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Are Equine Business Studies Worth the Price?
03/23/2009
To get ahead in the equine business, it’s imperative to get an education.
If the old adage tells us to do what we love when it comes to a career, it isn’t surprising that many horse lovers consider going into the equine business. With the evolution of farming into a corporate industry, the equine business has become similarly high-tech and specialized. To get ahead in the equine business, it’s imperative to get an education. The question is: what is the right degree for a horse career? When it comes to training, are trade schools enough to gain a competitive edge in the equine business? Are 4-year universities a better bet? What major would be best for the equine business world?
Sorting It Out: Trade Schools, Associate’s Degrees, and Bachelor’s Degrees
Equine business is more than running a ranch or giving riding lessons. In fact, equine business has evolved to cover everything from advertisement to sales, research to medicine. Because of the wide array of equine business careers available, there is a correspondingly wide range of programs. Here are the details:
1. Trade School
In general, trade schools are preparing you for the hands-on side of the equine business. Trade schools prepare mechanics who are interested in building or repairing equine business buildings and vehicles. Equine business trade schools train farriers (modern-day blacksmiths who specialize in shoeing horses), equine massagers, or professional instructors. The programs are highly specialized with (usually) less than a year of classroom time, followed by a few months of equine business field-training.
2. Associate Degree
College programs which offer Associate’s Degrees in Equestrian or Equine Studies tend to lean somewhere in between the physical and the intellectual sides of the equine business world. While Associate Degree programs include a few core liberal arts courses, you also study the basics of riding, training, care, and equine business management. The idea is to give students the basics of equine business, then give them an entry-level job as an assistant manager or junior trainer at a prestigious ranch or barn. Over time, you will learn the equine business industry from the ground up. An Associate Degree is ideal if you aren’t sure what aspect of equine business you want to pursue. If you decide to work hands-on with horses full time, you can remain a trainer or ranch manager. If you decide you want to be involved in the corporate side of equine business instead, your credits can easily transfer to a 4-year university.
3. Bachelor Degree
Bachelor’s degrees are attained from a 4-year college or university. They involve taking a lot of general requirements, so that the student will be able to find a job outside the equine industry if he or she prefers. Bachelor’s Degrees tend to focus on the more intellectual aspects of the equine business: research, advertisement, medicine, science. Students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in science from a major university will get less physical interaction with a horse, but they will also be part a more lucrative sector of the equine business industry.
Equine Business Studies vs. Equine Science
If you’re thinking about pursuing a degree from a 4-year university, you will be confronted with a choice in majors: in most cases, Equine Business Studies or Equine Science. With the average college tuition hovering in the range of $25,000-35,000 a year, Equine Business Studies is an expensive degree. But is it worth it?
It depends. If you are studying Equine Science, you are studying the biology and health of a horse: daily care, nutrition, health care, exercise, and training. There are also a few courses offered on equine business and management. While an Equine Science degree could be useful in many areas of the equine business world, it is a particularly attractive degree for those who want to pursue work as a pedigree evaluator, bloodstock manager, equine appraiser, equine nutritionist, equine reproduction specialist, horse trainer, horse show manager, marketing professional or therapeutic riding specialist.
For those interested in the entrepreneurial side of equine business, a degree in Equine Business Studies can be more useful. The emphasis is less on equine health and biology and more on equine business and management. Texas A&M University described their Equine Business Studies program as one designed to “provide economic and market information to the industry. The Center will focus its studies on the impact of the horse industry, environmental and tax issues; provide economic analysis of the potential impacts of programs and proposed legislation on the U.S. and international horse industries; as well as develop entrepreneurship training for the many small businesses”. Most graduates of an Equine Business Studies program choose to start their own ranches, take managerial positions in large equine businesses, and go onto law or business school to further study equine business.
So if running your own business, or working in the high-tech sector of the equine business is for you, consider a degree in Equine Business Studies. But if your equine business dream involves becoming an instructor, look into a trade school or an Associate’s Degree to save time and money.
