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Dave Dellin, the Director of Judges for the American Paint Horse Association, gives educational tips on the fundamentals of showmanship.
by Kristin Pitzer
Whether you’re a young horseman coming up through school or a seasoned veteran of the workforce looking to change careers, it’s never too early — or too late – to consider a job in the equine industry. If horses and the Western way of life are your passions, a career that allows you to promote them to others just like you can be very fulfilling.
“I think people should consider careers in the equine industry because for many people, horses are their passion, and we tend to be the happiest when we’re working for, toward, and within the elements we’re most passionate about,” said Jessie Jarvis, founder and CEO at Of The West, the job platform for the agriculture and Western industries. “For many young adults, owning their own horse isn’t always feasible, and [a job in the industry] allows them to still be involved in some way. For those who are more established and possibly looking for a career change, the equine industry is a great sector to consider because nothing is more rewarding than knowing your daily efforts are working toward building a stronger, more robust equine industry.”
Quarter Horse News put together some information on different careers in the industry to help you know where to begin.
There are two main options for careers in the horse industry: those that work directly with horses, and those that support the industry but don’t involve a person getting their hands on a horse every day. Jobs working with horses can be very rewarding and enjoyable, but they are also usually physically difficult, time-consuming and, without boundaries, can blur the line between work and play. For those willing to work hard, these jobs can lead to fulfilling careers.
“The equine industry is growing at a rate like never before, and due to that, the need for equine professionals is only going to increase as time goes on,” Jarvis said. “In addition to that growing number, I think we are also going to see an increase in the number of education pathways and trade programs focused on equine industry careers, allowing the sector to continue to grow and meet that future demand for equine industry jobs.”
As long as horses can become sick or injured, there will be a need for equine veterinarians. People who become veterinarians tend to have good communication skills and are likely science- and math-minded. A love for animals is certainly necessary, but keep in mind you’ll be working with people just as much as horses. Compassion is a key element, as you’ll likely have to help owners face difficult situations and hard decisions.
To become a veterinarian requires extensive education: four-and-a-half years of undergraduate education, followed by four years of veterinary school, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. All of that schooling isn’t cheap — the average cost of veterinary school in the U.S. is $200,000 — so many young veterinarians go into the workforce with lots of student loan debt in tow. There is, however, a shortage of equine veterinarians around the country, so if it’s a career path you’re interested in, you’ll certainly find a demand for it.
If patience and an ability to think outside the box are traits you possess and you have good business sense, people skills and riding abilities, you might think about becoming a horse trainer. There’s no doubt it takes a lot of work to become a successful trainer — many riders don’t realize how many hours their coaches put in every day. If you work hard and find your niche in the industry, though, you might find yourself eventually working with the industry’s nicest horses, most well-known owners and other top-level trainers.
You don’t need a degree to become a trainer — many would argue that apprenticeships under other trainers provide the best education — but some colleges offer equine science programs, while others have certificate programs in horse starting and horsemanship. It doesn’t hurt to take business classes, either, and having a degree to fall back on should you change your mind is never a bad thing.
Another job that gets lots of hands-on experience with horses is that of the farrier. Farriers are specialists that trim, balance and shoe horses’ feet. Being a farrier is physically demanding — most of your day is spent bent over while holding a horse’s foot up, after all — and without proper equipment, it can be hard on your body. Once you get established in a location, though, you can often pick and choose the hours, days and clients you want to work with.
Apprenticeships with veteran farriers are a great way to learn, and as your business grows, there are programs through organizations like the American Farrier’s Association (AFA) that will test you on your ability to perform the work to a prescribed standard. The AFA offers several levels of certification, from Certified Farrier, to Certified Tradesman Farrier, to Certified Journeyman Farrier. Some farriers go beyond even that and become specialists for certain breeds, activities and disciplines. Since most farriers are self-employed, business classes can be useful.
If you are interested in a career in the industry but don’t necessarily have to be around horses every day, there are many different options to look into. While these jobs don’t involve riding or caring for horses, they often allow you to talk about horses — or something related to horses — every day, scratching the horse bug itch.
“While there isn’t any kind of study I can quote numbers from, I can confidently say that the majority of careers in the equine industry do not work directly with horses,” Jarvis said.
Monty Roberts passed away July 31, 2026 at 91 years old. This video is from his appearance at the Barretos Rodeo Festival in 2023.
Sao Paulo, Brazil: American Trainer, Monty Roberts, is known worldwide for his gentle taming method which establishes a connection with the animal and does not require brute force.
Under the eyes of the audience at the largest event of its kind in the world, the “horse gentler” American trainer Monty Roberts took approximately one hour to tame a horse which had never been ridden, on the opening night of the Rodeo International in Barretos, Brazil.
The approximately four-year-old horse was only trained to lead before this night. The wild animal came from the Northeast territories of Brazil and the American trainer noted that he had never seen horses of this type in his life.
But he wasn’t daunted by the challenge. His gentle taming method proved, once again, to be effective, precisely opposing the aggressive methods used by his father. “My father was much harsher than any father should be,” said the trainer before starting the presentation.
His father used abusive techniques to tame the horses on the ranch where they lived in California. Unlike him, Monty Roberts never wanted to impose himself on the animal.
“I don’t want to be the boss, I want to be the partner”, he said.
Precisely for this reason, the trainer dedicated himself to understanding the communication system of the horses which is gestural using body language to train them. He calls this Equus and it sets up trust with the animal, creating a connection and cooperation.
To perform the presentation, the team of Certified Instructors, Brazilians Waldo Franco and Miguel Lupiano as well as German Denise Heinlein set up a round in the middle of the arena for the trainer to demonstrate his methods.
“I want Canário to be happy here”, he said of the horse.
The noise from the huge Festival Park was a factor that made the task difficult, as it scared the animal. “I would like everyone to be very quiet, but that may be impossible in Brazil”, the trainer said with a smile.
Though it was never completely quiet, the audience, or a good part of it, collaborated and even adopted the “claps” by shaking their hands instead of clapping them.
Join-Up® The Method developed by the American Monty Roberts to tame horses in a gentle way; without using violence
The taming began with a small caress on the animal’s fore head. The first phase is called the ‘Join-Up’ and starts with the trainer near the round pen’s fence, releasing the lead rope from the horse’s halter. He let Canário go freely around the pen. The aim of this stage is to gain the trust of the horse.
With his body posture, Monty Roberts was convincing the horse to travel one direction and then the other. He noted that one of the animal’s ears was “locked” on Roberts, which indicated that the animal was paying attention to the trainer. Gradually, the horse slowed down, starting to relax and lower its head toward the ground.
Soon came what the gentler explained were the main signs that the horse was relaxed: he began to lick and chew. “I’ll walk away, and he’ll follow,” said Monty Roberts. No sooner said than done. The audience began to applaud, but the trainer reminded them that it was necessary to be silent, not to scare the horse.
The trainer started the second part of the gentling and asked the team to bring plastic bags on a handle to carry out the desensitization process. This step consists of causing the horse to lose its fear of objects approaching it.
Monty Roberts lightly passed the object on both sides of the animal so that he understood that no violence would be used there. “It’s to show him that I mean no harm,” explained the trainer.
With the object, he simulated movements of a rider climbing and jumping on his back. Soon, Monty Roberts requested a saddle, the first of the horse’s life.
With the help of Denise Heinlein, the main instructor at the Monty Roberts method teaching center in Europe, the horse was soon saddled. The process, which usually takes a few weeks, with the American happened in minutes.
After a few laps, Monty Roberts requested light reins and a leather piece to hold the stirrups to show the horse how to follow the eventual rider’s directions. Meanwhile, the trainer walked the horse around the circle, and with each ‘cluck’ the animal trotted faster.
After Monty Roberts taught the rein cues, it was time for Canário to receive his first rider. The volunteer was Thiago Mega, a bucking horse champion from Barretos. He wore a helmet, at the horse gentler’s request for safety.
The rider, guided by the trainer, caressed the horse between the eyes and the trainer started to lift the rider, up and down, but not yet mounting, “To show him that climbing on won’t hurt him,” explained the American.
In a short time, Thiago was mounted on the horse. However, as expected, the horse got scared and kicked a few times. The experienced rider did not take long to see that it was time to slide off and reassure the animal.
It wasn’t time to give up. The first rider ended up being Zé, a mannequin rider made and named for the Barretos Equine Event by Monty Roberts himself. After tying Zé to the saddle, he released the animal to walk freely and to understand that none of this would hurt him.
After a few minutes with the first crash-proof rider, Thiago Mega was able to mount again and take the horse for a quiet ride around the pen, easily.
This time, it wasn’t just the horse that was delighted: the audience held back the applause until the animal exited the round pen, and then the applause was only briefly interrupted when Monty Roberts did 88 push-ups – one for each year of his life, while the audience counted along.
MONTY ROBERTS AVAILABLE FOR SELECT INTERVIEWS:
The New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned horse trainer Monty Roberts is available for interviews.
MONTY ROBERTS first gained widespread fame with the release of his New York Times Best Selling book, The Man Who Listens To Horses; a chronicle of his life and development of his non-violent horse training methods called Join-Up®.
Monty grew up on a working horse farm as a firsthand witness to traditional, often violent methods of horse training and breaking the spirit with an abusive hand. Rejecting that, he went on to win nine world’s championships in the show ring. Today, Monty’s goal is to share his message that “Violensace is never the answer.”
Roberts has been encouraged by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with the award of the Membership in The Royal Victorian Order, as well as becoming Patron of Join-Up International. Other honors received were the ASPCA “Founders” award and the MSPCA George T. Angell Humanitarian Award and FEI’s Man of the Year.
Monty was recently included as Horse and Hound Magazine’s Top 50 Horsemen of All Time. Monty is credited with launching the first of its kind Equus Online University; an interactive online lesson site that is the definitive learning tool for violence-free training.
JOIN-UP philosophies can be seen at work with both humans and horses across the world, from farms to major corporations. To learn more about Monty Roberts or the many applications of his Join-Up training methods, visit www.montyroberts.com.
Horse Sense and Soldiers aired on Discovery Military in 2010 highlighting the therapeutic effect horses and Monty Roberts’ Join-Up® have on PTSD. Soon after Monty and his team developed the Horse Sense & Healing program for veterans and first responders.
Lead-Up International was officially launched worldwide at the Monty Roberts International Learning Center in Solvang, California, in February 2017. The purpose of Lead-Up International is to reduce violence in the community by creating peaceful leaders from vulnerable youth utilizing equine-assisted therapy and non-verbal communication, building trust-based relationships.
This article originally appeared on MontyRoberts.com and is published here with permission.
There are more interesting articles in our section on Clinicians & Trainers.
It is with great personal sadness that we are sharing the passing of the legendary Monty Roberts, the "Horse Whisperer" who completely changed the approach of starting a horse, from an often cruel process to one of kindness and understanding. His horsemanship was appreciated around the world, including the Queen of England. They were so close, he even attended her funeral. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his daughter Debbie Loucks, his family, and legions of fans and horse people around the world. Podcasts are available on his website HERE.
We are reprinting this article in his memory. Rest in peace, Monty Roberts. Both horses and horse people will be forever in your debt.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II, September 8, 2022, encouraged me to collectivize my thoughts on my life. Born in 1935, I was the son of a father who believed violence was the answer to raising a child. The CAT Scan and the MRI in 1981 revealed a massive number of fractures which were identified as happening prior to the age of puberty.
While there was much violence in my life, I was fortunate to grow up in the presence of horses. There was no question in my mind that I was to be a competition rider of these wonderful animals and I was further fortunate enough to win 11 world championships from their backs.
A grammar schoolteacher knew my father and encouraged me to stop blaming him and to simply go forward with the goals of my life in a non-violent fashion. Sister Agnes Patricia, a Notre Dame nun, encouraged me to get the best education possible. She suggested that my major should be ‘behavioral sciences’ for which I now have two doctorates.
At the age of four, I won my first competition and was contracted to become a stunt child because at that time three out of five movies included a horse and a child. I grew to love my horses and I struck a horse for the last time in 1949. It was at the insistence of my father but never to be a training method after that incident.
As a teenager my work included time with American Mustangs, and it was those fragile flight animals that I discovered they could communicate with me, and I could communicate with them. The horses, along with wild deer, trained me to use this language and refrain from any violence in the training process. These concepts established my goals for life.
In 1965 a wealthy individual who came to California from New York decided that I should move my equine work to the world of Thoroughbred racing. I had completed my first university work in PTSD for returning Korean veterans. My racehorses took up these principles and earned dozens of championships in that discipline.
My wife, Patricia (Pat) helped immensely to raise our family, accept foster children, and assisted me with the design and operation of the Thoroughbred farm for more than 50 years. It was on that farm that an open house caused two articles to be published in US magazines. These articles explored my work of training racehorses in the absence of violence.
It was divine intervention that caused these articles to end up on the desk of Queen Elizabeth II, whom, along with me, believed that horses could be trained in the absence of violence. I had already made inroads in South America and in 2005, my daughter and I visited Shelbyville, Tennessee which was the home of Tennessee Walking horse.
Marty Irby was the manager of a massive Tennessee Walking horse operation there. He saw my work and brought an end of his acceptance of violence in the world of the Tennessee Walking horse. Marty moved to Washington, D.C. to influence legislation removing the violence from these wonderful horses and broadened his spectrum to include all disciplines.
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II read the two articles and dispatched horse manager, Sir John Miller, to travel to California and view the non-violent work, I was responsible for. Sir John came to us and saw my training with untrained Thoroughbreds to report back to Her Majesty. A date was set, and Pat and I were to travel.
When we arrived at Windsor Castle there were 23 untrained horses waiting for us in the fields immediately in front of the Queen’s windows. I was admonished not to go near the horses and, Pat and I were to go with Sir John Miller to his home near Oxford. All of this was on Saturday afternoon and training was to start on Monday morning.
The first horse entered the riding hall at about 9:00 in the morning and an audience of about 200 was to witness a three-year-old filly take her first saddle and rider. This filly was owned in the name of the Queen Mother and had never received any training except to lead by halter. The Queen Mother was there and was skeptical but hopeful.
As I recall that first Thoroughbred three-year-old accepted the saddle and rider in approximately 27 minutes. The Queen Mother came to me first with tears streaming down her cheeks. The Queen followed shortly after, and both were amazed that the predicted outcome had been accomplished. There were some discussions and then a break for lunch.
While at lunch in the Windsor Gardens, the walkie talkies were going crazy between members of the Queen’s staff. Upon returning to the hall, we found that two three-year-old one ton draft stallions had been delivered without any prior announcement. In the first moments one stallion aggressively chased Sir John Miller out of the round pen.
Several conversations took place to outline the plan for the balance of the week. One was that all 23 horses were to receive their first saddle and rider. Another was to say that Pat and I were to travel in the Queen’s personal car to 21 locations within the UK. Her Majesty was personally setting up a tour which would include 98 horses.
England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland were on the schedule. All horses passed the test without one failure. The task was completed with approximately 30 minutes per horse. Terry Pendry was assigned to be with us on that tour. At our last stop Terry Pendry did a Join-Up complete with rider in less than 30 minutes.
While the Queen and those closest to the tour were complimentary, but many traditional horsemen had very negative comments to make. These were not individuals who saw the non-violent training that was done to accomplish this task. Her Majesty was steadfast in support of my non-violent principles.
There was a one-hour meeting at the conclusion of the 30-day tour. The Queen was extremely complimentary but made some strong comments about what was hoped could happen next. Her Majesty’s first words were, “There must be a book. It should be published in as many countries and languages as possible.” This happened.
Her Majesty went on to say that I should personally travel to as many countries possible to conduct live demonstrations of the non-violent work that had been witnessed. I traveled to 41 countries and worked with horses of varying disciplines and many that were dangerous, remedial horses which had experienced violence in earlier training.
More than 3,000 horses made up the list of the three decades of travel to accomplish these demonstrations. Covid put an end to the demonstrations, but I continued my work with several large stables, mostly by Zoom after the Covid restrictions. Well over 50 championships were earned with the stables I represented prior to Covid.
It should be noted that my relationship with Her Majesty included numerous personal visits and over 200 telephone conversations. It keeps coming back to me that Queen Elizabeth II was “the wind beneath my wings.” In no way could I have reached the entire world without the endorsement of Queen Elizabeth II.
When one studies the circumstances surrounding the over 30-year relationship, it is evident that the number of miracles to accomplish these tasks could not have happened without guidance from above. I will spend the balance of my days doing as much as I can to achieve the goals Queen Elizabeth clearly set out for me.
This is a transcript of the letter from Queen Elizabeth to Monty Roberts from April 17, 2021.
April 17th
2012
Dear Monty,
Thank you for your invitation to become Patron of your global non-profit organization Join-Up International.
I am pleased to become a Patron of an organization with a mission statement that is “To leave the world a better place for horses and for people, too.”
Through Join-Up International, you have dramatically changed the world of training horses by promoting non-violence. This philosophy has also positively affected the education of children, youth at risk, domestic violence, therapeutic riding, the prison system and psychologically damaged returning war veterans.
It is my hope that everyone will come to know the value of the good word of Join-Up International.
With my best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Elizabeth R
Read more: Monty Roberts, 'Horse Whisperer' and Friend of Queen Elizabeth, Passes Away at 91
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