Future Requirements

In my next role I would love to continue working with young horses, its something I have always ben very keen about and something I have always enjoyed, I am very open to go back to a coaching role and certainly feel the years away will have only helped my knowledge.
In an ideal world I would love to be able to balance some freelance coaching outside of my working hours.

Live in would be absolutely ideal as I do prefer to be on the yard as much as possible, however I would consider a live out position for a job in the northwest.

I do own 1 extremely well behaved horse and 2 dogs.. one of which is very old so if I decide to take a job further a field he would prefer to stay with his granny however the second is my best friend so I wouldn’t want to leave her behind.

Experience with Horses

I’ve worked in the industry now for 18 years, and ridden for about 21 years. I learnt to ride at my local riding school where I worked for 7 years,  I started as weekend staff, then went onto an apprentice programme and on completion quickly worked up to become one of their senior coaches. I then left and began freelance work so I could focus more on competing in both eventing and showjumping with my own and clients horses, during which time I got the opportunity to base my self at one of the nicest competition centres in the northwest which allowed me to focus on purely showjumping and producing some young horses . In 2019 the centre changed hands and I took on the role of head groom/ yard manager, which meant having to take a step away from competing clients horses and focusing more on the general running of the yard. I did continue to compete and produce my own horses however over time I’ve decreased my string down to 1 and now we just enjoy schooling with the odd competition when it fits.

Key Skills

Over the years I’ve really developed my key skills but i love to learn so i am an open book when it comes to trying things a different way. I am extremely confident with the handling of fit competition horses, stallions and young stock. My ground work with young and difficult horses is second to none and I have a real passion for starting young horses off properly.

I am also able to plait, clip and turn horses out to a very high stand and I take a huge pride in how my horses are presented on daily basis not just for the ring.

I work extremely well alone and in a team and having worked at competition venue I’ve dealt a lot with competitors, judges, volunteers, course builders and other support staff and I feel this has given me a good set of people skills and knowledge of the jumping sport from all sides. I have particularly enjoy working on the collecting ring at both national and international competitions which has massively helped when it comes to dealing with clientele and being the face of a company.

Strengths and Weaknesses

For me the most enjoyable part of my career so far has to be watching the once weedy wobbly 3 & 4 year olds that’s I’ve helped start off go on to do well in their 6, 7 & 8 year old year. I find it really rewarding knowing they’ve been set up with all the right tools and the best foundations to start their competition career.

I would say personally the biggest improvement I would like to make in my next role is the time in which I can turn a horse out, I’m so envious of the grooms that can plait or clip in a nano second and although I know I’m by no means slow i also appreciate that I’m still little steadier when it comes to doing ring quality quickly.

Despite that I would say I’m a very versatile groom and rider. I’m happy to turn my hand to anything and although my job history is thin I have a huge amount of experience in alot of areas. I’m also very loyal and would prefer to find a long standing job than a quick 6 months here to there.