What does a horse trainer do?
Horse trainer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real horse trainer resumes:
- Ensure that USDA and AZA guidelines are met.
- Acquire knowledge in animal husbandry, natural history, and animal conditioning principles through reading materials and participating in training sessions.
- Assure proper annotation of administrative MWD utilization and training records used for legal reviews.
Horse trainer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Horse Trainers are proficient in Lesson Program, Pleasure, and Training Programs. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Detail oriented, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Horse Trainers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Lesson Program, 24%
Managed a horse riding lesson program of over 40 students.
- Pleasure, 14%
Trained upwards of 20 Tennessee Walking Horses in specialized gaits for show riding and pleasure riding purposes.
- Training Programs, 9%
Conducted training programs to develop and maintain desired animal behaviors for competition, entertainment, obedience and riding.
- General Care, 8%
General care and training of 2-6 horses per month- Worked with and gave lessons to clients with horses in training
- Training Methods, 7%
Introduced new riders to equestrian activities utilizing positive reinforcement training methods including Parelli Natural Horsemanship and Liberty.
- Horse Care, 6%
Provided over 15 children/ young adults with complete riding and horse care lessons and instructions.
Common skills that a horse trainer uses to do their job include "lesson program," "pleasure," and "training programs." You can find details on the most important horse trainer responsibilities below.
Customer-service skills. The most essential soft skill for a horse trainer to carry out their responsibilities is customer-service skills. This skill is important for the role because "animal care and service workers should understand pet owners’ needs so they can provide excellent customer service." Additionally, a horse trainer resume shows how their duties depend on customer-service skills: "provide customer service and consultation for polo club members on horse care. "
Detail oriented. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling horse trainer duties is detail oriented. The role rewards competence in this skill because "animal care and service workers are often responsible for maintaining records and monitoring changes in animals’ behavior." According to a horse trainer resume, here's how horse trainers can utilize detail oriented in their job responsibilities: "developed detailed training plans for birds to create natural behaviors to be displayed in educational presentations. "
Physical stamina. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of horse trainers is physical stamina. This skill is critical to many everyday horse trainer duties, as "animal care and service workers must be able to kneel, crawl, and lift heavy supplies, such as bags of food." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "conduct training programs, feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, observe animals' physical conditions. "
Problem-solving skills. A big part of what horse trainers do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to horse trainer responsibilities because "animal trainers must be able to assess whether animals are responding to teaching methods and to identify which methods are successful." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical horse trainer tasks: "clean stalls, pens, and equipment, using disinfectant solutions, brushes,shovels, water hoses, or pumps. "
Reliability. Another crucial skill for a horse trainer to carry out their responsibilities is "reliability." A big part of what horse trainers relies on this skill, since "animal care and service workers need to care for animals on schedule and in a timely manner." How this skill relates to horse trainer duties can be seen in an example from a horse trainer resume snippet: "see spot stay provided superb customer service, reliability and flexibility. "
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Compare different horse trainers
Horse trainer vs. Dog obedience instructor
A guide dog instructor trains dogs, which are used as guides by people with disabilities. A guide dog helps a great deal for people who cannot do certain tasks on their own. It helps people with disabilities gain independence and also allows them to be mobile. A guide dog can help with assisting people through traffic and also help assess dangerous situations. Your duty may also involve training people who are vision-impaired on how to use and take care of their guide dogs.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between horse trainers and dog obedience instructor. For instance, horse trainer responsibilities require skills such as "lesson program," "pleasure," "training programs," and "general care." Whereas a dog obedience instructor is skilled in "behavior issues," "pet," "class teaching," and "training sessions." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Dog obedience instructors tend to reach similar levels of education than horse trainers. In fact, dog obedience instructors are 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Horse trainer vs. Guide dog instructor
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that horse trainer responsibilities requires skills like "lesson program," "pleasure," "training programs," and "general care." But a guide dog instructor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "kids," "client safety," "adventure," and "cpr."
Guide dog instructors earn higher levels of education than horse trainers in general. They're 6.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Horse trainer vs. Equestrian
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from horse trainer resumes include skills like "pleasure," "training programs," "training methods," and "clean stalls," whereas an equestrian is more likely to list skills in "tack," "cpr," "trail maintenance," and "at-risk youth. "
Equestrians typically earn similar educational levels compared to horse trainers. Specifically, they're 2.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Horse trainer vs. Pet handler
Types of horse trainer
Updated January 8, 2025
