Full Careers - Back up career to barrel racing??

Back up career to barrel racing??

Hi, When I get older, I want to be a professional barrel racer. But, obviously I can't be teh next Martha Josey over night. (I'd LOVE to though!!!) So, I need another career, also, one that will give me time enough to ride my horses, but has enough pay to support my horses and future family! Thanks, and if you have any links or anything, please tell me! p.s. I'd love to work with horses or cats/dogs in my other career, if possible. :)

Public Comments

Well, win a bunch of awards, money and have tons of crudentials, then you can teach students! Hows that? Good luck!
Well That is my dream too!~ In my town If you pass all 4 levels on 4-H you get a schollarship so I am going to do that and I am also going to do Highschool rodeo and I dont know if ur county has that too but One of my friends did the same thing and she has a full payed schollarship and she graduated this year so she has ppl offering to pay her to train there horses and she is still rodeoing so I plan to do it that way and I also attened my local barrel club I try to do anything to get my name out there and I hope it can work for you I wish you the best of luck!
The problem with odds and end jobs in horse training or care is that they are nickel and dime jobs and simply will not provide a sufficient income to maintain yourself, a horse and let a lone a family. You will need to set your sites high and attend an agricultural based university such as Michigan State University. MSU recently built the Mary Anne McPhail Equine Performance Center. Students that focus on equine veterinary medicine have the opportunity to work on research projects such as "Effect of Rider Posture on Weight Distribution on the Saddle", "Kinematic Data from the Spanish Riding School" and "Gait Analysis of Horses During Circling". Many students bring their horses with them and board at local stables. Other students study animal science and husbandry. Iowa State University has an Equine Program in it's Animal Science department that has won awards by the AQHA. A degree in any one of these areas will allow you to make the kind of income required to support a horse and a family. You will have professional skills that other horse people in your community will turn to. People that are deeply connected to horses find hard work not so hard but rewarding when the focus is on the horse. Links follow below on the programs mentioned as well as a list of agricultural universities in your area. There are grants available and don't forget one of the most basic: the Pell Grant. Arrange a visit with a guidance counselor in your chosen department to prepare your way while in high school.
You could use your barrel racing experience to train horses. If you love dogs and cats, think about becoming a veterinarian - take some college courses around your barrel racing career. You could find a shelter or vet clinic that works with large or small animals, and see if they're hiring. That way, if you do decide to go into veterinary medicine, you'll already have the basic gist of how things go.
DeepBlue said it right on. I second that answer.
I think that your ambition is great and love to see young people so interested in horse related occupations. I would say that the best career I have seen that combines the two (money & barrel racing) without having to be a professional barrel racer, is equine chiropractics. More specificaly a company called Animal Krackers. If you have ever been to a NBHA or large jackpot barrel race you may have heard of them. They are a husband and wife team. The wife barrel races, but while she is at a large barrel race she also adjusts horses. At a barrel race of over 400 entries a day, and $75.00 a horse.. you can say she makes a pretty decent living on the percentage she works on. Equine chiropractics has a very large market in the barrel racing industry and there are not many out there. Just an idea for you..hope it helps
Something I'm interested in is Equine Massage Therapy. You could offer your services at events and rodeos to all of the contestants horses. Then you could still be invovled with the industry even if you aren't a World Champion.
Training horses or equine massage would be great ! I barrel race in NBHA,BFA, and IPRA. Also learn as much as you can, from the professional. I outran Martha Josey & Orange Smash about 10 years ago at the AQHA congress sweepstakes barrel class. I can tell you it's very diffcult to manage family, career, and stay on top in this event. However if you want it bad enough amazing things will come your way !