse was $86,114.

Consignors who sell horses at these auctions routinely hire workers who specialize in preparing and handling horses at the sales. The most talented are able to work sales exclusively, rather than working on farms. On average, these consignors pay sales workers $250 to $300 per day.

Giovanni (Gio) Garcia, 31, of Little Village, Ind., has built a reputation as a top hand and makes a living working the country’s biggest Thoroughbred sales.

Garcia wasn’t raised with horses, but he’s consistently worked in the equine industry since starting as a groom at Tampa Bay Downs in 2012.

“I started coming to Ocala and working as an exercise rider and groom on a farm,” says Garcia. “Someone asked me about working sales and told me I could make more money doing that.”

He experienced this firsthand in 2020 when he worked for Claiborne Farm at the Keeneland yearling sale in Lexington, Ky. It was there Garcia found his niche. Since then, he’s been hired by sales consignors to work at Thoroughbred sales in Florida, Kentucky, Maryland and New York.

“I go wherever the horses go,” says Garcia.

During the longest sales, he may be away from home 16 days at a stretch. Once the horses ship in, the days are long and intense with no time off until the sale ends.

Whether he’s tacking up and wrapping the legs of a 2-year-old before a breeze show (where buyers get to watch the horse have a timed workout on the track before the auction) or showing rambunctious yearlings to prospective buyers, Garcia’s focus is always making sure the horses look their best.

“Whether it’s cold, raining, or hot, I love what I do,” he says. “I love horses and I’m paid to do something I love.”

Paul Sharp, one of the industry’s top 2-year-old consigners, sees Garcia’s passion.

“He’s reliable, knowledgeable, communicates well, and has a good touch. He definitely has a passion for the horses.” Ocala-based Sharp has hired Garcia to work all of his consignments since 2021.

As Sharp explains, an experienced hand like Garcia understands what’s at stake with the big sales and pays close attention to detail.

When he’s not working a sale, Garcia is home spending time with his family—his wife Courtney and their almost 2-year-old son, Giovanni Jr.

“He loves horses and already has a pony,” Garcia says with a smile.

Supplement Business

When Jerry Miller was a young man cowboying in Wyoming, he never imagined owning an equine supplement company.

Raised in Sheridan, Wyo., Miller went into the U.S. Navy after graduating high school. After serving his country, he moved to Seattle and worked as a welder for 12 years.

Miller then earned his mechanical engineering degree and moved to Idaho after graduating college in 2002. For the next 15 years, he traveled across the U.S. working as a consulting engineer for a company that built food and beverage processing systems.

“Between my ranching, welding and engineering experience, I was able to come up with new ways for my clients to make money,” says Miller. “I was always on the lookout for a way I could be my own boss.”

That opportunity came in 2019, when Miller wrote an engineering proposal for a nearby CBD oil extraction lab. The owner ended up hiring Miller as the production manager to design and run his extraction lab in Oregon.

“I learned everything I could about the product and processing it,” says Miller.

When he realized the company threw away the hemp after extracting the CBD oil to use in human products, he sent samples for testing. When the results came in, his entrepreneurial mind started spinning.

Testing revealed the hemp contained no THC, but was rich in 18 amino acids that fuel hoof, bone, skin and hair growth, repair muscle, manage weight, and help mental focus, among numerous other benefits.

After doing a trial with horse-owning friends and seeing how readily horses ate it, Miller knew he had a viable product. From there, it was a matter of researching the best way to dry the hemp, grind it, and process it into a supplement.

Miller officially launched Remount on May 1, 2020, during the early days of the pandemic. His company is registered in Idaho and his production shop is located across the border in Ontario, Ore.

Remount is a 100 percent hemp amino acid CBD equine health supplement. It contains 18 vital amino acids, including lysine, methionine, leucine, and more. The supplement is available in both powder and pellet form.

“I put some money in the business to get it rolling, but it was paying for itself by the second year and became profitable by year three,” says Miller. “I’ve seen a 30 to 40 percent increase in sales since 2021.”

In addition to selling online through Remount’s website, Miller has the supplement in eight retail locations in five states, and he has 12 distributors in 10 states.

This fall, he is heading south in his fifth wheel to spend the entire winter in Arizona, doing vendor booths at horse events from November through March.

Advice for Making an Equine Career Happen

Do you have what it takes to launch a career in the equine world?

“There are many ways you can make a living working with horses,” says Abano. “Find what you’re good at and figure out how to make money at it. Make sure it’s something you enjoy and are passionate about. If you’re offering a service, you have to love it.”

Miller recommends researching first.

“Find something no one else is doing and go for it,” he says.

If you’re marketing a product, be prepared to give away samples in the first year to get people to try it. Sponsoring good competitors who use your product also helps get the word out.

For obvious reasons, location matters if you’re offering a service. For example, Abano’s proximity to Wellington and her ability to travel in south Florida set up her business for success.

During show season in Idaho, Miller has a vendor booth at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, which hosts many shows and equine events, allowing him to showcase his product to horse people from a variety of states and different breeds.

Next, don’t skimp on appearances. A professional website is crucial when you’re launching a business. Miller says “before and after” photos of horses using his supplement have really helped promote Remount.

Finally, take advantage of social media and make the most of your connections.

“Wahl reached out to me after having followed my social media for a few months and asked me if I would be interested in joining their Pro Equine team,” says Abano. “Professionally, having this credential behind my name makes my business more competitive and marketable.” She is now a Wahl ambassador and educator who exclusively uses Wahl Animal products.

“I have consistent sales in over 25 states,” says Miller. “I couldn’t have gotten sales in some of those states without social media. I do a lot myself and have 15 to 20 sponsored competitors who talk about the brand on social media.”

This article about niche equine jobs appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Niche Equine Jobs appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Amy isn’t an Olympic rider, but her work helps to support Olympic-level horses: She’s the marketing manager for horse products made by W.F. Young. These are the people who make Absorbine liniments, ShowSheen coat conditioner, Ultra Shield fly masks, and more.

About 60 percent of Amy’s work time is spent in the office in Massachusetts, putting together ads (like the ones you see in Young Rider) and other promotions. She works on sponsorships for riders and shows and with others at W.F. Young to introduce new products.

During the rest of her work time, Amy travels to shows and events and meets with customers. “I’ve had the opportunity to attend events like the FEI World Cup and Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, and to travel to parts of the country that I would not likely have seen otherwise,” she says. “I also get to meet a lot of great people.”

Equine Business Marketing – Amy’s Career Path

“I was a typical horse-crazy girl and would eagerly accept the chance to ride any horse that friends or family would let me ride,” Amy says. She joined 4-H when she was 8 years old and did barn chores in exchange for lessons. She learned about horse care and “everything from dressage and eventing to endurance riding and gymkhana.”

Amy knew horses would always be part of her life, but she also liked her business-administration classes in college. “It was important to me to finish college and have a degree so that I had options for my career,” she says.

Her marketing job involves the business topics that she’s interested in, plus she helps people get products that help their horses at the same time.

Her job is busy, but Amy makes time to ride dressage with Degas ggf, an 11-year-old Zweibrücker gelding owned by Suzanne Markham of Divinity Dressage.

Marketing Jobs

There are jobs similar to Amy’s available all over the horse world. Behind everything you buy—from horse feed and stall bedding to riding boots and helmets—there are people working behind the scenes in sales and marketing. These jobs may involve writing, photography, graphic design, social media, event planning and customer service.

If these sound interesting to you, Amy suggests finding someone you can shadow, or better yet, find an internship position so that you can really see what the job you are interested in is all about.

Amy says one of her secrets to success is simple: reading! “You never know when something you read may become relevant to caring for your horse or even helping you land your dream job, so always keep learning.”

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2017 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post YR Career Files: Equine Business Marketing appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Mary Schreiber has been massaging horses and dogs since 1989. She also started the first equine massage school so others can learn how to properly help horses. This seems like a job for someone who’s been around horses from the very beginning, but Mary didn’t even start riding until her youngest daughter became interested in horses. “I didn’t grow up with horses or dogs, but it’s like a switch came on,” she says.

Soon, Mary and her daughter were managing a boarding stable. “We were hooked, and it went on from there,” she says.

Her first massage client was a German Shepard named Duchess, and her first group of horses were racehorses in Philadelphia. She saw amazing results, including horses suddenly winning races, so she moved on to bring massage’s benefits to show horses.

“It can never be a substitute for veterinary medicine, but it’s a different approach to well-being,” Mary says. “It’s an extra step in horse care.”

Equine Massage Therapist Career – In Real Life

Massage therapy is a physically demanding, year-round job. (Of course, massage therapists are often busier during the show season.) Therapists manipulate the muscles of these huge animals, who sometimes require a surprisingly light touch, but may also need some elbow grease.

Massage therapy is a mentally challenging job, too, because therapists are required to know the muscles in the body, how they interact, and how to work on them. Plus, you need to know how to handle different horses with sometimes challenging personalities.

“It’s a therapy that’s designed to be immediate,” says Mary. “You come away knowing you’ve made a difference not just to the horse but also to the owner.”

Just like lots of horsey jobs, equine massage therapists don’t always get weekends or holidays off. When Mary first started her massage business, she’d take any opportunity to work on horses, including on holidays.

She recalls one Easter meal where she left before dessert was served because she had to work on clients who were leaving town the next day!

Getting Here

The youngest student in Mary’s Equissage equine massage therapist training program was 14 years old, and the oldest was 69 years old, proving you can’t be too young or too old to learn about bodywork.

Learning proper technique is important; you have to know what you’re doing so that you actually help the horse and don’t accidentally hurt him. Equissage was the first equine massage school. Now there are in-person and online certification programs across the country.

With certificate in hand, it shouldn’t be hard to find horses to practice on, but then the tough part comes in building a business.

When Mary first started out, she declared, “I am going to massage every horse in the world!” This might sound like a crazy idea, but with more than 20,000 people who have gone through Mary’s training program, her influence is spreading.

This article about the career of an equine massage therapist originally appeared in the November/December 2017 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post YR Career Files: Hands-on Horse Experience appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.