Experience with Horses

I have worked with horses since I was 6 years old because my parents weren’t able to buy me my own pony, so therefore myself and my sister would walk to the local riding school and help out getting the horses ready, mucking out and general yard duties in order to earn a free ride. This was often only a bare back ride at the end of the day when the horses went back out into their field for the evening. The fields were a couple of miles away from the stable yard, so this was my first experience of riding horses. If the horses weren’t all booked out on one of the rides then we were allowed to accompany on a spare pony for the 2 hour ride to the woods. I did this almost every weekend for approximately 4 years until my sister got her own loan pony.

My sister got her own loan pony on a yard that belonged to our friends and therefore I would go to the yard with my sister to help her with her pony and occasionally I would be allowed to ride one of the other horses that were on the yard.

At the age of 15 I was finally allowed a loan horse of my own. She stayed at her current owners yard and I travelled to see her every weekend and some evenings during the summer evenings. She was a 14.2hh 19yr old thoroughbred mare. She was very strong and very forward going and I fell off of her a lot! But she taught me a lot about how to care and manage for a horse. The owner eventually gave her to me and I owned her for two years before she unfortunately became too lame to ride due to the hard life she’d had as a young horse. Her previous owner was fortunate enough to be able to take her back and retire her.

At the age of 16 I left school and went to Cannington College in Bridgwater on a YTS Horse Management Course. I was placed on a Point to Point yard in Over Stowey where my duties involved all yard duties, grooming the horses and riding out. This is where I had my first encounter with a stallion. Unfortunately due to personal reasons, I returned home before completing my YTS course.

I then got a job at the local riding school, Shipham Riding Centre. General duties were all yard duties, assisting with the brood mares and foals, including assisting with weaning the foals, accompanying customers on the treks and having my own filly to care for and eventually break-in.  This is where I broke in my first horse, learnt to jump, show in-hand, lunge etc. Again, due to personal reasons I left this position to work in a factory.

At the age of 20 I left England to work on a show jumping yard in Switzerland. The yard contained 35 horses, which were a mixture of Livery horses, riding school horses and the yard owners personal horses. My duties were general yard duties, exercising of the working horses, feeding, grooming, turning out for competitions, assisting at competitions which included warming the horses up and I also taught basic riding lessons to the children. During my years employment at this yard I went hunting and learnt to turn out to a high standard.

On my return to England I helped the local Huntsman out on his yard of hunters during the winter which involved general yard duties of approximately 10 horses, exercising the horses, feeding and grooming. In the summer he would take approximately 20 horses to Brean beach for the local holiday makers to ride. Our duties included getting the horses in from the various fields around the Brean area, grooming, tacking up and then riding and leading 3-4 ponies down to the beach. We would then lead rides up and down the beach for 1/2 and 1 hour rides. Occasionally a group would book a day ride which involved a trek around Brean and Burnham area with a stop off at the pub for lunch.

Since then I have owned my own horses and ponies which I have broken and trained myself during my 13 years employment with Avon & Somerset Constabulary. During this period I took a years career break and travelled the world working on various types of yard. I started in Malaysia on a trekking centre. This involved exercising the horses, accompanying rides through the forests and giving lessons. I then moved to Canada to work on a private racing yard, which involved breaking in the yearlings and training them and all yard duties.

From Canada I came back to England where I worked in Leicestershire on a racing yard owned by the Hanburys. This involved general yard duties and breaking the young horses, jumping, exercising, turn out for sales and assisting with the mares and foals and yearlings.

I then went to Italy to work on a Show Jumping yard where I was the sole groom and was in charge of 2 stallions, which involved mucking out, exercising, grooming to a high standard, lungeing, clipping, accompanying to competitions, bandaging, administering injections/medication and taking bloods.

Key Skills

My key skills are clipping, handling/riding young horses, plaiting. I am a hard worker and work happily in a team and on my own. I currently run my own horse transport business so I am a capable and confident driver who can tow a trailer and drive a 3.5t and 7.5t lorry.

Strengths and Weaknesses

• What do you most enjoy about working with horses? Everything
• Is there anything you’d like to improve? Everything
• Why should employers consider you above any other job seeker? I have a lot of varied experience with all types of horses and I am hard working.

Requirements

• Do you need accommodation? No
• Do you have any special requirements for any animals you wish to bring with you? No
• Do you have any ongoing commitments? Own horses and dogs at home.
• Do you have any holidays booked that an employer needs to know of? No