My Previous experience:

Work Experience Placements:

While I was at college and university I had to complete different work placements. I did 4 in total, one at a livery yard, one at a stud and rehab center, one at another livery yard and the last at a competition yard. While on the placements I gained lots of experience and knowledge of working at different yards, with different horses and people and also how different people care for horses. I completed all normal yard jobs such as mucking out, yard tidiness, feeding, turnout and rugging, exercising and riding. For 2 of the placements I got the opportunity to live in at the placements which was great for me to experience living away from home and having a little more responsibility as I was allowed to conduct late night checks for the yard. The placements were a good way for me to see what field of work within the equine industry I enjoyed the most and gave me a look into what I could work towards doing after finishing my education. I was also able to go on a lot of trips on the placements to watch mares be covered, see horses attending the vets and seeing the vets and getting involved. I was also able to go to a show and away training with the competition yard which was really good to be hands on and see what it takes to be a show groom. 2 of the placements offered me paid work while I was finishing my college diploma which was great.

Education:

After leaving college i completed my Level 3 extended diploma in horse management which was a 3 years course covering all aspects of horse care and management. It covered feeding and nutrition, equitation, riding and lunging horses, yard skills, tack and equipment and much more. We also had to complete duties as part of our course where we wither did a morning duty session or an afternoon one to help look after the horses and feed, water, muck out and groom etc. These were really good for us as it gave an insight into the industry from the get go and got us prepared. In our second year we had to do a week of duties which included mornings, afternoons, 2 late nights and a full weekend. We did this every 4 weeks and it was another great way to see if it was something that we wanted to go into. I really enjoyed the yard aspect of the duties as it helped me build on my skills and i enjoyed being on the yard with the horses. After college i went on to study equine at university and completed my FdSc in equestrian performance management and then topped up to complete the full BSc in equestrian performance management. This was more theory based to practical although there were practical elements such as riding. But we covered anatomy, biology, more in depth nutrition, work experience, equine industry/business and we also had to do research projects on areas of interest. The degree was great for me as it gave me more in depth knowledge on the care and management of horses which has helped with my past jobs.

Work:

After leaving university I got a job at my university working for the college/university yard as a yard technician. I helped with the daily care of the horses and supervising the students while they were on the yard for their duties/practical sessions. It was a great first job as I was still able to build on my skills in stable management and horse care but also gain new skills. For example supervising, sole charge, admin and customer service. I was in this job for just over a year before I left due to moving back home. the next job I got was at the college I completed my diploma at. Here I was a technical instructor and was more of a teacher/coach during term time with the students. I gained my teaching qualification through this job and was able to build on my teaching, lesson planning, customer service, communication and many other skills which I will be able to take to further jobs.

Currently I am in America working at a summer camp in the horseback department till mid August. Here I am able to teach lessons to campers, lead trail rides for them and horse care and management sessions. Its been great as we have a wide range of abilities at the barn so its been useful for me to work with them all and I’m really enjoying it.

Exams:

While at college I was able to complete my full BHS stage 1 and 2 exam plus my ride and road safety exam. At my previous job I gained my BHS stage 2 teach exam. I am looking to complete my full BHS stage 3 next year.