Equestrian Jobs in Maine? (Portland, Lewiston: for sale, home, to buy)

[Dublin]

I have never visited Maine (Or gone anymore north then NY for that matter!) so please forgive me if this question seems ignornant.

Could a skilled/trained instructor and trainer live in Maine without going broke? Are there many equine jobs/barns in the area, and if so what towns?

In my mind I picture Maine being very rural (Again lack of knowledge, and ignorance), so could someone please paint a picture of what the major cities look like?

Thanks!

[Acadianlion]

Maine has a huge horse population. In fact Maine does not raise enough hay to feed all of the livestock here, and hay for horses is regularly imported from Canada. I am in Hancock County, and the horse population is tremendous.

Now, is it possible to make a living as a horse trainer? I don't know, but I do know a woman who has made a decent living as a farrior, so maybe that means something.

As far as Maine's cities are concerned, there are three large cities and numerous small ones. Portland is sprawled out to include most of the southwest corner of the state and the metropolitian Portland area has over 100,000 residents.

The second largest city in terms of population is Lewiston. Lewiston is home to Bates College and along with neighbor Auburn, is becoming a much more prosperous area....sprawling out much like Portland has done.

Bangor is the third largest city and is a modern city in every regard, I guess if you like that kind of thing. Bangor's population is around 38,000 people, so you can see what passes for a "major" city in Maine.

Basically the first thing that you need to know about Maine is that it has a total population of 1.2 million people, and they are spread out over an area that is larger than all five other New England states with a smidgen of New York State thrown in.

Plenty of room for horses, but not an awful lot of money to support trainers and expensive horse training facilties.

[Submariner]

In my travels away, I have known folks who do board and train horses. I have also known folks who own horses and have them boarded out.

It has been my observation that folks who owned those horses were living in tract housing and commuted to high paying city jobs. They did not have access to acreage, nor did they have time during the week to play with their horses; but they could afford to hire someone to do it all for them.

I live just North of Bangor. I do see neighbors with horses. When land is $300/acre, it is cheaper to buy land to put horses on, rather than hiring someone to board a horse.

Some folks here have good paying jobs, though many do not. So I do not know how many really have the excess money to really afford boarding a horse. However they can afford $12,000 snowmobiles that can not be rode every year as we do not always have enough snow for them. So many new snowmobiles sit, for as long as 2 years at a time waiting for snow.

There is an area commonly referred to as 'Northern Mass', where you can find tract housing and folks who commute into the cities with higher paying jobs. Somewhere around Augusta and running East - West is that line. Everything South of that on down to the border, is generally Northern Mass, and slightly more affluent.

[Dublin]

Thank you both very much! You've both been a huge help!

I'll look forward to learning more about your beautiful state in the weeks to come.

[horsewizard]

Hi there,
I'm a horse professional in the state. Unless you have your own barn, with all the ammenities you need, you can't make a living doing just horses. Most horse people have a second job (Mostly teachers). You can find some great instructing/ stall cleaning jobs in the Portland area but that's about it. Mostly it's $7/hr to clean stalls if you are lucky. I wish you the best and if you want any horse contacts here, please feel freem to PM me!

[qhmare]

Don't know what you really consider Maine, but there is a very nice facility for sale way up north, in the Caribou area. I agree with horsewizard that you need to own the facility to make any money, working at one just won't cut it up here.
qhmare