Grind

The Grind Is Real: Why It’s Worth It When You Start Training Horses

Nobody tells you how rough it really is when you first hang your shingle as a horse trainer.

Sure, they might pat you on the back, say you’ve got a good eye, or that you “connect well with the tough ones.” But when the dust settles, and it’s just you, a green colt, and a calendar full of empty training spots… that's when you realize this business ain’t for the faint-hearted.

This isn’t Instagram horsemanship. This is broke trailers, bruised ribs, and long days when the horses don’t catch on and the clients don’t pay on time. This is staying late to clean stalls because you can’t afford help, and hauling to dusty shows with two sale horses hoping somebody notices.

But here’s the truth:

If you can make it through the grind, you’ll come out the other side with a business that feeds you — financially, emotionally, and professionally.

Every Great Trainer Starts With the Scraps

You’re going to ride some junk. Horses that buck, bolt, freeze, or lay down in the trailer like it’s a damn sleepover. You’re going to take in fixer-uppers because they’re all you can get. You’ll undercharge because you need to fill the barn, and you’ll second-guess whether you’re cut out for this.

That’s normal.

Every barn that looks like a well-oiled machine today started with one broke saddle, four rusty panels, and a couple of half-broke colts someone couldn’t handle.

They just didn’t quit.

You’re Building More Than Muscle Memory

In those early years, every horse you start, every client you win (or lose), and every late-night ride after lessons is teaching you something money can’t buy.

You're learning:

• How to handle horses that don’t want to get broke

• How to talk to clients without sugarcoating

• How to haul, show, shoe, feed, vet, and still train every day

You’re becoming the kind of horseman — and business owner — people will trust later. Even when they don’t see it now.

The Breakthrough Isn’t Magic — It’s Momentum

One day, without realizing it, the tide will turn.

You’ll raise your rates — and someone will keep the horse with you.You’ll sell a horse that used to scare you to ride — for real money.You’ll walk into the warm-up pen, and people will know your name and horses.

That's not luck. That's years of grinding when no one was watching.

Why the Grind Is Worth It

Because you won’t always be broke.You won’t always take the “problem horses.”You won’t always feel like you’re drowning.

Eventually, if you do the work, you’ll be running a business that works for you. One where you choose the clients, the horses, the shows — and you finally get paid what you're worth.

Not because you got lucky.Because you didn’t give up when it was hard.

So, to the Ones Still Grinding…

Stay gritty.

The long nights, the cheap colts, the shitty trailers, and the months you barely break even or lose money — that’s the foundation of the business you’re building.

You’re not just training horses. You’re training yourself. To be tougher, wiser, better.

And someday soon, you’ll look back and realize the grind didn’t break you.

It built you.

P.S. If you’re deep in the trenches and need a community that gets it — not the polished, pretty version, but the real horse business — come join us inside the FatBaldCowboy Patreon.

We’re building something different. Something honest. Something that lasts.

Let’s ride.