Ok all you "professionals"?

Question

I would like to know at what point, you constitute yourself being a professional?

At what point when you sign your "source" at the bottom with professional horseman, what gives you the confidence to do so?

Curiosity is killing the mule :)

Nope, I'm not a professional. I pay wayyy more in entry fees then we win at shows, except maybe Denver Stock Show. Most of our mule shows pay out peanuts for winnings.

I don't train others animals, I show amatuer.

The ones that Whisper listed if I would consider them professionals, you betcha. They themselves claim they are, they show in the professional categories and have earned renowned titles in their expertise.

The years I have been with horses now mules have taught me lots of valuable info, but never enough for me to be considered a professional.

My real job is an ultrasound tech, mules are only my sanity and hobby. :)

Great answers to everyone!!

Oh and no rompum neccessary, good ol mountain dew at 215am waiting for my patient will do lol, thanks anyway :)

Answer 1

By dictionary definition anyone who gets paid to do something and does it for a living is in fact a professional. At rated shows sanctioned by AHSA (now USA equestrian) a professional is anyone who takes money to train horses or instruct riders and they are required to carry a professional card and not compete with amateurs. I believe that to consider yourself a professional trainer/instructor you must be licensed with the ARIA or NARAH. It helps to have a degree in equine studies and a sound knowledge of the business. The exam to get your instructor's license in the states is so pathetically easy. So many of the people with certificates don't deserve them and many of the great trainers don't bother with them, so it is hard to judge who really is a professional.

Answer 2

I Guess People That Have Studied In Horses In University And School And All That, Vets And All Is What I Would Consider Trainers, I Totally Hate It When U Ask A Question And People Think That They're So Great And They Really Down U If U Ask A Simple Question, I Asked How Much A Tail Bandage Would Usually Be Because I Had Never Looked In2 It And Some Person Was Lyk MABEY U SHUDNT GT A HORSE IF UR ASKIN DIS ON YAHOO And Woz Totally Mean It Really Put Me Down And At Tha Source It Woz Lyk Horse Trianer And Professional I Dont Think That She Really Was. If She Was She Would of Gave Me Good Advice

Answer 3

Great Question!! I am a professional horse lover! I usually donate to the barrel races more then I get back. I am 33 yrs old and been around horses my whole life. My grandfather is 81 and HE is the professional! He is the old school way and has forgotten more then I will ever know. He fell off a few years ago and broke his collar bone, he said now he can call himself a cowboy, your not one untill you break a bone! haha I hope I never make cowboy status!!
I am a professional groom. I worked many years in Pilot Point Texas with some of the top trainers there. I started at Winnermaker Farms in Gardendale just out of high school. I got to groom Easily Smashed, Zevi, Rebel Dasher, Merganser, Bill's Ryon. It was the time of my life! I was there when Easily died, that was terrible. Everyone was crying. So, that is probably the only thing I would consider myself as a pro. I got paid to do what I loved.
Now, I only work my horses. To them I am a pro b/c I am the one teaching them. I would love to go and spend time with the real pros of reining. The ones that get paid to do what they love.
I think if you get paid to do something, yes your a pro but to me the real pro's are the ones that WIN and place all the time. Tim Mcquay and all that bunch...the jockeys that win..the show jumpers and drassage people that win and place all the time. Who would you send your horse to? One that trained all the time and didn't show or the ones that train and show? If I could get a horse to Kay Blanford I would do that in a heart beat! Just trying to get a point across.
HHQH, I think you qualify as a pro.
Just my 2 cents.

Answer 4

Am I a professional in the horse world? Sure, in some areas. I am a pro at donating my time and money to showing (I excell at writing checks for entry fees). I consider myself a pro at grooming (I can bathe, braid, band, and primp a horse with the best of them). Am I in the leauge of the top trainers and riders that get paid to ride and train the top horses? Not by a long shot. My source is 35 years of hard knocks, blood sweat, and a few tears along the path of gaining a lot of knowledge from some really great horseman and women. And I plan on spending the next 35 years learning even more. What I strive for is to be recognized not as a professional in the horse world (since horses are not the way I make a living), but as a "top hand" by my peers. To me that would be the best compliment I could get. Good Question!

Answer 5

I've been around horses all my life, trained a few, ridden Western and English, and am by no means even close to being considered a professional. Which is why I've never claimed to be a professional. If I say anything in the source section, it's something along the lines of "Worked with horses for over 21 years", or something like that.

Answer 6

Most Real professionals don't consider themselves perfect by any means. They are always seeking to learn and improve. Professional implies that horses are your profession or job, you've been qualified and people pay you as a trainer, for lessons, whatever. Breeder is a bit harder to say because you get paid for the animal but most have other jobs not a massive full time farm. Once technically you're not amateur any longer, but you get all the cases of people paying the neighborhood 4-H'er for lessons or riding time on their animal. I really don't find that to be professional. I agree that in most cases on this site it's someone hoping to sound important or figuring they qualify beccause of "years" around horses. That may be experienced but not professional. And anyone claiming they're perfect or have the "cure all" to any horse problem should most certainly be laughed at.

Answer 7

Gee, I had a neighbor that was a "professional." I was all excited when she moved in right next door. Oooohh, goody! Another horseperson!

Well, let's just say, in the 8 months before she was evicted I saw her butt in a saddle 2 times. Once on one of my lesson mares for a trail ride (first weekend I met her) and once when she was trying to sell a horse to a lady and the mare was fresh. She made the buyer ride her, but the buyer couldn't control her and asked her to ride her. She got on, went around the arena 1 time at a walk and got off. Told the woman she was "having a bad day." HA!

She would take people's horses in at the bargain rate of $700/mo. Then after 2 months she would tell them that the horses were unruly and wild. They couldn't be broke... well maybe with another 2 months of training. I did see her saddle a couple of them. I did see her put her 16 yr old novice daughter on a couple. Not many, but a couple.

Makes me sick.

I quit training for a living 4 yrs. ago. Not enough money for me to risk my life on other people's pieces of crap. I have lovely horses, I start all of my own horses, unless I want them to go into a discipline I don't specialize in. Then I send them to someone who does.

Answer 8

I guess because I've made a living at it for the last 15 years I consider myself a professional. In no way have I ever felt I know it all, I expect to live out my life learning every day. I've been fortunate to be involved in many different areas of the horse industry and have learned from some horsemen that I truly respected. I've always tended to let my actions speak more loudly than my mouth and the accomplishment I am most proud of is having the respect of those I've always strived to be like. Feeling valued by my peers & employers is what makes me feel like a professional even when I need a shower & a change of clothes lol!

Answer 9

You better hurry out and call the vet for that dying mule! Go shoot the curiosity so it stops killing the mules and have the vet dispose of it when s/he gets there!

I think it takes anyone that thinks they know anything about horses to claim they are a professional - after all - there are no standards when it comes to personal horse knowledge :)

Answer 10

I must be the most unprofessional horseman you have ever known because all I have ever done is pay, pay, pay! Even when I have worked with other's horses, it was either a favor or a barter situation of trading skills. I would say if you have made a decent living for a sustained period of time, you are either a professional horseman, or a professional BSer, just like any other trade. You may not be a pro, but you have convinced someone you are worthy of being paid like one. Probably quite a few of them around.