Just the job

H&H’s amateur survey has uncovered which jobs are most compatible with a competitive lifestyle – or do riders simply make it work? Martha Terry crunches the data

- Martha Terry

ONE of our sport’s USPs is that even amateur riders who work full time and not with horses can compete against an Olympic athlete – albeit on an inexperienced horse. And most amateurs do need to work hard at their “real job” to earn enough to compete. It’s about finding a career that’s compatible with our passion, with a decent salary (and boss) but without a crippling workload or commute.

H&H ran a survey of our readers to find out which “day jobs” were the most common among working riders competing at affiliated level. While the survey will gain no Ph.D. for breadth of research, thanks to the 170 riders who contributed we can see some interesting trends. Mostly though, it’s a case of the rider’s will finding the way – whatever their situation, they make it work.

Our heroes of the hour, NHS workers, were the most prolific, accounting for 14% of the total range of jobs (see pie chart, p44). But there’s no set pattern – while doctors and nurses typically need to log set hours within a workplace, those in accountancy and marketing, the second and third-most popular careers, can often work flexible hours from home. A surprising finding was how few riders work part-time – just 8% of those surveyed – presumably the consequence of such a costly hobby necessitating a full-time pay packet.

Teachers feature in fourth, benefiting from longer spells of school holidays when they can devote more time to their competition life, while HGV drivers also make the top 10 – for them the “day job” often happens at night, and they do the horses in the day.