Sara was kind enough to answer some questions about her newly set up business that focuses on equine nutrition.

What is it exactly that you do?
I provide a nutrition advice service to horse owners. This includes providing a detailed analysis of the nutrient needs of the particular horse in question, preferably using a forage analysis as a starting point. I base my advice on the nutrient requirements from the NRC (2007), the Dutch nutrients requirement tables and further information from the scientific literature (for example the book Equine Applied & Clinical Nutrition and scientific journal articles) or personal communication with established professionals.

The nutrition advice can range from high level sport horses (especially endurance or eventing) to recreational horses or horses with clinical problems such as tying-up, laminitis, gastric ulcers, EMS, obesity or underweight etc.

I am also starting to write some up to date articles on aspects of nutrition for my website (Energy & Nutritional demands of endurance, Recurrent Rhabdomyolysis, balanced nutrition…).

I also provide a translation service (Dutch to English for equestrian related websites), I’m currently busy translating and writing content for a major Dutch feed company. In addition I can also provide readings or lessons in specific aspects of nutrition, for example in November I will provide schooling for ongoing education points for the Dutch Association of Equine Physiotherapists.

In this field of work, is it possible to be a full time professional and earn a liveable income?
I have just literally started out on my own. I don’t think I will be able to earn a full time liveable income (which includes two horses!), but do believe that I can earn the part-time salary which I need. At the moment I have decided to remain totally independent of any equine products so do not earn an income from selling my own or anyone else’s products. This might change in the future to increase my income, although only products that I believe are useful addition to a horses diet!

What are the general steps taken to be employed in such a role?
In the Netherlands there are no official steps to becoming an equine nutritionist. The steps I have taken include spending several years learning and reading scientific based literature about equine physiology and nutrition. Last year I started the Masters of Equine Science from the Royal Dick Veterinary College at the University of Edinburgh to further my knowledge on equine science. I have now successfully completed the exercise physiology and nutrition modules.

Favourite horse memory?
I have lots! But I think my most is seeing my thirteen year old daughter coming over the finish in her first 80km endurance race this summer on our super cool Arabian Eenhoorn’s Tabal.

Future Goals?

• To finish the Equine Science Masters
• To complete the 100 mile endurance ride over Dartmoor next year with a good friend.
• To write a book about Equine Nutrition for horse owners.
• To keep on enjoying what I do!

Best thing about your sport/profession?
I’m an endurance rider and hope to complete my first CEI* next year. The best thing about endurance here in The Netherlands is that we are quite a close-knit group and most of us are willing to muck in to organise competitions and help out with crewing. The best thing about my profession is that I am working in an area where my passion lies and do not feel constrained by a 9-5 mentality.

“Show me your horse, and I will tell you who you are.” – Author Unknown

So here’s one for you aspiring illustrators out there!  Samantha Elmhurst of Living Art Illustration and Design has taken the time to answer some questions about her career as a science illustrator.

What is it exactly that you do?
I am a Veterinary/Equine Illustrator and Designer, freelancing for publishers and corporate companies world-wide. I am also co-author of the book ‘The Horse in Motion’.

In this field of work, is it possible to be a full time professional and earning a liveable income?
Well, I started out in this career twenty-one years ago…it has it’s ‘lean’ periods where work seems to magically dry-up, panic sets in, thoughts along the lines of ‘Oh dear, time to stop playing and get a ‘proper’ job! Then work comes in – lots all at once, like the proverbial busses, and then I realise that I AM doing a proper, worthy job….it’s just the highs and lows of such a career!

What are the general steps taken to be employed in such a role?
I trained at Middlesex University in London for four years, taking an Honours Degree in Scientific Illustration. I already had a veterinary nursing background and so my knowledge of my subject was greatly enhanced.

Dedication is a must, keep your portfolio in circulation and try and get published, if possible, before graduating so that you do have something in print to show that you can be trusted to produce high quality artwork and meet deadlines. This type of career is usually on a freelance basis, there are scant in-house posts for something so niche, so it’s hard graft and getting yourself ‘known’, constant mailshots, networking, etc, and it really is hard work sometimes to keep putting yourself ‘out there’, which has to be done even during busy times because you know that all of a sudden you will finish a job and have nothing to go on to for while.

Favourite horse memory?
Lots! I could be really show-offy and say ‘cantering around the ring of a huge show with ribbons and sashes flowing from my horse and I; presentations of cup and trophies, all that jazz…but in all honesty, I think probably it was the day when I was twelve and a half (that ALL important half matters when you’re growing up!) and my parents told me that they were going to let me have a pony of my own…..the rest is history!

Future goals?
Well I do have a secret commission coming up that I am far too superstitious to share with you at this point BUT as and when it comes to fruition, it will be a huge goal achieved, and also one that I will share with you, when the time comes. Share it with the world in fact I’m so over the moon at the mere thought of it!

Best thing about your sport/profession?
Funnily enough, the best can also be the worst, ie. working from home is lovely, surrounded by my pets, a nice quiet office, just me, no other office staff to worry or care about, I can wear what I like…but it can be lonely, especially when temporarily out of work.

The quietness can drive you mad, no emails to answer, no ringing telephone, cabin fever sets in, you start to question your own self-worth; if no one is hiring you, is it because you’re no good at the job any more??

You have to keep the faith or that ever present and niggling feeling sets in, the ‘time to get a proper job’ feeling…and then things can change in an instant!

“By reason of his elegance, he resembles an image painted in a palace, though he is as majestic as the palace itself.” – Emir Abd-el-Kader