Job vs Love

[TinyTexasCowgirl]

Kind of a strange topic I know but something to think about...

If ya know me, horses are my life, have been as long as I, and my momma, can remember. This week I traveled up to Indiana to ride with a bad a** reining trainer whom I'm proud to call a good friend of mine. While I was there I found out that at 39 yrs old, he HATES it. He told me that while he is at the barn, it's his job, so he does it. But as soon as he closes the barn door for the night, he could walk away and never look back. It scared me because I could totally understand where he was coming from and I'm only 23.

On my way home today I was just surfing around on iTunes and found a song that every horseman should hear at least once. It's called Equine sung by Brenn Hill. If your a horse person you need to buy it, trust me.

So my thought/question is, how often have you heard of someone turning what they love into their life's work/job and turn out detesting it. I don't want to be that person, ever again.

 Horses are amazing creatures and should be seen for what they are, not what you think they are.

Night folks

[SCHitemHard]

tiny i worked at subay for 2 years cause i love working for people and with food but now i seriously cant eat another one cause it makes me sick for days so i feel where your comin from

[tmatt]

I know some people that are like that then I know others that are totally opposite. The difference is that the ones that hate it take every little thing that happens too seriously. The other folks do their days work then leave it behind them. At the end of the day they go out and saddle up their own horse and do something they love and enjoy to take their mind off of it. Chris Cox I believe was asked this question once and he had a similar answer.

[Circle C]

It's been my experience that the horse owners ruin it for the trainers. The trainer may love the horses, and everything about working with them, but the owners can, and often are a royal pita. Mandi has trained and shown all over the country, but burned out due to bs with the owners. After talking a few years away from being so heavily involved in the horse industry,  she/we are now back to enjoying the horses.  No longer taking in outside horses, just ride our own. Much more enjoyment that way.

As for work/love. Tough question. I don't care how much money someone offers me, if I don't enjoy the job, I won't do it. On the flip side, I also learned through two different hobbies that turned into jobs, that I will not attempt to make a career out of a hobby. It's too easy to take the enjoyment out of the hobby.

[NMartin]

I have had a couple of amazing jobs working in IT.  I will NEVER have another job working with computers, but it is not because of the computers or even the work..... it is because of the PEOPLE!!

I still work on computers a lot, but I do it for fun and to help people I know.

I bet it is not the work that he hates, it is the people.  Don't let him discourage you.

Circle C hit the nail on the head... don't make a career out of a hobby.

BUT if you truly love the job you will not get tired of it and will not hate it... maybe just the people... I know I am long winded right now but I am dealing with some of the same stuff... just different career fields 

[firemedic]

Oh you're preaching to the choir Meagan,....I started taxidermy as a hobby to be able to mount everything that I killed,....now this was when I was in high school. One of my buddies and his brother in law took a mail course in it and I just kinda picked it up as they went. I liked it and was good at it. In order to be an exceptional taxidermist you have to have 2 talents....(1)....you must be able to look at a specimen and actually "see" it....for just what it is. (2).....you must be able to reproduce what you "see" with a hide and some foam and clay. I could do both very well....just a God given talent, simple as that. I took in work to learn and got very good at my trade. This went on for many years, I did taxidermy as a second job and liked it. Entered some competitions and actually won 3rd in the world in '95 in the warmwater fish, Master's division. I had clients from all over the US, worked at it for a loooong time. I finally just got tired of it all and have for the most part retired from it. I remember the day I actually decided to stop,....it was like a great weight was lifted off me. That's been 2 years ago and I don't miss it at all. I have a lot of stuff of my own that I never had time to mount that I'm going to do when I get ready, but not a minute before. Don't let this horse thing get you down.....take a break from it all together now and then.....when it gets to be a burden, lay it down for awhile. It has to remain fun or you'll burn out and that's not what you want I don't think.

[rdjustham]

I have a buddy that travels all over the country to show cutting horses.  he has turned it into his life work and I think hed have to be put in a rubber room if he couldnt train horses and work cows for the rest of his life.

[cward]

It's been my experience that the horse owners ruin it for the trainers. The trainer may love the horses, and everything about working with them, but the owners can, and often are a royal pita. Mandi has trained and shown all over the country, but burned out due to bs with the owners. After talking a few years away from being so heavily involved in the horse industry,  she/we are now back to enjoying the horses.  No longer taking in outside horses, just ride our own. Much more enjoyment that way.

As for work/love. Tough question. I don't care how much money someone offers me, if I don't enjoy the job, I won't do it. On the flip side, I also learned through two different hobbies that turned into jobs, that I will not attempt to make a career out of a hobby. It's too easy to take the enjoyment out of the hobby.

LIKE LIKE..LOL

[dub]

yup, I do not want to get paid to do what I love. I want to get paid to do what I like. That way there are no emotions envolved.

There are people I can work with. There are people I like. There are very few that I like that I can work with. That is because work is work. If you don't work your fired and some people don't get that. As a horse trainer you have to be ready to fire a customer and see the horse leave. If you love the horse too much you put up with too much and it beats you down. I have fired employees and clients. I can do it because I keep feelings out of work even if I like someone. You can't do that if you love what you do. I don't care what Oprah says. My wife just told me Oprah says you have to love what you do. Then why did she quit her show? Just more profe to do what you like not what you love.

[ROCKIN ROO HOG DOGS]

Tiny I am aprofessional  cutting horse trainer and came here from australia 10 years ago to live that dream and improve my "A" game,to be the best you have to compete against the best. The cutting horse industry has been more than good to me but this year i have put it aside and stepped up as the ranch manager on a 4000 acre cattle operation,same place i have been resident trainer for 3 yrs. Not only do i not miss starting at 2.00 am every morning in the summer to work 30 head of horses but my weekends are now free as i do not have to go to a show or a pre work somewhere. I lost my wife of 8 years because my commitment to the cutting horse industry was so strong and we would spend every holiday,even thanksgiving and usually christmas too either at a show or getting ready for one. I have a talent that a lot of people crave but i have always said if i ever win the lottery there will NOT be a horse in my back pasture. So to answer your question,yes even a job that turns out to be your passion can eventually turn into something you detest. My hog hunting time suffered from it but i will always have my dogs,wether they are for hogs,cows,coyotes or just a yard ornament they will always be a part of my life. I love to walk up to a horse and rub its face now,and breathe in their smell on a cool fall morning but they will no longer rule my life,family and friends come first,then dogs,then horses. I have 2 yearling colts to break and train for myself,one i will sell and one i will keep,but this time no pressure to win a futurity or derby or superstakes and by god,christmas day this year i will be with my little girl under the christmas tree where i belong!!!!!!!

[TinyTexasCowgirl]

When I was 4 I told my momma that I wanted to train horses the rest of my life, and spent most of my teenage years riding colts for people and loved it. When I was 19 I went to work for Craig Thompson as a loper, and lasted about 3 months. I didn't set foot in a pasture or even look at a horse for a couple of years after that... It lost all of the specialness.

I guess what I don't understand is in a way, I agree that you have to get enjoyment out of work, because if you don't then you will hate pullin your boots on in the morning, but I definitely see where you have to draw the line between enjoying your work and making it your life... It saddens me that there are people that do have that god given talent whether it be horses, dogs, or whatever, that wind up hating it from burn out because they do nothing else for so long.

I haven't been paid to ride a horse in over 3 years now, and can honestly say that the thought of having any "client" horses makes me sick to my stomach, literally.

[ROCKIN ROO HOG DOGS]

Craig is a good friend of mine but when it comes down to business he is all that,loping 50 head of horses a day for someone elses enjoyment is the first step in resenting the industry,I WORKED FOR LINDY BURCH FOR 3 YEARS!!!! Talk about sleep with your eyes open.

[TinyTexasCowgirl]

Rockin, eyes open h*ll. I can't tell you how many horses got loped with my hands in my pockets and eyes closed!! Lol. Thank god most of them were loped so much they could do it asleep too ha ha ha ha

[bailey508]

I went to work in law enforcement at the age of 18. I've done just about every aspect of it throughout the years. Everything from a jailer when I started, patrol, undercover narcotics, highway interdiction, to SWAT. Five years ago you could never have convinced me that I would ever want to do anything else. I wouldn't say I hate it as a whole, but I hate a lot of the aspects of it. You can only watch so many drug dealers walk away freely before you realize that you are fighting a loosing battle.

[Hog_Hunter_57]

I guided hunters for a long time and at some point with enough ahole clients you just say i have had enough. Now almost ten years later i like to hunt again. Not running dogs i will always love that i mean deer turky quail dove pheasant hog with a gun stuff like that. Hunting i what i love to do but when you guide some one else i becomes a job not the sport you love to do. Now i have my childern and i can not wait to teach them what i know. When it come to them if i never kill anything else and they kill everything that will be just fine with me. JMO

[rdjustham]

I went to work in law enforcement at the age of 18. I've done just about every aspect of it throughout the years. Everything from a jailer when I started, patrol, undercover narcotics, highway interdiction, to SWAT. Five years ago you could never have convinced me that I would ever want to do anything else. I wouldn't say I hate it as a whole, but I hate a lot of the aspects of it. You can only watch so many drug dealers walk away freely before you realize that you are fighting a loosing battle.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zachW]

Thats my greatest fear, i graduate tarleton in may, and I dont want to get a job im going to be burned out on in 2 years.  I have allways got tired of doing the same job, ever since i was 13, i never get fired, just move on to another job.  My dad started running a bull dozer when he was 12, was running jobs for my grandpa at 15.  He has done huge jobs for big companies, and spent the bulk of my life making a living in and around bosque county.  He is 52 yrs old and been doing the same thing for 49 yrs, and tells me every day he wishes he could find something else to do for a living.  That drives me crazy, i am afraid im going to end up with a good job good pay, and just want to walk away.

My second thought is, thats the same reason i dont accept money to hog hunt, then its a job, not a hobby.  Does anyone else worry about that?  If your getting paid dry runs are dont just suck, it means your not doin your job?

[jimco]

When I was 19 I went to work for Craig Thompson as a loper, and lasted about 3 months. I didn't set foot in a pasture or even look at a horse for a couple of years after that... It lost all of the specialness.

      Tiny, You answered your own question with the above statement. Anytime a hobby is turned into a job it loses it's SPECIALNESS.

[gary fuller]

i understand about turning your hobby/passion into a job and burning out on it. but i never did understand havin to enjoy your job. i worked for the city parks department for over 35 years starting when i was 19 and retired 3 days after i turned 55. there were stretches of time i never had any time on the books as i stayed away from work as much as i could. i never had a day i didnt get payed for just used all my leave as i accrued it alot of times. i worked there because i needed a pay check to provide for my family and to pay for the things i enjoyed doin, basically rooster fightin and hog hunting and my dogs i raised.it got to where every day was a chore to go to work as i hated it so much but long as i went the checks kept comin so i kept goin. for about the last 10 years of havin rooster i basically made money at it  but it was still fun untill the people got to be too much.