Kentucky’s horse industry supports more than 40,000 jobs, according to the Kentucky Equine Survey. We have interviewed several professionals and worked with horse organizations to provide the following career profiles. Students may want to keep notes with this career information organizer.
Many thanks to Annise Montplaisir, with the Kentucky Equine Education Project, and Kentucky Equine Management Internship Program for career profile assistance.
Find career descriptions and education requirements related to horse sales and entrepreneurship.
Learn the minimum requirements, salary, and descriptions for several jobs in horse management and sales.
Cooper is now the Farm Manager of Mt. Brilliant Farm in Fayette County, Ky. The farm, which is over 1,200 acres, offers boarding and sales prep, and owns horses in training and actively racing, as well.
Having grown up riding and showing horses and then visiting Saratoga Race Course at the age of 6, New York native Carrie Gilbert knew that she was wanted to work horses—and not just horses: racehorses.
Dr. Natalie Heitz is an Associate Veterinarian at Northrup Equine Veterinary Care, where she specializes in treating horses. Her usually starts in the early morning at the racetrack followed by afternoons of farm calls. She may also visit race tracks during the racing season.
Horse trainer Jordan Blair, of Lexington, prepares and conditions Thoroughbred horses for their racing careers. His day starts around 4:30 a.m., arriving in the barn to check on all the horses and employees.
Dr. Jimmy Henning is an extension professor and forage specialist at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food, and the Environment. His main job is to help students and farmers understand how to manage their grasses and hays to feed their grazing livestock.
As an animal/equine nutritionist, Dr. Coleman works on making specific horse feed recipes. To do his job, he needs to know the nutrient needs of all kinds of horses and the different feedstuffs that will supply those nutrients to the horses.
Heather Anderson is an associate international editor at the Thoroughbred Daily News, writing for a daily web journal that provides information on anything and everything that goes on in the international Thoroughbred world. She is also in charge of maintaining the TDN's horse data and troubleshooting any web site issues.
