I am considering a career in horses and would like to become a professional a Horseack riding Instructor. Is this a viable career? If so, how much could I expect to earn as first year instructor with over 10 years of riding and showing experience (Hunter Jumper & Eventing).
A lot depends on how good you are and how well you are known. 10 yrs of experience isn’t all that much in the horse world, unless all of it was higher competition showing. Also, if you have school horses available for those who want lessons, but do not have horses, you can get more business.
First year- you won’t make much. You need to build your clientele up- maybe you will have 3-4 people get lessons once a week, and 4 people every 2 weeks or so. They will pass your name around, or you can advertise (make sure you have any awards or horses you have trained listed by your name- if they see actual work, more people are likely to go wtih you).
Unless there is a huge shortage of instructors, don’t bet on making any decent money until you have a firm client base started. You can also get more clients by being willing to travel to their house and give lessons.
I pick my instructors 1st by how they are doing, or did in the show world. I do dressage, and all of my instructors have upper level (3rd or beyond) horses and have showed successfully at that level for at least 5-6 years. They also need to beable to portray what I need to do successfully, and try different methods if one way doesn’t work with my horse.
Your best bet is to find a barn that is in need of a trainer/instructor. Then you will have a set number of clients in the beginning, and can expand from there. If you charge cheaply, you may get more people to come- you will make less per lesson, but overall make more money. Once you have creditials as an instructor, you can raise it. basic hunter/jumper lessons are about $20-$30/hr here, and if you want a well known trainer, they are $40-$50/hr or so. Dressage (I am not sure where eventing fits, since it is a mix of everything) is usually $35 min, and can get to well over $100.
Just giving lessons, unless you are a top national rider, really doesn’t pay well since there are so many people able to give lessons for various prices. Most I know also train horses, which gets you a bit more money than just lessons.
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it depends on if you own the stable, or just work from it. you will do better for yourself if you just work at the stable because owning one takes alot of work and money, trust me. if you are good at what you do you can charge quite a bit for group and private lessons and when you think about how much your getting per hour, thats very good. so to answer your question, yes you can make a very decent amount of money if you have hours filled and good prices. it also helps if you train horses as well, it gives you a better name and you can make lots of money from that as well.
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owned a stable, taught and trained
A lot depends on how good you are and how well you are known. 10 yrs of experience isn’t all that much in the horse world, unless all of it was higher competition showing. Also, if you have school horses available for those who want lessons, but do not have horses, you can get more business.
First year- you won’t make much. You need to build your clientele up- maybe you will have 3-4 people get lessons once a week, and 4 people every 2 weeks or so. They will pass your name around, or you can advertise (make sure you have any awards or horses you have trained listed by your name- if they see actual work, more people are likely to go wtih you).
Unless there is a huge shortage of instructors, don’t bet on making any decent money until you have a firm client base started. You can also get more clients by being willing to travel to their house and give lessons.
I pick my instructors 1st by how they are doing, or did in the show world. I do dressage, and all of my instructors have upper level (3rd or beyond) horses and have showed successfully at that level for at least 5-6 years. They also need to beable to portray what I need to do successfully, and try different methods if one way doesn’t work with my horse.
Your best bet is to find a barn that is in need of a trainer/instructor. Then you will have a set number of clients in the beginning, and can expand from there. If you charge cheaply, you may get more people to come- you will make less per lesson, but overall make more money. Once you have creditials as an instructor, you can raise it. basic hunter/jumper lessons are about $20-$30/hr here, and if you want a well known trainer, they are $40-$50/hr or so. Dressage (I am not sure where eventing fits, since it is a mix of everything) is usually $35 min, and can get to well over $100.
Just giving lessons, unless you are a top national rider, really doesn’t pay well since there are so many people able to give lessons for various prices. Most I know also train horses, which gets you a bit more money than just lessons.
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It depends! lol
How good are you at marketing? Do you have your own facilities or are you going to have to work for someone else?
Lessons are expensive and you can make good money while you’re working but most students want to ride when they aren’t working or in school, so that makes lots of evening, weekend and summer work just when you might want to be doing something else, like maybe showing.
Insurance will take a huge cut as will upkeep for the lesson horses and if you work for someone else they’ll take a good sized cut of your lessons so there often isn’t much left.
It can take a long time to build up a clientele. It also takes awhile to develop your teaching abilities.
So, I say to find another way to pay the bills while you develop your instructing career.
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The Equestrian industry is dependant on wealthy parents to shell out big $$$ for their kids to compete and win. If you can get the credentials behind you and get in with a successful stable as an assistant instructor and trainer you could earn a living and most of your show expenses like travel & meals would be write-offs. You earn your way up the ladder. If you are loaded with $$$ you could build a barn and make a go of it yourself. Typically you get 10-20 dollars per pupil per hour for lessons and the same for training or showing a horse. Call around to the show stables in your area and inquire about lessons and training fees.
You should go to college and plan for a career other than the horse industry, You can always disregard your degree and work in horses, BUT you will have a harder time going to and paying for college later in life, esp. if you already have kids and a mortgage. You will regret not going to college in your early 20’s and earning a degree that will support you and a family. Go to a college with an equestrian program, take your horse, meet industry professionals and make a namew for yourself all while earning a degree. Good Luck to you!
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I started at $10 an hour and worked up to $50. It depends on the area, your stable, your clientele, etc. I typically charge much less for small children than for students that are advanced and require hard work. But, remember the expenses are really staggering…you have to offset the instruction with training, breeding, showing, hauling, etc, anything to bring in more income. Insurance can be a crippling expense, be sure you look into it.
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When I was 19 I started to go to school to be a Manager/Trainer until I really researched the career and realized that money was far and few between! Yes there can be money in being a riding instructor, but for the majority of people there is not. There is no reason why you could not make the majority of your income in a different career and teach on the side to make some extra. Where I live I have watched countless instructors realize that they cannot make a living merely off teaching lessons and have to go out and find an outside job.
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honestly, i am not a trainer, and have had more experiance than you. trainer is a word that is used very loosely. sure, you could get a group of kids together, teach a few lessons a week, take them to a horse show 2 times a year and say you are a trainer. but to me you are just another backyard barn trying to make a quick buck off of people. and if you do have as much experiance as you say, then you would know that horse trainers make sh*t for money. the only ones who do really well are the big names who show around the country and have a loyal group of talented riders who not only win classes, but get sponsers, catchrides, and free word of mouth advertising.
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Depends on where you live and experience. A good school is Meredith Manor where you can learn to teach. Not everyone can teach even though they may be able to ride. I went through the only British Horsemaster course in the U.S.
A professional can make any where from $30 to $165 and hour, but once again you have to build a reputation in an area and you have to be good to get the big money. Insurance and liability is a big thing now in the U.S.
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Alot of what you can charge also depends on where you live. I grew up in NY andnow live in FL. Growing up I never paid more than 30 dollars a lesson. I’ve been training professionally for 18 years now…I’ve worked for alot of big trainers….In NY lessons go for abou 30-40 dollars….the barn I just left in NY I was getting 50 a lesson. Now I’m in FL and lessons run from 30 – 60 dollars at your regular barns. I get 50 still….we’ll be going to HITS in Jan. So alot of it can also depend on where you live. Good Luck!!!
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It depends on a multitude of factors. Honestly, 10 years in this business isn’t very long. What you should be doing is looking for any and every opportunity to learn…clinics, courses, get a mentor, etc. Nowadays, serious competitors who have and are willing to pay the big bucks to trainers are looking for credentials, proof that you’re the one they should be learning from. What have you done? How far have you gone? What makes you so good that you should be teaching my daughter? (just examples)
Most people in the horse business have realized that horses don’t make money…they eat it. for most people it is a hobby, and a lot of us feel that we might as well go literally feed our horses our paychecks. To have your own stable full of horses and give lessons or board other people’s horses doesn’t usually make money unless you already have the money to put into it.
If you want to teach the best way to get started is to find yourself a mentor, work towards some kind of credentials, start small working for a barn teaching the little kids then you can have a clientel to grow with. You’ll likely start off charging something in the neighbourhood of $20 to $30 student/per lesson but the barn will take a cut (maybe up to %50). Keep in mind, even if you have your own horses to use you need to pay all their expenses plus the # of students you can have in a lesson is maxed out at the # of horses you can provide per lesson (ideally no more than 4 students per lesson or the quality is sacrificed and students won’t like that)…ideally a school horse should only do a max of 2 lessons per day with at least one day off per week. But what if one or two or even more of your horses are lame at the same time? It’s much easier to work for a stable than to own and run one.
You should also consider the insurance…what happens if one of your students falls off and gets hurt, or worse? You need to pay money for insurance or the barn you work for needs to have you covered.
I’m not trying to turn you off teaching but you do need to consider everything. Just do your research and ALWAYS keep learning. Even the best coaches have teachers.
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There are good trainers that make almost nothing and lousy but smooth salemen trainers/talk a good talk/look good in breeches and high boots/etc. who make a fortune. good luck
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