General articles, thoughts, ideas and topics!
What is it that makes a GREAT Riding Instructor? Here we take a look through a mixture of research, questioning and personal experience at the most important qualities a horse riding instructor must possess.
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We all know horses don’t look after themselves, and it appears that this may lead to some confusion at times regarding holiday entitlement in the equine industry. Whether you’re an employer or an employee, don’t make assumptions about holiday entitlement, make sure you know the law!
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For most of us, certain horse sports are of particular interest whether we have competed ourselves or merely enjoy following the sport at shows and on TV, but for career grooms it often provides a career pathway in which the groom can become specialised. But in order to become a successful, professional groom you must genuinely appreciate, if not love the discipline you are devoting your working life to. In this article we take a look at the role of the dressage groom…
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Sole charge groom positions can be sole charge for just some of the time when other team members are away, or the job can be fully sole charge 100% of the time, but both scenarios require specific skills and qualities to perform to expectation and the satisfaction of all involved. This can be a hugely rewarding, career-enhancing experience, but it can also challenging. It’s important when applying for such a position that you are suitably equipped in all respects to fulfil the obligations that go with the territory…
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Looking to build a successful career in a particular discipline or sector of the equine industry? Find out about the course options available to learners via and equine apprenticeship.
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Writing an equine CV doesn’t have to be daunting, long-winded or time-consuming, and it will make a HUGE difference to your job hunt. Find out more about the benefits of making a CV and documenting your work history as you go. The Grooms List even offers you FREE OF CHARGE a template to drop all this information into!
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Trainee grooms, including apprentices, are a lifeblood of our industry and the ins and outs of employing them needs much more consideration than they currently get – the yard junior, the trainee and of course the official and safeguarded version of the working pupil, the apprentice groom, are the future. What we all invest today could reverse the sometimes depressing current trends in the industry for tomorrow. If you are sitting comfortably with a large glass/cup of whatever keeps you awake and concentrating, please do read on. We hope you will be glad you did and that you will share this info to anyone you think might benefit from it – THE EQUESTRIAN INDUSTRY DESPERATELY NEEDS PEOPLE LIKE YOU!
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It’s an occupational hazzard that when you work with horses, sooner or later you will succumb to ailments and injuries of some sort which may have short, medium or even long term consequences and are specific to our industry. Working with horses + age = creaking gate syndrome, hard to avoid…or is it?
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At any stage in your life, deciding on or changing a career pathway is a very tall order. We have to identify a working life that is enjoyable, that we are not only capable of but are likely to be good at, and that will sustain us financially and provide for our retirement. It’s hardly surprising that so many of us passionate horse lovers opt for a career with horses! So many young horse lovers stand on the threshold of their adult life envisaging a long future of playing with ponies every day and being paid to do it. What’s not to love?! Well, quite a lot actually – living the dream can soon become very disenchanting… unless you do it right!
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So you think you have found the job you have been looking for? That’s great, but WHOA just hold your horses a second… In my experience, interviewing alone can be a very inexact science. Before you shake hands on the deal, I strongly recommend all job seekers and all employers road test each other first with a job trial, at a pre-agreed paid rate of course. This might be the one thing that for you, secures your decision or it may be that you will look back and consider how you really dodged a bullet. Of course sometimes, for some people, a job trial is not always practical, but if it is, move heaven and earth, do yourself a favour and have one. There is nothing like a road test for really seeing first hand if something might be a fit; and you know we are all about job satisfaction and job longevity here at The Grooms List by Caroline Carter Reruitment! Becky has shared some of her thoughts about job trials and of course, I can’t resist chipping in here and there…
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Take a stroll around any yard at feed time and you will see grooms carefully measuring and allocating feeds for each individual horse. Usually, there will be a complex ever-changing board to ensure each horse has a diet relevant to their workload that allows them to reach their peak performance. By contrast, poke your head into the groom’s kitchen, take a peek in the tack room bin, glance in a grooms car passenger footwell and the chances are high there will be great evidence of a less thought out diet. For some reason when it comes to caring for ourselves the trend for living on Redbull and Mars bars still prevails for many grooms. Yet it makes no sense! If our end goal is to provide the best possible care for the horses in our charge, one of the first steps should be to ensure we are in our best possible form to do that job, and that begins with the fuel we use to power ourselves.
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A good Competition Groom/Travelling Groom is an indispensable part of a competing team, without whom most top riders would not be able to achieve what they achieve in the showring. When a good groom is secured (no need to name names here!) they are undoubtedly the glue that holds things together in the moments that really count, and the moments that aren’t often counted too yet are equally critical to top performances! For those of you considering competition grooming as a career option, or for those of you who have elements of competition grooming within your everyday grooming role, we can help you up your game to big league level, or even assist in getting you “interview ready” for this exciting career move. The earning potential that comes with such a role also has its attractions…read on…
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The horse breeding process, from planning lineage to seeing the youngsters you’ve worked with embarking on their careers, is fascinating and it’s easy to imagine that a career in the stud industry is very rewarding. Afterall, top quality international winners are not bred by chance. Whilst it is hard to imagine that any horse lover WOULDN’T want to work in an environment with foals, as Becky Parker outlines in her tongue-in-cheek look at which equine disciplines reflect your character, not every job within the equine industry suits every horse lover. There are a variety of job roles within the stud industry and this article will focus on that of the Stud Hand – what are Stud Hands and Stud Hand jobs, and who can become a Stud Hand.
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Fresh from the clutches of 11 years enforced education, drunk on your own freedom (honestly guv I’m just really happy), the prospect of earning a proper wage dangled in front of you tantalisingly, it can be tough persuading yourself to think long-term about career planning. The prospect of returning to a classroom for college courses or perhaps a degree holds no appeal for those who struggle with formal education or are just fed up with the confinement of a classroom. Apprenticeships provide an alternative way to achieve formal, industry recognised City and Guilds qualifications with minimum or possibly even no classroom time. Learners are able to ‘earn while they learn’ as the tagline goes. The equine industry is famously fast-paced and physical, and there is unanimous thinking when it comes to the verdict that there is really no substitute for practical, on the job training. An equine Apprenticeship allows you to gain this in an unexploited, structured and planned way whilst also gaining the piece of paper to prove it. Becky Parker discusses the pros, cons and alternative routes into a successful career with horses.
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Job-hunting is not easy, believe us, we know this. Finding the perfect job that matches all your requirements in terms of preferred location, favourite discipline, nice accommodation, chances to ride, or not, welcoming your beloved menagerie of pets and/or significant other too. Sometimes it can truly feel like hunting for a needle in a haystack! So when your equine job hunt finally uncovers the ideal employment opportunity there are a few really silly mistakes you just don’t want to be making.
Here to help as always we bring you a simple guide on what NOT to do.
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The most fruitful horsey careers are built on consideration and planning. Unless you understand some of the key things recruiting employers take seriously, you cannot structure your equine career development to your maximum benefit in terms of getting the best job choices, salary and associated benefits. Taking your first equine job and seeing where life takes you can be quite a ride, but if you stick to this as a strategy, it is unlikely to get the most the equine industry has to offer and it can lead you into some terrible situations too that can stop many a promising career in its tracks. Again social media is full of grooms with stories to tell on that front! In this article, we ask what job longevity means and how it might positively, and negatively, impact your equine career development.
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There are of course many factors which influence the longevity and success of any working relationship. Between grooms and employers, none of these are more hotly debated these days than that of grooms’ salary and the general package. You don’t have to look too hard on social media to see the disgruntled outpourings from all sides and every day I have conversations which clearly demonstrate much is still left to be done for this situation to become resolved. I don’t pretend to have an answer as to how we raise the income levels of this particular sector, (which is in many ways is similar to many of the “caring professions”) but I believe how and when the topic of salary and terms is covered within the whole interviewing process, if addressed, could have a positive impact on the longer term security of those involved.
In this article, I give both grooms and employers my advice on laying the foundations of long-term, happy, healthy and successful employment.
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It is undeniable that if you work within an equestrian discipline that actually interests you and suits your personality traits and experience levels, then your working life will be much more fun and you will thrive in that role for longer periods of time and to a good level, everything else being equal! I can spot a square peg in a round hole at 1000 paces and, it has to be said, this forms the basis of many discussions I have with both grooms/riders and indeed, employers. This is one of the benefits of using a recruitment agency like ours, as discussed in our recent article Why Use a Recruitment Agency. What is true is that grooming within any discipline requires reliability, consistency, hard work, and initiative. But this week, we take a characteristical tongue in cheek, whistle-stop tour through just a handful of popular disciplines. Becky Parker will ponder the various discipline-specific characteristics and it will remind you of why you suit a specific discipline, or it might help you to finally decide which of the horsey disciplines suit you, or even some of the people you know. See if you can guess which one Becky seems to have a bias towards?!
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By having a 7.5 tonne+/HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) license, and a certificate to legally transport horses (as part of your job, or as your job) you can add anything from circa £200 up to £1000 or more to your monthly wage. If you are a freelance groom to add this service to your skills repertoire can really improve your “offerings” to prospective clients. The outlay required to get these qualifications can be steep for many, but at The Grooms List we have many jobs that come in where the Employer is happy to fund this training in return for a contractual promise to remain in the role for which you were employed for a mutually agreed fair period of time. The Grooms List by Caroline Carter Recruitment has negotiated a cracking 20% discount for you or your employer to make this more affordable for you by partnering with a specialised HGV trainer who trains over 200 people per month. They are the UK’s largest specialist vehicle training company, training for some of the UK’s biggest organisations. Becky Parker has done some further research on the nuts and bolts of the subject. You need to read this…
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There are many perks to being a groom, but the greatest perk is the horses themselves. When you work with an animal day in day out it’s not just their beauty, their power or the thrill of going for a good gallop that keeps you hooked. It’s discovering their individual unique characters. The way they amuse us with their antics and the satisfaction we get from watching them learn and progress in their careers, as personalities we have a bond with, not just machines. That’s what makes the job so rewarding. A vital part of a groom’s skillset is the ability to recognise the different personality types and adapt the way they handle each horse to suit the individual. Of course, some horses make our job easier than others. Here are a few examples of the more ‘quirky’ characters you might come across as a groom or employer!
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