.:EQUUS:.

The bookie or bookmaker is a large part of what helps to make the racing industry. As much as there is the thrill of watching a 5oo or so kilogram animal in it’s prime race against countless others to see who can first cross the finish line, the thrill of being able to pick the winning horse or jockey and potentially win money on account of it also adds to the thrill.

Having different bookmakers can allow the punter to seek out the best chances of a return for their money invested. Obtaining a bookmakers’ licence is described on the Victorian Bookmakers site as “one of the hardest tasks in the racing industry.”

That’s not stopped them however from providing a page regarding a career in the bookmaking industry. There is also an employment page and information regarding applying for a licence.

“Prospective Bookmakers must be approved by the Victorian Government (The Bookmakers and Bookmakers’ Clerks Registration Committee), licensed by the Racing Industry and guaranteed by the Victorian Bookmakers’ Association Limited under Government legislation. Each of these authorities carefully examine each applicant’s character, experience and financial status.”

Currently three female Bookmakers are registered in Victoria, Australia. Bookmakers can cover gallops, harness and greyhound racing and other sports.

Some bookmaking related sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmaking
Registering as a bookmaker or bookmaker’s clerk
A list of Australian Bookmakers
Skills required to be a bookmaker and occupational information
http://www.ckbookmaker.com/
http://www.stanjames.com/?dt=1219454139

“Horse sense - something that horses have that stops them betting on humans.”

tag: bookmaker, horse betting, racing industry, trotters, pacers, gallops

The senior principal of Blackburn Architects kindly took the time to answer some questions regarding the architectural design of equine facilities. “Blackburn Architects, P.C. is a full-service architectural planning and design firm specializing in equestrian architecture, commercial interiors, residential design, and renovation and adaptive reuse.”
If you have an interest in this area, why not check out their employment opportunities.

Have you always been interested in horses and when starting out in architectural design, was this horse related or something that developed later?
I first became interested in horses when I was a child. I had a twin sister who rode and showed but I had no interest in showing at the time. I didn’t have the patience. As a young boy, I just loved to play around the barn, build “houses” out of hay bales in the loft, and swing on a rope out of the hayloft door. Through my teenage years as my sister grew away from horses, our family moved and we no longer had the neighbor’s barn for our horse or for me to play.

I didn’t get back into horses until I started my own architectural practice in Washington, DC in 1983 when my first project was designing a thoroughbred breeding farm. With that project I was able to reconnect with my equine past–which was really more of a connection with the barn than the actual riding of horses.

How much of your day/week is related to horses?
Since 75 to 80% of my practice is involved with equestrian design I suppose I spend easily 40 hours per week with equestrian-related work.

In the architecture field - focusing on horse related designs, is it possible for someone to be a full time professional, earning a livable income?
Yes, though that depends on your definition of “livable.” I think the architectural field is a lot tougher, requires more time, and is much less lucrative than those not connected with the profession may think it is.

Success in this field requires a love of architecture, a talent, an appreciation for good design, knowledge and interest in horses, and a lot of luck.

What are the general steps taken to be an architect of these sorts of projects?
Become an architect and learn as much about horses as you can. But, if you don’t have the interest, you can’t force it. Having an interest in horses or having grown up with horses does not necessarily make you a successful equestrian architect.

I have seen a number of barns designed by architects that look great on the surface or as an idea but are not designed for the health and safety of the horse. On the other hand, I have seen barns that do respond to the needs of the horse but are terrible designs. My goal is to balance the goals of the owner and their horses with the demands of the site, but the needs of the horse and its health and safety are what must remain paramount.

Any advice for those interested in pursuing a similar career?
There are a lot of different areas in architecture of which one can specialize; find the one that has the right balance for you. For me, I enjoy designing buildings that are environmentally sensitive and “fit” with their surroundings. Horse barns perfectly match my interests.

Is there anything else with horses you’d love to learn about or try?
I’m always interested in learning as much as I can about horses. I read articles all the time, but I learn the most from just talking or working with barn managers, farm managers, trainers, riders, etc. Each one is different and has their way they like to do things, whether it has to do with the layout of the barn, the farm, riding, showing, etc. I have often said that for every 100 farm-managers in a room, you will find 101 different ways of running that farm. There is a bottomless pool of information and experience out there—some good and some bad—but you learn something from all of it.

Every time I learn something new, which is often, I file it in a place in my head so I can recall it some day. I’ve been practicing equestrian design for 25 years and, having completed over a hundred equestrian projects, I feel I have a lot of experience filed away up there. My staff tells me they would like to find a way to plug in a cable and just download all that experience.

Favourite horse memory?
As a 10- or 12-year-old kid, getting on a horse bareback with just a halter and a lead rope and racing my friends across the fields as fast as we could until one of us fell off. Luckily, we never had a broken bone—just a lot of bumps and bruises—and some great memories.

Future goals?
Continue to produce the best designs I can, to continue to make clients happy with the result, and do work that I am proud of… and try to make a living at the same time.

We have designed equestrian projects in 30 states and two foreign countries. But I would like to expand my practice overseas so I can design for new environments and different contexts. The needs and caring for the horse remain constant, but the site and clients always change. With that, I am always looking for new environments and different client experiences. That brings more challenges—and more experience to gain—with every project.

Best thing about your sport/profession?
The satisfaction received from seeing a design become a reality and a satisfied client. I got into architecture because I enjoy construction and the greatest satisfaction is seeing one of your own designs become a reality and to see that it works and the client is happy. No project is perfect and, like any creative profession, there is always room for improvement. However, I learn something from every project and always strive for perfection in each project despite knowing that you can only get close. But the process is exciting and the reward is a successfully completed project.

I enjoy designing buildings that are natural and respond to their environment, whether it is the climate, the site, or the architectural context. I enjoy the traveling to all parts of the country, designing for a variety of locations and climates, and working with different people and a variety of equine sports.

“I live in a house but my home is in the stable.”

tag: horse stalls, architecture, stable design, property design

Today in class we were looking at different foaling alarms and ways to be notified of when a mare is foaling and the best ways to be able to keep an eye on her without invading. One such system involved camera’s set up in a foaling box and being able to assess whether or not it was necessary to actually go out to the horse.

It got me thinking about the different companies that provide such set ups for:
- those who want to be able to see their mare foaling
- the driver who wants to keep an eye on their cargo as they make the trip from the Hunter Valley to Newmarket for a yearling sale
- the proud owner who wants to know their prize mares are under surveillance 24/7

When I spent a short stint at Emirates Park in Murrurundi, New South Wales, I was amazed to see the truck the yearlings were loaded onto - all done up in the stud’s colours with the racing silks painted on the side. There were four cameras set up in the driver’s cab so that he could keep an eye on the precious (and expensive) cargo that he was transporting. Brilliant! And costly, I’m sure.

Perhaps the set up of camera systems or the production of these technologies is more your expertise but you also have a passion for horses. There are a number of ‘barn cam’ providers around:
- http://www.barncam.com/ - Saddlebrook Barn Cams
- http://www.foalingcamera.com/ - Riverwind Surveillance Supply Company
- http://www.marestare.com/Cams.htm - allows the viewing of cameras set up on others’ properties.
- http://www.foalguard.com/camerakit.htm - wireless float/foaling camera kit.

“Horses are the most agreeable friends. They ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.”

tag: surveillance camera, floating, transport camera, stable camera, barn cam

I was having a chat with some students at TAFE today about the recent studs they’d been to visit as part of their course. It was pointed out (and amazed students) that one of the studs made all that they needed to cover the costs of employment of staff, maintenance of the property and care of horses in their stallion fees alone. The rest was profit.

On the Thoroughbred studs I’ve worked on, the main funds do indeed come from stallions and / or the cost of agistment / livery.

As the owner of a gelding that I ride on a weekly basis, I am thankful but surprised to find that it can cost me as little as $50 / month to pay to keep him on someone else’s property and this can include having access to jumps, large paddocks to ride in and an arena.

What you want in a paddock - plenty of grazing, strong, visible fencing and established trees.

He is currently in an area where it costs around $50 / week for the same facilities - thankfully I am able to work a few hours a week at this place rather than have to pay to keep him there. However, both of these fees are at a lower rate that one would expect to pay to enable their racehorse to have a spell between racing preps or a broodmare or yearling that is being housed on a stud.

My aim is to have around 150 acres where I can agist and rotate 50 horses over this amount of land. Of course, the 50 horses will be owned by other people paying to keep their equine/s on the property.

I am considering based on good grazing and fencing and some appealing facilities for horse riders (arena, jumps, round yard) to be able to feasibly charge $60 / month. For a year with 50 horses, this would total to an agistment income of $36,000.

Another paddock offering the shade of an established tree and a strong water source.

It isn’t unusual for a trainer to be paying around $20 / day for the agistment of a racehorse spelling between racing preps. Now arguably because this is for a couple of months, allowing the horse to recuperate before continuing to race, you would need a bigger client base to keep your paddocks with paying customers all year round.

However, it would be possible to have a smaller property, say 40 acres with 15 yards and to keep these yards full at $20 / day. Keeping 15 spellers on the property all year round (perhaps based on having a client base of between 60-100 horses) at a rate of $20 / day would bring in an annual income of $109,500.

Obviously it depends on where your interest lies, but for either form of agistment, there would need to be maintenance of fencing, pastures, a decent feed regime set up as well as the provision of roughage and perhaps the putting on and off of rugs.

Arguably with 15 spellers to look after, it would be possible for one staff member to deal with the daily feeding, checking and rugging - currently I work on a property and am in charge of 30 horses during the day and have previously been on a stud with one or two other staff and been in charge of 200 horses between us. 15 to look after in a day isn’t asking too much of one worker but with an income of over $100,000 it would be possible as the owner/manager to consider the part time or full time employment of two staff.

Whatever discipline you prefer, it’s worth considering what other places are charging for agistment and what services they offer as part of the package. As a riding property, as soon as you provide facilities like an arena and an area for trails or jumping, you can look at increasing your fee and allowing access to these facilities.

As a spelling property, perhaps a round yard and a walker are needed to be able to lightly exercise the young racehorses. Private paddocks will also cost more in fencing whereas with a riding agistment property, communal paddocks may be the way to go to spend less on fencing but still earn a decent amount due to more horses being paddocked together on a larger size of land.

If your passion is with caring for horses - whether they be yours or someone else’s - and you have the land to establish such a set up, perhaps spelling or agisting is the way to go.

“Closeness, friendship, affection: keeping your own horse means all these things - Bertrand Leclair”

tag: spelling, agistment, maintenance, fencing, horseriding, property management, trail riding, life with horses, pasture management

It’s all mum’s fault that I got into blogging but arguably if it hadn’t been her, someone else would have surely introduced it to me and recruited a new addicted blogger.

There are so many blogs out on the internet that have such interesting information and can take up so much of our time to read through that the question arises - how much time does the owner/writer put into the blog? And, is it worth it?

For many, the answer is of course a resounding yes. It’s worth it as they’re able to look back on previous entries and see how far they’ve come with a particular horse they’re working with. It’s worth it due to the friends that have been established online and positive comments and feedback received. It’s worth it because now thousands of people a month view the entries and purchase your product or make use of your services. It’s worth it because the skills acquired while blogging have led to employment opportunities.

There are those who make a living from full time blogging which still blows my mind and I’d love to hear from anyone who is making a livable income from their blog that is related to horses!

Although I’m not currently aware of someone who is doing so, it’s probable that there are people out there who perhaps:
- make a living based on writing for a blog that revolves around horses
- have a general interest blog about horses that receives so many hits, they’re able to make money from something like AdSense or other advertising on their blog
- have self published horse books and are selling them online
- make horse art at home that they’re able to sell online
- run an equine employment business, advertising workers and current jobs via their blog
- providing blogging/website design services for the horse industry

For those who do provide a service or product relating to horses, there’s no argument that having a site or blog that helps to promote your horse related business can be beneficial… perhaps it is even the sole way the income is made.

If you market the site well enough and keep it updated with current and relevant information, there’s no doubt your blog - one that is related to horses - can bring in some form of an income for you. Perhaps it’s worth considering…

“The love of horses knows not it’s own depth till the hour of separation.”

tag: writing, passive income, networking, equine art, website design, horse business, horse magazines, horse blogs, online horse business