Do Horse Grooming for Money

By Eric Hammer

HorsesFlickr Photo by Linda Tanner

Horse grooming may well be the perfect job for you if you happen to love horses and being around nature. The work is not particularly difficult and it does allow you to spend a great deal of time around the horses and in the barn. You will in essence be responsible for caring the horses and doing everything that needs to be done around the barn.

Horse grooming also involves brushing the horse's hair, making sure to feed them and keep them watered and even riding them on a daily basis in order to ensure that they get the exercise that they need. Most horse groomers are also responsible for saddling the horses when someone is about to ride them and will work closely with those who put the shoes on the horses (though that is a separate profession entirely).

You also must keep track of the horse's health and well being, reporting to the veterinarian when there is any evidence of a problem with the horse, including cuts and bruises.

How Much Can You Make?

Horse grooming is considered to be an unskilled job, therefore the salary is rather low - around $15,000-$24,000 per year, though there are horse groomers who earn significantly more depending on where they happen to live and work.

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Remember that horse grooming is often considered a stepping stone to larger things. This means that as a horse groomer, you will want to keep your eyes open for additional opportunities, including becoming a lead horse groomer.

Horse groomers also happen to love spending time with horses and need to be comfortable with all aspects of caring for horses. This means that you need to be comfortable with everything from cleaning the stables to making sure that the horses are well cared for. You also need to be prepared to help get the horses ready for whatever they happen to need to do. This means that if you are engaged in horse grooming for race horses, then you need to be comfortable preparing them for that, which is a very different experience than preparing the horses for casual riding with children getting horseback riding lessons.

Qualifications / Requirements

Most horse groomers start fairly young and work their way up in the ranks. You can be as young as 16 years old to become a horse groomer and the only thing that you need to know is how to handle horses. Those who enjoy riding the animals will likely do well at horse grooming jobs also.

First Steps

Consider working as a volunteer to learn the ropes at a horse farm before you eventually look into finding a paying job in the horse grooming world. However, you will still need to know some basics about how to ride horses and take care of them before you apply. If you don't know these things, you should learn that first.

Resources

Check out these helpful resources to learn more about horse grooming for money:

eHow: How to Become a Horse Groom - A good, basic introduction to doing horse grooming as a profession.

Inside Jobs: What is a Horse Groom? - Another basic introduction to horse grooming for payment.


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