By JESSICA FARTHING
A career in the equestrian world will always benefit from a foundation in business education.
The University of Louisville in Kentucky offers an equine degree program that’s part of our accredited business school, giving horsemen and women the opportunity to bolster their business skills.
Dr. Amy Lawyer, the Equine Industry Program department chair, worked in reproductive science and barn management before taking on her current role—a prime example of the program’s real-life application.
Her story is like many of her fellow University of Louisville graduates. Lawyer wanted to make a career as a manager at a large breeding farm. Her undergraduate training provided foundational knowledge and achievements through targeted internships and focused learning. That was the launching pad for her next step, being admitted and becoming a graduate teaching assistant at Colorado State in their equine reproduction lab.
After earning her Master’s degree, she worked at a large farm in Lexington, KY, but found herself frustrated by antiquated practices and a lack of innovation. She made the decision to lean on her teaching experience, finishing her Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky. A position opened at the University of Louisville and she’s come home to help others get the head start that she enjoyed.
“I truly believe in what this program does and how it prepares students to enter the industry and actually have long-term career success,” she says.
Lawyer and other faculty teach students skills like identifying a target audience, acquiring and maintaining customers, filing taxes, managing employees, and understanding liability. She feels these basics of business are vital in the horse industry. By filling this need, students are more protected from a business and financial standpoint when they become professionals.
“We see our students climbing the ladder way faster. They’re able to fill a lot of those management or leadership roles because they have that understanding of how business works,” says Lawyer.
That grasp of what makes success in the horse industry isn’t just for students. Most of the professors involved in the program maintain other business ventures in the horse world.
“I think one of the benefits our program has is that almost all the faculty and staff have financial interest in the horse industry outside of our academic, 9 to 5 jobs,” adds Lawyer.
That practical experience shows up in the classroom, providing real world examples for curious students. Lawyer knows that personally, running a breeding operation with her husband on their own farm.
The school’s versatile program isn’t designed for just one discipline. It provides a base for a whole range of career opportunities, making inspiring the future entrepreneurs and innovators of the industry their focus. The course curriculum focuses on management and leadership skills as well as the basics of business and finances. Just like any other business undergraduate at the college, the equestrian-based students graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Business, making their degree fit any choices they make in the future.
There’s beauty in a degree that’s based in a broader category. Students who want to bridge into other, less specialized opportunities can take their diploma beyond horses, or stay within the equestrian pathways. Either way, there’s an additional layer of versatility to the program at University of Louisville.
“You can get a job pretty much anywhere with a business degree. It equips our students so much more to be prepared for the job market,” says Lawyer. “They get an intro into every single business discipline and then we do a deep dive into the horse industry.”
“Our curriculum is really intentional. It has the flexibility for the student to make it their own, to focus on their own area of interest.”
The college has connections that give a wide choice of placements for internships, as well. “Kentucky is so pro-horse. We see a lot of kids coming from out of state here, falling in love with the idea of Kentucky and the importance that we put on the horse industry,” Lawyer says. “Because of that, there’s somebody within an hour radius that does the job that a student is interested in.”
Despite the wide range of potential careers after college, the business end of the training is the thread that ties everything together.
“It’s always fun to have a meeting at Churchill Downs and run into eight of our graduates doing different things. They’re just all over the place, in different capacities.”
Lawyer knows the proximity of the iconic equine facility is a bonus, but sees no limit in the choices for her students because of the individualistic approach to education given at University of Louisville.
“It’s really our job as a university program to expose students to all the different opportunities that they have.”
