Sustainability is something that appeals to many in today’s society.  Recently I stumbled across The Sustainable Horse – a place online that promotes sustainable products for the horse industry.

The Place for Eco-Minded Horse Lovers.  The founder of the Sustainable Horse says of it’s creation, “Having loved horses all my life I found it difficult to find equestrian products that matched my lifestyle. It seemed that if you love nature and care about sustainability and want to apply that to your equestrian life, it takes days of research to find what you are looking for. That needed to change!

Articles, a brand guide and eco-market with products are all available on the site.  You can follow them on Twitter, too!

“Be wary of the horse with a sense of humour.” – Pam Brown

This week’s letter is G. If you missed last week’s Friday Feature, take a look at Foaling Attendant.

Well since the last time the letter G was covered in a Friday Feature, a new career relating to horses has been added!  If you’re keen to see the numerous careers covered on this site (150+!), take a look at Vocation 100.

A groom has a role that is very hands on with horses.  This task may also fall under the category of stable hand or even strapper, depending on the industry that the role is carried out in.  In short, they are in charge of the horse’s health and welfare as well as their presentation.

Someone who is interested in work as a groom may find their tasks consist of:

• Feeding and watering particular horses
• Exercising them (lunging, riding, hand walking)
• Preparing them to be ridden by a rider, trainer or owner (by grooming them and tacking them up)
• Warming up and cooling down particular horses
• Dealing with basic first aid treatments
• Turning the horses out to a high standard (this may involve washing them, grooming, plaiting, braiding and clipping)

A professional show or sale groom is one who is employed to make a horse look it’s best for a competition or sale.  Being able to turn horses out to a high standard and paying attention to detail are strengths that will help in this profession.  It should be expected that weekend work will be commonplace, too, as most often shows occur then and sales can go over these days.

For posts that relate to this area of work on Equus-Blog, take a look at:

• Profile On: Stacey Sikorski, Professional Show Groom

“All horseback riding is great until you go to a $40 show for a 75c ribbon.” – Author unknown

So this was posted on LinkedIn recently and I think is worth sharing.  Sarah Chase, the Chief Business Officer at Horse Lifestyle TV stated:

The Equus Film Festival, the only international film festival featuring equestrian and horse films/media, will be coming to New York City November 21st – 22nd. We are looking for a title sponsor at: $2,500 and two VIP level sponsors at $1,000 — excellent way to get your premier brand in front of Manhattan audience made up of Indie film buffs and dedicated equestrians. There are over 35 films entered over 2-days with red carpet evenings, celebrity film guests, and a special VIP wrap party. This is Cannes for Horse People!
Email: sarah@horselifestyle.tv if you’d like to be part of this great event!
Tickets, through Fandango, will go on sale in September … the more sponsors, the lower we can keep the tickets!

Although here in the Southern Hemisphere the big attraction of the Spring Racing Carnival is months away, it’s summer racing months in the Northern Hemisphere!  I’ve touched on Bookmaking before, with regards to a potential career with horses that also requires a head for figures.

Whilst betting on horse racing can make some people a nice bit of pocket money every now and again, being the person to provide the betting service may be a better gamble.  With today’s technology and the opportunity to set up programming and math systems on a website, it may even be possible to entertain such a horse related career choice from the comfort of a home computer.

Of course, if you have a passion for horses, business and figures, you may also like to consider the idea of accounting for horse related businesses.  There are many, many career options out there for the enthusiastic horse fan.

“Canter is the cure for every evil.” – The Book Of Horse Quotes