Hey everyone, it’s Krista with SaddleBox and in today’s video I’m going to be sharing some tips for becoming a horse trainer.
Okay, so the first tip I have for those wanting to become a horse trainer is to learn as much as possible. This can be done by shadowing trainers, taking lessons, reading books, watching videos, and maybe even interning with a reputable trainer in your area.
This is super, super important because knowledge is power. You need to know if this industry is actually for you, if this job is actually for you, so doing as much research as possible, keeping an open mind, and just soaking up information really, really helps you and it also helps you learn if you actually want to do this.
Okay, so tip number two for those wanting to become a horse trainer would be to get a job maybe related to horses, but it may not be directly training horses. So this could include giving really basic kid lessons to people who are just wanting to know the basics on horses, it may be you’re cleaning stalls, you may assist trainers or help get horses ready.
I know a popular job that’s becoming more and more relevant is being a “loper,” where you just get horses out and exercise them and lope them around and then put them away.
So yeah, just getting your feet wet, getting in the industry, working your way up, and then you can maybe get a job in your local area of doing one of these things. Again, it may not directly involve training horses, but at least you are getting experience and you are in the right field.
So tip number three, and this is one is pretty important, is practice on your own horses or maybe friends’ horses. Make quality horses, train these horses, before you ever offer services to the public. So for example, I train a lot of young horses and I get them started under saddle. It’s probably one of my most popular services that I offer and it’s something that I’m pretty well-known for in my area.
But before I ever offered these services to the public or did this for money, I essentially practiced on number one, my own horses, and number two, horses of friends, and I also was able to have a mentor who kind of taught me the ropes and again, this is where having a lot of knowledge, keeping an open-mind, and knowing a lot of different styles of practices kind of comes into play.
So through this, I was kind of able to make my own opinion and get my own program started. So I basically had at least six-to-eight quality – emphasis on quality – horses started that I was able to do trial and error on, basically as practice for starting horses for the public. So I had, again, six-to-eight quality horses started on my own before I ever opened my services up to the public.
So that’s something very, very important that you want to do before you ever take someone else’s horse, or their baby essentially, and practice your training methods on them.
So tip number four is to receive or try to get some sort of certification in the horse-training industry. So there are actually a lot of things you can do to get a training certification, however, they are definitely not required for this industry. I know a lot of very, very famous horse trainers and just general horse trainers in my area do not have any sort of certification.
I do not have any sort of certification other than just experience, and really that is all you need. However, sometimes having a certification or going through the process of getting a certification can kind of help you get started. One that I am most familiar with is the Down Under certification that you can get. It’s associated with Clinton Anderson and it’s basically a school and you learn how to do a bunch of different things with horses.
You learn the method that Clinton Anderson uses, and then they kind of promote you at the end of that and basically say where you are, and say if you offer training to the public or something, and it kind of gets you a really good start in the industry, and then people know that you use a certain method and if they like that method, they are more inclined to send their horse to you.
So that is another route you can do; however, just know that it’s definitely not something you have to do, but it may be helpful, especially if you don’t have as much experience with horses and you need more hands-on experience, if you can get a certification of some sort, that could definitely help.
Okay y’all, so my fifth and final tip for those wanting to become a horse trainer, so you already have information, you already know this is definitely something you want to do, it works with your lifestyle, you are fully committed to being a horse trainer, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.
If you are still in the learning phase and you are trying to earn a shadow position or an internship position with another trainer, the worst they can say is no. So don’t be afraid of rejection, it’s totally normal when you’re first starting out. Don’t get yourself too down about it and just push forward and know that everyone starts somewhere.
Okay y’all, that’s it for this video. I hope you enjoyed it and I’ll see you in the next one.