Advice on studying/gaining Horse Care NVQ’s in Essex

[Danielle87]

Hi All,

I hope I have posted this in the correct forum, I was not sure where to post it!

I am looking to gain some NVQ Qualifications for Horse Care. I am 26, I work full time and have been around horses most of my life, so am familiar with riding, stable care etc but I left school at 16 with average grades in my GCSE’s but have not studied any further for A Levels etc. My job at the moment could not be less-horsey, I work in an office and have done the same kind of work for 10 years. I would love to work full time with & around horses, and would love to be able to teach independently – preferably not in a riding school. Teaching isn’t purely what I would like to do but I have started teaching my 9 year old niece from scratch recently which I am really enjoying and she is doing really well.
I don’t have my own horse, I have loaned, worked at a riding school and another yard when I was a lot younger, and actively ride at the moment.

I have looked into some qualifications but it isn’t clear what you would need to be able to teach, I have seen ‘recommendations’ but is there a mandatory qualification that you MUST have in order to teach for insurances etc? I just think this might be a good starting point for me as teaching is something I could do around my current job, and if all goes well maybe I could get into other horsey work and end up working with horses full time.

Also if anyone could give me advice on if there are evening/weekend courses that I could take in horse care, and if I would need a full time job with horses to study for my NVQ? From what I have read although it isn’t clear, it seems that it would be really difficult for me to be able to get in to now. I could not afford to quit my job and go into full time education although I would love to. I do have some horsey people in mind who if I did need to work with, I could do at weekends.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing!!

 

[Rosiefan]

I can't answer your question but suggest you ring Writtle College and have a chat with them. Good luck

 

[iconique]

Do you really want to do a nvq? The bhs stages might be a better route, at 26 I'm not sure what funding you will get and although the bhs stages and Ptt aren't cheap, if you want to teach then they are probably the most recognised, plus you can fit in around your work? Writtle do them along with runningwell, rayne? Hallingbury and others, many as weekly courses, but you may find a few lessons (depending on your current ability) can get you through the 1&2. But you will find the exams are riding school based and you will need to ride the 'exam way'

The bhs ai qualification also gives you the option to do the ukcc coaching certificate alongside.

So I would suggest look at the bhs website, exams and qualifications section?