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Taking outside clients vs. Buying, training, then reselling?n

2K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  smrobs 
#1 ·
Hey everyone.

With my graduation coming up I'm thinking about where I want to work for the next year until I start college. I'm also thinking about what I should do while I'm in college. Here's what I've been thinking, and the pros and cons I've came up with for each choice.

Go back to being a kennel technician:
Pros-
1. It looks good on my college application (to pre-vet school)
2. I made pretty good money
3. I learned a lot
4. It's reliable, I know I can count on the hours.

Cons-
1. Lots of hours during the week, especially when working weekends
2. I have chronic migraines, and I was early almost once a week which isn't good.
3. It was physically demanding that I was on my feet 8 hours a day straight. I have a hip issue, we just don't know what.
4. I have tons of doctor appointments so I missed work a lot.

Training other clients:
Pros-
1. No original purchase fee.
2. Feed bill is covered by the owner.
3. I can choose my hours to an extent, or take less clients one month if I struggled the month before.
4. The large animal experience is a good plus, especially since I want to be an equine vet.

Cons-
1. Some owners are sue-happy
2. I'd be on a time constraint
3. You never know what kind of horse you're getting
4. You may not have clients for a month or two, therefore no income.

Flipping project horses:
Pros-
1. No time constraint
2. No liability
3. I wouldn't be worried about pleasing the client
4. Bigger payout in the end
5. My own hours, if I'm sick I'm not obligated to train the horse.

Cons-
1. Paying the cost of upkeep (feed, board, farrier)
2. Initial purchase price
3. Who knows how long it'll take the horse to sell

What do you guys think? When I mean training, I'm thinking a max of two outside clients a month, and only one horse if I'm paying feed/board to resell. I'm just looking for some suggestions/other pros or cons.
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#2 ·
It depends on how much you can handle, and if you are ready for the legal side of have client horses on your property. In my case, I mostly buy cheap would-be meat horses at the auction, train, and resell them. (Note- I don't buy just any horse, I look for decent bloodlines if they are known, body build, temperament, and more. I wouldn't just buy any horse to resell- you have to stay in the market.) Also remember that these project horses don't always sell. With a clients horse you are more guaranteed to make money.

I will sometimes take on a few client horses, just be sure that you have everything in writing, including insurance, board costs, feed, who pays what, exactly what the client is looking for, and all that other jazz.

Personally, I like doing the flip project horses. I just love the feeling of knowing that the horse was not headed to the greatest situation when I bought it, and now that I helped him he is going to a better place. But it just depends on the person.
 
#3 ·
As was mentioned, taking on clients horses requires very good paper work, with everything well thought out and discussed before hand. Your communication skills have to be impeccable, both horse and human.

the Kennel tech position makes the most logical sense, financially. If you need to work to live at this point, stick with this option, and work through your physical issues.

Taking on projects. You are not likely to make money doing this right, but its fun. If the horse goes lame, factor in months of feed and vet costs. If you pick a crazy one, you wont make anything. If you end up with one that has issues or needs retraining, you could be looking at 6+ months of work. any number of factors can come into play. it can take 1 month or 1 year to get a project horse to the point you think they are ready to sell. If you do go this route, write out a list of attractive qualities, wants and must haves. Must haves come first, like "sound, quiet, sane, not a problem horse, no major vices", wants could be "14+hh, stock breed, registered" and attractive qualities you should look for could be "Interesting color, attractive pattern, well bred, pretty face" -you get the idea. DONT EVER choose a horse because you like it for yourself, unless the type of horse you prefer is very sellable. I like opinionated, dominant horses, so not right for 90% of the recreational market. I bought a project horse once like this. I adored her, but she was a project horse, so she had to go. she took a year to find the right buyer, and needless to say, I did not make any money on her.
 
#4 ·
This is a tough one. And, you may flip between the options several times, or be able to do two at once. What about training mustangs? IF you have the ability, they sure seem to be the "in" thing right now..... My last choice would be training FOR someone. Many many people have truly unrealistic expectations. And "pooky" can do no wrong.
 
#5 ·
I would just say that yes Mustangs are great, I have one of my own. But just remember the time that they take. And it takes a certain buyer to have the ability and understanding to own a Mustang. If you were referring to the wild mustangs that you can adopt.
 
#6 ·
I'm in a similar situation at the moment (for pre vet school as well though I'm already in I have to fill certain animal requirements).

If it's between the two jobs with horses, depending on your experience/comfort level with horses I would go for taking on clients. Grant it, it can have some more cons than pros but it might work well with building a reputation (which is a bonus if as a vet you want to practice in your area), time constraints, and eventual school work. I took a few outside clients on in my senior year (aside from working at a training barn for board). I went out to the persons farm and worked their horse there. I took a few tips from my boss and came up with something similar to her contract when she went to outside barns. It basically covered what a training contract covered only added in that I was not liable for any harm to the horse (or owner) that was done in owner negligence or by the horse itself; it also outlined what I planned to be doing month by month (although my contact went from one to three months) with the usual clause of 'it's an individual, I'm not responsible if Pooky can't get it in his thick head to whoa in my deadline'. I've found that once you build up a couple of clients some people will recommend you for certain things. The hardest part of this was dealing with the owners themselves. Although I did find some understood to stay clear and others learned it the hard way and waited until I was gone to mess with their pony. Though it was a win-win for me if they didn't like me and fired me because for breach of contract I charged fifty bucks and I was a stickler for being paid on time and in full.

Flipping a horse IMO would take too much money at this point and in the market I'm around. I've got to put money aside for vet school and living expenses so I can't really afford to keep a horse AND go to school and then HOPE it sells.

Although being a kennel tech does not sound like a bad idea either to me.
 
#7 ·
Flipping horses is decent additional income, in my experience. I picked well (conformation, brains, attitude, soundness) and got them sold in about 30 days. We had our own place and made our own hay. No additional costs.

But, even with my daughters helping handle and put rides on the horses, we didn't make a living at it.

When I was in college, my best money was cleaning houses. I made $15 to 20 dollars an hour (quite a while ago). I was picky about for whom I cleaned (insisted on meeting potential clients - they thought they were interviewing me, but I was interviewing them, too), did light painting, would re-caulk sink areas, change faucets, do windows (for that money? you bet), whatever.

For horse time, I schooled spoiled horses for hobby riders. Then I put a metal roof on a loafing shed for one of the kids' teachers and got a mare from them that way.
 
#8 ·
Thank you for the input!

I'm basically working for spending money is all. I don't have rent or utilities to pay, so my life didn't depend on the income.

I also planned on buying horses from the kill pen, young ones in particular. I have a pretty decent relationship with the owner, and he's been up front about what known issues the horse has. I like the idea of taking a baby to his potential instead of him in a pen then going to slaughter.

Training clients wise, I'm also worried about the pookie does no wrong scenario.

I do have a good friend who trains and breeds for a living and if I go the training route (my own or clients) I plan on asking if he could mentor me.

I loved my kennel tech job, but it was just hard with the migranes. It least with training, I can pick if I want to work that morning or that evening and so on.

I'm leaning towards training my own, not for the money but for the fun/experience. I just need the start up money! My mom and I also talked about grooming dogs together out of our house. Decisions, decisions. I like the idea of mustangs also!
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#9 ·
If your health isn't up to the regularity of a kennel job, do you really think a horse gig is the best way to go as your only income?

IMO do the kennel thing and then take on some training clients or project horses on the side. If your health is up to it.
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#10 ·
I'm sorry, but I have never seen anyone make any good money out of horses, just enough to scrape by, equivalent to working in a gas station. The hours spent training a horse for resale doesn't add to squat, working in a gas station pays better, in fact the amount of time you put into a project horse, you could work 2 jobs and make waaaay more money.
 
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#12 ·
There are a lot of people who make decent money, and some make bank. I have two jobs- one buying, training, and selling horses, and the other is part time at a farm store. I make quite a bit more money with the horses, which is why I put in my two weeks at the store. It just depends on the time and energy you have. When it comes to horses, what you put into it is what you get.

But if it comes to health problems, a job in town at the kennel may be better. There you have guaranteed pay. Like I said before, everything with the horses is very subjective. (In the beginning at least.)
 
#11 ·
Isn't being an equine vet physically demanding?

I've always been one of those people that found a way to work for myself, and do very well at it, as long as I put in the hours to keep money rolling in.

I think, if you are really looking for something that is easy on the body and pays O.K., you might look in to house pet sitting. I would make $45 a night to show up around dinner time, cuddle up with the house pets and give them love and food and some exercise, and then head out in the morning. All you are there to do is keep them company, so there's a lot of couch and TV time. That was a really cheap rate, most other companies charged 80+ a night. I just didn't see a reason to stress over it, when I got more than I needed.

Working part time hours during the day with some dog walking, and letting dogs out at lunch, along with a few nights a week doing pet sitting, I was able to make 2k a month.

So... that's probably the least physically demanding animal job I can think of.
 
#13 ·
My health issues I talked about are migranes mostly, which I think I could work around with horses more than a kennel tech. The other issues I could work through.

I'm not looking for an income to live on, because I don't need to for now. I'm mostly looking at something to do basically. I'm rethinking being a vet because of how difficult it's doing to be to get a job. And if I don't find one, bam I'm in debt. And I do petsitting too, but it's not often. Maybe once a month.

I'm not sure what career I'm going into, but I'm getting an Animal Science degree at least.

I really want to breed and train, but I know a lot of people wouldn't think it's a good idea.
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#14 ·
You also need to consider the market in your area. I know in my area, there is no way I would even break even if I were to flip horses. The market just isn't good enough for me to find a buyer for a horse with 30-60 days on him with a price tag big enough to cover all the feed and training I put into him. So, I'd be losing money on flipping.

I was a trainer and, while I never was short on clients, I seemed to only get horses in that had been through 2-3 other trainers and/or had hurt someone who had ridden them. I made more money training than I would have flipping, but it was difficult to afford health insurance and I got hurt more often than I would have liked. With doing it as a hobby just for some extra spending money, you could be more selective about the types of horses you agreed to train. You wouldn't be obligated to accept problem or dangerous horses because you needed the money to make your bills.
 
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