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Young Professionals on the Move


Attitude CHECK IN


a world of extremes, big competition and some bigger than life


egos, the quest for success can be evasive for the young professional just trying to get started in this in- dustry. Let’s face it, a large number of Juniors who come up through the ranks of showing have visions of being the one leading the victory gallop in the big time. Does not mat- ter which arm of the jumping sport, hunter-equitation-jumpers, it’s pretty impressive to be galloping around the ring with crowds clapping and cheer- ing for YOU. USHJA has introduced two new


programs that prioritize education for the next generation of Trainers and Instructors. The EAP program was created to identify riders who have an eye on the professional world. The Trainer Certification program is the next step in following up as an indus- try to ascertain the individuals who really know the sport and the busi- ness involved. BUT at the same time, there are


dozens of young professionals who seem to move from one job to an- other, with the grass is greener men- tality. Sadly enough, just as in “real” life, that is not always the reality of how to get ahead. History comes first! The majority


of the highly successful profession- als seen in the ring now came up in a time when it was the School of Hard Knocks or nothing. There was not a trainer’s school, no programs, and


no USHJA striving to improve our competitions as a true industry, and not as just a “sport”. It was a “Katie Bar The Door” as everyone hung out shingles, opened doors to clients and presented themselves as trainers. Fact of the matter, just about all of them were just that …”trainers” in every sense of the word. They could (and still can) braid,


groom, do medical care, transport, muck stalls, pull shoes, do entries, keep their own books, pay the bills (or not), fix their trailers, wrap for shipping, check every horse every morning, check every horse every night, and an extensively long list of tasks connected with being success- ful! They never expected someone else to do any of it, they just did it themselves…AND LOVED IT, and they thrived on being horsemen and women. It never crossed their minds to only be “riders”. There was never a complaint or a


gripe as that was simply the way it was done, and yes they loved it. They were up every morning, usually two hours before the show started, either hacking horses or lungeing a few if it was needed, or watched the horse they were going to ride that day lunge. They then walked the course, checked in at the back gate and for the lucky lucky few who actually had grooms, got back to the barn to help get the horses ready. At the end of the day there was


still another couple of hours work to be done to close down the barn and


get ready for the next day. Daylight went away fast and as darkness set in, they were still finishing chores before walking EVERY stall and checking EVERY horse personally, one more time. Even if they were one of the very few with a raft of grooms, they still personally looked in on each horse in their barn…and they would have it NO other way. They didn’t move around much


and usually were committed to mak- ing their job/work environment har- monious. They worked long hours, respected their clients and treated them with kindness, got entries in on time to insure they were accepted, listened to suggestions and direc- tion when things went wrong and in general found their way through the horse show world where there were no road maps to success. EXCEPT the road map of hard work and pay- ing their dues. For the young professionals com-


ing up, or those who want to be. The best advice is to take advice and di- rection from those who have come before. And that starts with one basic decision that is personal to each one. Do you want to be a successful rider who leads the victory gallop? Or do you want to be a successful horse- man who knows their stock and their industry? One way or another, the results are


in the ring in the victory gallop? Ei- ther one is fine, it’s an individual deci- sion. Which one is yours???


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