Horses and money are two of my favourite things. Education I believe is the key to improving in both of these areas.
An example – undertaking a course about horses as we have students doing at the National Centre for Equine Education helps to learn more about horses, reinforce what is already known and gain a piece of paper to say they’re qualified if competent at the end of the course. This is an example of sticking to what you know (horses) and adding to what isn’t known (learning more about horses).
Where does the money come into it? Students who completed their course last year have gained contacts and practical skills that led to employment on stud farms. Horses have the potential to be your job, or your career. What’s the difference? I guess that depends on who you ask.
For me, a job is one that you do to earn an income. This is possible solely by sticking to what you know about horses and doing this for someone else. A career for me involves adding regularly to:
• your skills base
• your horse related contacts
• your potential annual income (a higher qualification, more responsibility and capabilities can increase this)
• industry related aspirations (do you have a bucket list?)
Consider another example: this blog. This blog birthed from what I knew about horses and education, but was added to as I researched and learnt more about possible disciplines, courses and careers with horses.
Unexpected (but welcome) requests to advertise on this blog have led to earning sporadically based on what I’ve written. Adding to this, I sought out other ways that I could earn for writing about horses (hence Suite101).
A downside of writing for another and relying on that as a source of income is if things go wrong, you may be left without this financial source.
However, if I stick with what I know (this blog) and am only adding with what I don’t know (Suite101), then I can always fall back on the blog as my main source of writing horses and potential income. Anything from another source is a bonus, but shouldn’t be solely relied on.
So! Do you have a job in which you can rely on, but are able to branch out and improve your skills and possible sources of income at the same time? Perhaps this is a way to build up an impressive resume and put away a substantial amount for future goals.
“Don’t give your son money. As far as you can afford it, give him horses.” – Winston Churchill
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