Hey. I compete in jumpers and am trying not to loose my amateur status. I’ve never taught for money (often volunteer my time teaching for free or coaching at shows though – always unpaid) but am getting ready to undertake in something that I’m not sure would cause me to loose my amateur status.
My parents own a small property (10 acres) that we have slowly built into a small equestrian center. It was just me riding at the barn then my brother but now we’ve started into sales. With the bad market we’ve found a little niche taking in unbroke fuglies off craigslist, breaking them, putting 3 months on them and selling. Sometimes we make money off them but more often that not the ones in poor condition cost us far more than we sell them for but we enjoy it.
I manage the horses on a daily basis, train them, market them and show them to potential buyers. Does this cause me to loose my amateur status? Since I have done fairly well at selling these horses, a few people have asked me to ride, market and show their horses to buyers. I don’t get paid for this but if/when I can get the horse to sell, I get 10% of the sale price for my efforts. (Usually about $100-$200 for 4+ months of work).
So basically, can I be a barn manager and sales agent without loosing my amateur status?
Thanks