Horse trainers are one of the happiest careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, horse trainers rate their career happiness 4.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 3% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy horse trainers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Wildlife rehabilitator | 4.2 | $28k |
| Animal trainer | 4.2 | N/A |
| Horse trainer | 4.2 | $24k |
| Equestrian | 4.1 | $22k |
| Zoologist | 4.1 | $49k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are horse trainers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do horse trainers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as horse trainers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are horse trainer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are horse trainers making the best use of their abilities?
Are horse trainers happy with their salary?
Horse trainers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Horse trainers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked horse trainers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
323 horse trainers
23% of horse trainers rated their compensation 5 stars
14% of horse trainers rated their compensation 4 stars
22% of horse trainers rated their compensation 3 stars
22% of horse trainers rated their compensation 2 stars
19% of horse trainers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do horse trainers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, horse trainers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.0/5. Unlike many careers, horse trainers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become horse trainers.
We asked horse trainers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
326 horse trainers
52% of horse trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
17% of horse trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
17% of horse trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
10% of horse trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
4% of horse trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as horse trainers?
Horse trainers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.4/5. The majority of horse trainers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked horse trainers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.4 out of 5 stars
344 horse trainers
65% of horse trainers rated their career fit 5 stars
22% of horse trainers rated their career fit 4 stars
8% of horse trainers rated their career fit 3 stars
2% of horse trainers rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of horse trainers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a horse trainer’s work environment?
As a whole, horse trainers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.3/5. A solid majority of horse trainers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a horse trainer.
We asked horse trainers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
341 horse trainers
55% of horse trainers rated their work environment 5 stars
28% of horse trainers rated their work environment 4 stars
11% of horse trainers rated their work environment 3 stars
4% of horse trainers rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of horse trainers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are horse trainers making the best use of their abilities?
Former horse trainers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.1/5. Most horse trainers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a horse trainer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked horse trainers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
344 horse trainers
53% of horse trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
21% of horse trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
12% of horse trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
9% of horse trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
5% of horse trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars