Step down to step up
Life has happened, Covid has hit and you’ve been served a shit sandwich. You’ve lost your job, your business is in freefall and you have no idea how you’re going to pay your power bill this month. If this is you, then the galloping housewife has an idea for you. Not advice, or even a recommendation, because to offer that would be a trite response to a complex situation. Believe me, the galloping housewife has been where you are. She has spent months, if not years, pouring good money after bad, trying to keep a model that wasn’t working afloat. The lesson she learned when she surfaced for long enough to be able to picture a solution, was that she didn’t need to make the money back the way she had lost it. The galloping housewife is a proponent of financial success in the equestrian industry. She knows it is possible to make money and create the life you want while working with horses. In the meantime, while you’re waiting for your new venture to show itself to you, why not invest in your education? The galloping housewife is not talking about embarking on a formal line of study, rather creating your own ‘Real Life MBA’.
Want to be a showjump trainer? Be a working pupil for the best rider you can find. Want to be a freelance groom? Get a job in a proper international yard. Want to run a rehab yard? Work as an assistant at a vet hospital. Want to set up your own stud? Be a dogsbody for a breeder you admire. Want to be a photographer? Apprentice for someone who is already at the top of the game. No job is beneath you – think of it as being paid to be at school! Even if you just cover your living expenses and you’re already better off that if you’d tried to keep your own failing enterprise afloat. Work hard and treat every day as a lesson. Not only will you come out of it with knowledge that will serve you well, you’ll learn what its really like to be the staff member that you’ll one day employ.
The galloping housewife knows of a number of great positions open at the moment. Maybe it’s time to step down to step up.