Full Careers

Help me find a school that offers career training in horsemanship?

I want some sort of career around horses. I don't know exactly what direction to go. I've had horses all my life, but I know that when you're looking for jobs people want to know what you've done. I don't have any resume to offer. Only that I am passionate about this and this is what I want to do. I live in southern Ky, and can't relocate to another town now. Are there any local schools or online training that can help me get some sort of certification where I could show future employers that not only do I have life exp. , but I also had schooling on the subject as well?

Public Comments

1. Auburn is the only one i know about so far.
2. There's Midway which has some of the best programs in the country and that's near Lexington. http://www.midway.edu/
3. This isn't really close but William Woods University is the best "horse" college out there. They teach you in all diciplines and teach you to teach ithers and train horses. I think there is also equine vet program there too. Basically all of the things you can do with horses is taught at William Woods
4. I do not know if you will find the right school locally. But I highly recommend you visit william woods university in fulton missouri, or meredith manner (somewhere in virginia...they have a webpage), cazenovia college in upstate new york, Johnson and whales university in providence rhode island has an excellent equine business program and SUNY of cobleskill new york has a phenominal equine program as well. Good Luck you'll find the right one.
5. There are some very wonderful colleges and universities offering degrees in equine studies, but if you are unable to go to them, right now, you can do some other things. One thing you can do is begin doing some investigating into the equine professionals in your area. Talk to people and find out who is respected in training, riding lessons, or any other area that involves horses. Then continue your investigations into who may offer or be willing to consider an apprenticeship for you at their establishment. My daughter did this with a trainer. We happened to contact the particular barn just asking about boarding, but then we found out the high level of horse training they provided. Eventually she did a short apprenticeship for her high school community service, and then a longer one after that concluded. The trainers, of course, are not very likely to offer this for "free", so you may need to do what my daughter did: She cleaned stalls, did chores, turned horses out, etc. in return for the "training" she received. She followed this with breaking horses at her own barn. See if there are people who are willing to work with you. There are often people in the industry who you would not even know exhist, if you did not look around and ask questions. One place to find information might be at a horse expo, but really, just start talking to people. Ask who trains? Who is respected? Who do people go to? Do check into their reputation, and bring someone else along to assess them and their situation. Another place you might be able to get some additional experience is possibly with horse rescue leagues. If you devote some time with them, they would probably be happy to write some sort of letter of recommendation, and you would probably gain very valuable experience. If you already know how to do some training, they may be willing to let you work with some of their horses to make them more appealing to people who would like to adopt them. Or they may just need gentle handling to make them more trusting of people if they have been abused. Also, have you checked the University of Kentucky?
6. There are lots of private schools, colleges and Universities available. Many of the popular clinicians offer certification programs(they are not inexpensive). However, these clinicians have certified trainers some certified to certificate others, in all areas of the country, yours included. Poster "Prints" offers great advice for a horse career without a great deal of financial expense. The young man that worked as stable boy/groom for one of our trainers now has his own training stable and has surpassed his mentor. Try to narrow down what arena(no pun intended) you what to find a career in. I know that currently Equine/large ruminant vets are in very short supply, its a career that is respected and pays well. Hope this helps. Good luck and God Bless.
7. For your resume. Go to your friends and family around you that know you and ppl you have worked around or for and have them write you a reference. I don't know if they have a National American Business College around you but they do have classes on horsemanship. Know a couple of gals that are going there.
8. Parkland Community college in Champaign, IL has a good 2-year equine program.