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Advantages of Formal Education and Training
1. An organized course of study may provide more concentrated and complete
training.
2. You will be exposed to the theory behind industry practices (the
"why" behind the "how").
3. Formal education may provide "broader" schooling as you interact
with the faculty, gain authors' views, attend clinics, or enter competitions.
4. Your education will be the primary goal of your instructors.
5. You may have the opportunity to take courses in subjects not related
to horses.
6. You may receive training in basic skills such as planning, research,
task completion, and communications skills, which will be valuable no matter
what path your life takes.
7. You may have the opportunity to develop leadership skills in clubs
or while supervising other students.
8. You may receive a degree or certificate that will prepare you to
seek work outside the horse industry if you decide to change careers later
in life.
9. You will be in a "protected" environment where you can interact with
your peers and the teaching staff without fear of losing a job. This
environment may sometimes extend to "internships" that provide some on-the-job
training with farms or other businesses.
10. There is no substitute for maturity. A college experience
can provide an environment that encourages personal growth and maturity.
11. Formal program graduates may advance farther and faster in a career,
if they work at it.
Disadvantages of Formal Education and Training
1. It can be expensive.
2. The teaching staff will have much to offer you, but teachers are
unlikely to be major, current horse industry operatives or competitors
who have national reputations.
3. Intercollegiate competition does not enjoy a major reputation among
employers in the horse industry like it does for professional football,
for example.
4. Some programs may be deficient in training you for very basic skills
needed to compete for some jobs, such as driving a horse van or trailer,
operating farm equipment, doing maintenance tasks (plumbing, carpentry,
welding), etc.
5. There is no substitute for the "real thing." Some programs
may stress theory when practical hands-on experience is what's needed.
6. The views of the faculty and the views of the authors of textbooks
you use may not reflect the views of your future employer or the views
of your chosen division of the horse industry.
7. Any leadership or supervisory roles you take on in the protected
environment of the educational program may not fully prepare you for the
same role in an employment context.
8. Some programs may give you the impression that they will help you
build your career. Remember: career building is your
job, not theirs.
 You will note that many
of these disadvantages can be offset by doing your homework, selecting
your program carefully, and having realistic expectations about what that
program can do for you.
Advantages of “On-the-Job Training”
1. Instead of paying for someone to teach you, you may get paid for
working while you are learning.
2. If you select your position carefully, you may end up “rubbing elbows”
with someone who has a well-respected, national reputation in the horse
industry as a competitor or successful business person (or both).
3. Your training will be almost entirely hands-on, which will give you
experience with “the real thing” in a way that training from an institution
cannot.
4. If you are given leadership or supervisory roles, you will be learning
"real world" techniques that will always be valuable to you.
5. Learning the theory behind an activity may not be important to building
a career, as long as you know how to perform the activity well.
6. Some activities (like studying specialized techniques or attending
clinics and competitions) are available for anyone to pursue independently,
and they do not require a formal educational setting.
7. If your position is with a widely respected operative (a person,
farm, business, or association) in the division of the horse industry you
have chosen, a good reference from that operative may impress your next
employer more than a degree or certificate.
8. You may be exposed to the “politics” and “tricks of the trade” in
many valuable ways.
9. You may have further opportunities to get to know the people in your
part of the horse industry, including interacting with clients in real
situations.
As you can see, many of
these advantages depend heavily on finding the right opportunity.
Disadvantages of “On-the-Job Training”
1. Some employers will promise apprenticeships or on-the-job training
as a way to take advantage of people and get them to work for less money.
2. Your training may consist of philosophies and techniques that are
not widely proven or respected.
3. Your training may not be as comprehensive, broad, or complete.
4. You may select certain activities, such as attending clinics or studying
subjects on your own, that may waste your time and energy because you lack
the experience to choose and exploit these activities effectively.
5. It may take longer to obtain the skills you need because part of
your time will be spent working.
6. You may not be as free to try new things because your job and your
employer's success may depend on consistent good performance.
7. Your training may not be the primary goal of your employer.
8. You may not have the opportunity to study other subjects or to lay
the groundwork for an alternate career.
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To
build a successful career, you must thoroughly familiarize yourself
with the structure and dynamics of the type of work you want and the part
of the industry you choose. By structure and dynamics, we don't
mean just the skills and background you need to do the work. We mean
things like the politics of your job type, the breakdown of labor in your
part of the industry, and the availability of your chosen type of work.
The horse industry is very large, and the variety of jobs is almost endless.
It
would be simply impossible to investigate every type of job.
In order to do the research you need to do, it will be necessary to make
choices. You can always change your choices as you go along.
However, if you do not make a choice and have an ultimate goal in mind,
you cannot adequately research your goal and you will probably never achieve
it.
Pitfall
-- Many people build a career by acquiring skills and then seeing what
kinds of jobs the industry will offer them. This leads to a poorly
focused career and a life managed by others.
Idea
-- If you have already decided on a specific type of job and a part of
the horse industry to work in, you may wish to skip ahead to the section
entitled
Remember
-- Doing a job means doing "work." Work is sometimes easy, sometimes
hard, sometimes fun, and sometimes boring. Sometimes you will be
happy with your choice of careers, and sometimes you will wish you had
never chosen that line of work. If you have generic skills and personality
traits suited to the work you are doing, they will carry you through the
harder times.
Why?
-- You will need to research your chosen job type to understand its dynamics.
It is impossible to research every type of job. Choosing a job type
to investigate is the first step. You can change your mind at any
time.
Success
-- If other people ask you to share the information you have discovered,
this may indicate that you are doing your research correctly. 
