Every trainer I've talked to about becoming a professional in the horse industry has told me the same. "Go to college, and get a degree in something not equine-related." Have a fallback.

To get hired somewhere in the horse industry is not about the classes you take so much as the hands you shake. If you are planning on giving lessons, I would plan on being prepared to show. Most people I know who take lessons or ride with a trainer do so because they are showing. Also, showing gives students a goal and encourages them to continue to learn and become better.

If I were to find a lesson instructor, or take any of my non-existent children to a lesson instructor, I would want to find someone who showed at the level I wanted to achieve at minimum and could, hopefully, coach me or my non-existent children to that level or higher.