Equestrians 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, equestrians rate their career happiness 4.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 5% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy equestrians 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
Animal trainer
4.2
$31k
Horse trainer
4.2
$24k
Equestrian
4.1
$22k
Zoologist
4.1
$65k
Animal breeder
4.0
$40k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are equestrians happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do equestrians find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as equestrians?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are equestrian’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are equestrians making the best use of their abilities?

Are equestrians happy with their salary?

Equestrians rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Equestrians tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked equestrians how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.9 out of 5 stars

546 equestrians

5 Star
16%

16% of equestrians rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
16%

16% of equestrians rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of equestrians rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
22%

22% of equestrians rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
21%

21% of equestrians rated their compensation 1 stars

Do equestrians find their jobs meaningful?

On average, equestrians rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.0/5. Unlike many careers, equestrians have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become equestrians.

We asked equestrians how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

4.0 out of 5 stars

555 equestrians

5 Star
45%

45% of equestrians rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of equestrians rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
15%

15% of equestrians rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
6%

6% of equestrians rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
7%

7% of equestrians rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as equestrians?

Equestrians rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.4/5. The majority of equestrians find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked equestrians how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

4.4 out of 5 stars

598 equestrians

5 Star
57%

57% of equestrians rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of equestrians rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
8%

8% of equestrians rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
2%

2% of equestrians rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
2%

2% of equestrians rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is an equestrian’s work environment?

As a whole, equestrians rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.2/5. A solid majority of equestrians enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an equestrian.

We asked equestrians how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

4.2 out of 5 stars

598 equestrians

5 Star
52%

52% of equestrians rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of equestrians rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
13%

13% of equestrians rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
3%

3% of equestrians rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
2%

2% of equestrians rated their work environment 1 stars

Are equestrians making the best use of their abilities?

Former equestrians on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.8/5. Most equestrians surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as an equestrian, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

We asked equestrians how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.8 out of 5 stars

601 equestrians

5 Star
38%

38% of equestrians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
25%

25% of equestrians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of equestrians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
9%

9% of equestrians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of equestrians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars