By the Editors of Practical Horseman magazine

Troy Hendricks © Mandy Lorraine

Before joining the staff at Louise Serio's Derbydown Stable, Troy Hendricks was a working student during his college years for hunter trainer Ray Francis and British Olympic show-jumping rider Tim Grubb (now a US citizen); after graduation, he rode for the sales and training barn of top hunter/jumper trainer Ralph Caristo. Here's his perspective on how his decision to include college in his plans has paid off.

College? Who needed it? When I finished high school in the early 1990s, after a successful junior career at local jumper shows, I thought I was hot stuff, ready to make a big splash as a professional rider. I enrolled at classes in a nearby community college to placate my pro-college parents, but riding and teaching remained my chief focus.

Gradually, however, I realized I was going nowhere. I wanted to perform at the level I'd seen from ringside at big shows like Devon or Harrisburg. But I didn't know the steppingstones to get me there.

When a trainer who was leaving the business suggested I take over his barn, I regretfully said no. I wasn't sure I knew enough to do a good job. (Now I'm sure I didn't!) I thought of working for a groom at a top barn to increase my knowledge. But then, in 1993, an ad for the four-year animal-science equine program at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pa., caught my attention--and an interview with program director Gerry Gilbert (an 'A' circuit judge and trainer) changed my direction, and my life.

Adding It Up
So who needed college? I did. I'm exactly where I was hoping I would be at this point in my life when I made the decision to go for an equine degree. And--an unexpected bonus--I find I get an extra edge of respect from customers and other people I deal with when they learn I've been to college.

Am I getting rich? No--though I'm doing better financially than I was right after graduation. Like most people in this business, I have to pay for my own health insurance--but the flip side of that is, I get a nice free house to live in. And I'm happy in what I'm doing, which counts for a lot.

Making it Work
If you're considering an equine-degree program, I have a couple of suggestions to help you get your money's worth.