Apprenticeship/ job advice

[horseygirlgold]

Hi,
I'm 17 currently studying Animal Management at Reaseheath College. Although I chose to do a general animal course, I've always had a passion for horses! I learnt the basics in a riding school, rode my friend's horse and also part loaned my own pony. I've never been an amazing rider but I just love to hack, pop a few cross poles etc. However, I haven't been regularly riding for at least 6 months (I'd love to get back into it but money seems to be the problem).

I am currently looking at options for when I finish my course.
I was wondering if an apprenticeship/ job as a groom, stable hand or rider would be suitable? And if anyone has any advice or recommendations. I'm really interested in the natural horsemanship route but willing to consider anything. Also does your weight/ height matter? and is there anything else employers look for.

Thanks so much, Abi

 

[Parly]

Have no idea where Reaseheath College is but my advice is to contact every riding school, yard and post ads on local pages to ask if anyone needs part-time help / apprentices or can otherwise help you get a foot on the ladder to where you want to be. It pays to be a cheeky bag sometimes and has served me well my whole life.

As for height and weight requirements my guess is it would only be an issue if you were overweight (unless you're looking to work on racing yards and such) but if the job doesn't entail much riding initially there's still a very good chance they'll have you on board for all the grafting and hard slog.

Seriously. Contact local places and post ad on local FB groups and put yourself out there telling people what you're doing, what you want to do and you might be surprised at how many people show an interest.

When I was younger I desperately wanted to work and train to be a riding instructor but a woman who owned a big school gave me some great advice which was "Work towards another job that pays a higher salary, offers much better working hours and conditions and then you'll have the time and money to spend buying and enjoying your own horse. There's no money in this life so get the money and job security and then you can have it all"

Pretty good advice now I'm older and wiser so with that in mind, maybe it's wise to continue with the general animal care and keep your options open to everything at the same time.

Good luck though Abi! Let me know how you get on

 

[Shay]

If this is what you want to do an apprenticeship is definitely going to be the way to go. I don't know about Cheshire but around here the good placements are very competitive. There are quite a few lower quality placements - but there is also a seemingly never ending stream of young people, mostly girls, with lower educational standards who think they want to work with horses and who don't stick around for long!

Do some serious local research. Your riding skills are not going to be good enough for a work rider, but you might find a place where you could get lessons. Have a look at the new BHS career structure and see if there are any of those early modules you would take to make yourself more attractive to prospective employers. Also perhaps look at your local RDA and see if you can gain some experience as a volunteer with them over the summer. If nothing else it will help you decide if this is something you really can do for the rest of your life!

Outside of racing there are no particular height / weight restrictions. But this is hard physical work so most folk tend to be on the slimmer side.

 

[SO1]

Apprenticeships are good as you will get a qualification at the end of it and some sort of pay.

At my work we run apprenticeships in business administration and I expect it will be a similar sort of thing to the equine apprenticeships. Companies with income of over a certain amount will have to pay an apprenticeship levy and can draw down on that funding to employ apprentices. However I expect most equine businesses won't have that level of income.

We get our apprentices through an apprentice company who provide us with candidates and tutors who help the apprentices with their assignments. We allocate them 3 hours a week of paid time to study. I suggest if you can do go through an apprentice training provider as they will provide you with support in terms of preparing a cv and interview practice, they will also advertise positions and help you with resources.

I think Hadden is the one that is used for equine apprenticeships.

http://www.haddontraining.co.uk/equine/vacancies/

 

[teapot]

Agree with SO1 - my employer does the Haddon route for our apprentices and they get a decent all round training experience. Yes height and weight does matter, it's one of the first things we look at on application forms tbh!

We also look at just how 'horsey' people are - it's incredible how someone's attitude changes when they're doing a forty hour week in the peeing rain. Also we delve into how much they like working with people, and how willing they are to improve, whether their riding, knowledge, team player type skills.

 

[horseygirlgold]

Thanks everyone for the replies, really helped! Right now I'm keeping my options open but I think getting more equine experience would be the best option if I want to work with them.

 

[ihatework]

Thanks everyone for the replies, really helped! Right now I'm keeping my options open but I think getting more equine experience would be the best option if I want to work with them.

Good luck. I'd suggest doing some work experience placements over the summer on some yards. Don't expect to get much riding unless at a riding school, but take whatever opportunity you are given.