Things they don't teach you.

Every kid in my barn wants to turn pro when they grow up. Far be it for me to tell them they shouldn't, although they have no idea what they're in for. I knew I'd be okay when I decided to go for it because at that point I'd been teaching since junior year of high school. Which is a good thing, since going to college for an equine degree did not prepare me for the reality of working in this industry. Teaching classes, lots of barn time, not at all what you need to know. Here's the reality:

1. Liking horses is not going to make you good at this job. Everyone likes horses (except for a few of my weirdo friends who are afraid of them.) Do you ride well? Can you teach well? Can you deal with overstressed, overscheduled parents who don't understand that although they're paying for a half hour of your time, the child needs to be in the barn for at least an hour if they want to actually RIDE that half hour? Can you deal with children who are angry because they didn't get the pony they wanted to ride, afraid of a jump they cleared beautifully 5 minutes earlier, or insane from the field trip they went on at school and oh by the way had like 12 pixie sticks on the way to the farm?

2. Do you have a degree in adolescent psychology? No? Learn fast. You're dealing with hormones that you will NOT remember from your own teen years, plus adding in the equine brain just for an extra dose of crazy. Ever seen a teenage girl have a meltdown over something that happened 2 weeks prior at school while her horse is in heat and acting like an enormous freak show? It requires a VERY careful hand because someone very well could die, and it might be you if you say the wrong thing.

3. Don't worry about lesson plans. I did lesson plans for the first 6 months I taught. The crazy detailed ones that I was taught to do in college. Then I realized that 90% of the time I ended up changing the plan once I got there and realized that either the child, the horse, or a combination of both plus the wind, moon cycle, and tide changes were going to make that lesson inappropriate that day. Have a baseline for what you'd like to accomplish, but learn to improvise well.

4. This is supposed to be fun. Parents pay you to teach the child how to ride, but if that child isn't having a good time, it's all over. It doesn't matter how burnt out you are, how exhausted the 5 lessons prior made you, whether you're bummed because you were too busy to get your own riding in, you better learn how to suck it up and at least ACT like you're having a good time. I feel like a professional cheerleader in a lot of lessons, but if the kid leaves smiling, it's all good.

So there you go. Take acting, take psychology, go out for cheerleading. Maybe a few business classes, you'll be ahead of most of the industry if you can run a successful, profitable barn. Regardless of what you do, you're going to work harder than you ever thought possible, you're going to learn to love your days off (they happen approximately 4 times a year, or if it thunderstorms, snows, or is above 100 degrees/below 30), and you'll come up with a million other things you should've taken in college besides riding.