Want more bucks with fewer bucks?

Get an education!

Horse trainers, ranch managers, tack store sales personnel, horse traders and thousands of people just "foolin’ around" within the horse industry are finding they make more money if they increase their education.

It’s true. The greater your horse training education, the fewer bucks you get from your horses and the more bucks you get from your clients.

There are more than 200 colleges and universities in the U.S. offering equine science programs or horse courses, and their graduates are reporting time and again better salaries, better jobs, based on a better education.

Of course what is happening within the horse industry is happening everywhere.

The difference between having a high school diploma and a medical degree is about $3.2 million in lifetime earnings according to a U.S. Census Bureau survey, as reported by Association Press.

A person whose education does not go beyond high school and works full time can expect to earn about $1.2 million between the ages of 25 and 64, the survey reports. Graduating from college and earning advanced degrees translate into much higher lifetime earnings.

If you have a college degree in equine science, for example, you can expect your earnings potential to increase by about $2.1 million. If you go on and get a master’s degree, your earnings projections jump by another $400,000, according to the survey findings.

So how does that relate to being a horse trainer?

If you are winning world championships, few potential clients ask much about your formal education. At the same time your record says you have "been to school and learned your lessons."

But what if you are just starting out? Four young women are training horses in Southern California and all are fairly competent for their age. Three charge the same monthly fee for training, while the fourth charges three times the monthly fee and has more customers. How does she do it? She is the only one with a formal education and a certificate on her office wall.

Now we all know a formal education isn’t necessarily going to make you a better horse trainer.

But it darn sure will make you a better communicator. It sure will help you explain what a horse is doing and why, and in an industry which has no formal education requirement, it raises you head and shoulders above your competitors.

The simple fact that anyone can claim to be a horse trainer is the most motivating fact driving customers to trainers who do have a formal education. It’s part of our behavior as taught by our society. If you need medical attention, our society says go to a doctor. If you want legal help, seek a lawyer, if you need assistance with your bookkeeping or taxes, get an accountant.

So naturally if you want someone to help you with your horses and their care or training, you are going to feel more comfortable with someone "educated" in horse care and/or training. It’s nothing more than educated behavior modification working to bring you more money. More schooling means more bucks in more ways.

Ranch managers today are far more versed in anatomy and physiology, genetics, nutrition, and stable management than in years past. You want a job on a modern, successful ranch, you need an education. Tack store owners tell me sales personnel who have taken college horse courses sell more because they are better able to converse with customers. Customers have more confidence and therefore buy more when they believe the sales person has actually "gone to school to learn about horses."

The demand for education is reflected in the increasing number of colleges and universities offering degree programs.

But even if you take noncredit courses which only offer a certificate of completion, the increase in earning power is real, based on the fact you have something the competition lacks.

And if there isn’t a college in your area offering equine science courses, there are plenty of colleges offering online horse courses. Distance learning programs have eliminated the "nothing in my area" excuse.

Whatever your natural talents with horses, an education will make you a better horseman, and a richer one.

That seems to be almost exactly what you are telling your young horse when you start his or her EDUCATION.