Many people dream about working with their favorite animals. However unless you have actually spent time caring for and working with your own horse (or others) you may actually have a different idea about what is out there and what an animal career is really all about!

If you are truly an equine enthusiast consider the next few questions before you move on to more advanced research. The questions look more closely at some important aspects that would be involved in an animal career.

1. You absolutely LOVE the horse --but do you understand the animal?

Love is not enough. If animal professionals had a nickel for every person that claimed to LOVE an animal every one of us would be rich! Many people have ideas about how animals are. Many get into internship/volunteer positions and then cannot cope with the reality of the critter or the demands related to working and maintaining them.

2a. Do you have practical experience working around horses?

If you are serious about this as a career you had better get on the ball and get some experience if you don't have any! Experience carries weight since it shows that you have gone beyond being a dreamer into becoming a really dedicated animal person. The next part of this question is:

2b. If you do not have experience are you willing to work for free to get it?

If this makes you squirm then you probably should go look for another option to pursue. Facilities will often pay you nothing (or next to nothing) in exchange for valuable experience. However you are going to have to act like a regular employee and do your share, be on time, work regular days/hours, and work hard.

2c. Are you willing to invest time and money in specialty training for this career?

There are some schools that you can attend for specialty training. Some are college or University affiliated while others are private. They can cost a lot of bucks or require you invest a lot of time, but either way they are a serious investment.

3. Do you have allergies to hay molds, dust, and animal dander?

If you do I would suggest you consider another career. Sometimes there are non-animal positions within an industry that can be just as fun without being hands-on. This avoids the miserable state of watery eyes, running nose, wheezing, coughing, and worse.

4. Do you object to being dirty?

If you do then hands-on animal work is definitely not for you! If you work around horses you often smell like them even when you are not riding or mucking out a stall!

5. Do you like physical labor?

You should be in fit condition since working animals requires the ability to move quickly and adeptly. It also requires that you lift, carry, and leverage objects. In the case of horses, you may be climbing up and down out of a saddle or over fences.

6a. Do you like being outdoors and travel?

Being outdoors is great. Fresh air, sun and enjoying nature. If you would rather be in the warm cozy office you better pass on this. There is often travel involved in transporting or hauling animals. Better like driving a trailer too.

6b. How about working outside in inclement weather?

Animals need care despite weather conditions. Often, they need additional care and work during bad weather. Animal people often work in conditions most people would rather avoid. This is because they are concerned about keeping their charges in tiptop shape no matter what the environmental conditions.

7a. Do you have a particular lifestyle you would like to have?

If you are a city dweller and love the comforts of a nice home, clothes, having your hair done, nails sparkling, or the nightlife you may not want to consider an animal career!

7b. Will animal work provide an income level that will sustain that lifestyle?

Bad news, many animal careers do not pay all that well. Some horse careers fortunately have better incomes than many of the other animal careers due to the industry demands. Better think about this one since many people think the wages are competitive with other careers. Wages tend to be kept down due to the glut of people who will work for nothing/next to nothing in order to get into the career.

8. Do you like regular hours?

If you like a 9-5 job with weekends off then you probably do not want to get into an animal career. Most animals need care and tending 24 hours during a 7-day week! Being on call, on some sort of nightwatch, hauling animals, and other such related activities make it an interesting job but not one with predictable hours!

9. Do you have a current career or skill that could segway or tie into an animal career easily?

Perhaps there are skills you already have that could be used in conjunction with your ideal animal job. This would be a very good way to enter into an animal career without making drastic changes.

10a. Can you work in conjunction with animals without changing your current career?

Some people think that they will have to change careers in order to be able to work with animals. This is incorrect! There are many valuable contributions that you could make to the animal world without working in it. There are many volunteer or support tasks that you could find to do.

10b. Can you work with animals considering your current family situation?

This is an important question to ask if you already have a family but also if you are thinking of having a family. Animal careers are demanding and take away from family time; many require travel or other extensive commitments. Child allergies, time away from your spouse or significant other, children and household activities are all areas that need to be carefully looked at and considered when you are thinking of working with animals.

It is my hope that this article gave you a number of tidbits to chew on. If you find that you are still interested in working with equines after realistically answering the above questions then you may want to do some further research into this topic or explore career seminars surrounding the topic!

The Author, Diana Guerrero writes an ongoing series called, "Unusual Animal Careers" and conducts seminars on the topic. For more information you can visit her website http://www.arkanimals.com or email her directly at <arkabc@arkanimals.com> with UAC Information in the subject line.