Hartpury College? Equine Business?

[horseybohemian]

I meant to refer to this:

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Quote Originally Posted by GreenEyedMonster
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I go to Hartpury at the moment and I love the atmosphere of the equine yard, I do A Levels at the moment so can't say much about the lifestyle but it is indeed very bitchy but what do you expect?
You've got some very wealthy girls with top class horses, mixed with girls who've produced their own horses through hard work and girls who have never ridden outside of a riding school. There is really quite a mix of characters! and its the horseworld...

Your best bet is to set yourself up well so you CAN'T be the cause of bullying, i.e. dress smartly, be modest and try to get involved in what you can!
(I'm hoping to sign up for equine business too here when I'm done and if I make the grade!)
This is not a fabulous attitude at all - it is very sad indeed. To expect a place to be bitchy, is simply to condone and collude with bullies. To set yourself up so you can't be bullied shows you are relieved when another is victimised. All workplaces and educational establishments should be free from all forms of bullying. There are laws against it and the college must have a policy of dealing with bullying and intimidation. The policy has failed.
I am shocked by what I have read - I have visited Hartpury and was hoping my son might apply, but he chose a different route.
From this thread one can only assume that the college clearly has a reputation for and a long standing issue with bullying that has not been addressed. This is a major failing on their part.
Nobody should ever accept that bullying is OK or part of an industry, you do a disservice to all sections of the equine industry to suggest this is in any way acceptable.

 

[horseybohemian]

Sorry my messages are jumbled. Im not good with technology, internet etc ��

 

[only_me]

OP, have you given any thought to doing an open degree? You could do a business management degree through distance learning by working n the evenings, and then during the day you could work on a stud/competition yard etc.
that way you would get best of both worlds, plenty of real life experience and academic qualifications also.
Have a look at http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualifications/q91#course-details

I was very lucky as the first degree I did at uni was very hands on with lots of practical work (mandatory anyway - couldn't graduate unless you had the minimum hours!) and the current course I'm on it is also very practical. But unfortunately I have no experience of hartbury, sorry!

 

[duckling]

OP, have you given any thought to doing an open degree? You could do a business management degree through distance learning by working n the evenings, and then during the day you could work on a stud/competition yard etc.
that way you would get best of both worlds, plenty of real life experience and academic qualifications also.
Have a look at http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualifications/q91#course-details

I'd agree with this OP, or even look at doing a straight business degree at university and find part time work on a yard / do your BHS stages. I did a business degree at a red brick uni and had time to work alongside it, as well as ride for the uni equestrian team etc. Then your options are kept open - you have a qualification that transfers to any industry as well as practical equine experience you have built up along the way. I'd say that would make you more valuable in either job market. It'll probably be much easier to find yard work in the vicinity of a regular university and not at an equine college too, less competition!

 

[PollyP99]

I live not too far away and would agree that hartpury has a poor reputation. My niece did EBM at sparsholt college and enjoyed it. That said she is now in a job she loves but could have gained by completing her BHS levels and much more cheaply, think about that!

 

[PingPongPony]

I'm at Hartpury atm, dong Bioveterinary Science. And honestly, I regret going here. I can't comment on the horse side of things because we spend most of our time in labs or lectures, but I really wish I went somewhere else. I'm not a subject of bullying, I am way too confident for the bullies to try it on, but you can see bullying on a daily basis, it's sad and horrible to see, staff walk right by and don't care so we try to step in when we can, but that's not always possible, and reporting it doesn't seem to do much either.

But, if you are set on Hartpury, don't worry about your qualifications, they'll take anyone in, which is my main issue with them, because for those of us who have bothered to do the work and get the qualifications required, we are now expected to sit back and re do it all over again because Hartpury decided to accept everyone, oh and of course we have to pay £8000 for the privilege or re doing our A-levels (in some modules GCSE level) so I am really not happy about this. (this is more towards Bioveterinary Science of course, and by qualifications I mean, Hartpury wanted BBC at A-level at least with a B in Biology or Chemistry, yet we have people on our course who did english, ICT and drama and got DDE, hence my anger)

A friend of mine went to Writtle and absolutely loves it so maybe have a look at that?

 

[Murphy888]

Stroppy Mare I'd like the hear some opinions from your friends on the course, because often courses can be very different from what they appear to be. This thread is the first I've heard of bullying at Hartpury, and frankly I'm kind of disappointed that such a prestigious college with such a good reputation has this sort of behaviour from the STAFF. I guess at my current college the staff aren't always very nice either, they talk about the students and slag them off and have favourites who get put on their favourite horses more etc. so by bringing down my opinion of the college I've stopped putting it on a pedestal quite so much and feel more confident in myself with applying etc.

And spacefaer I kind of wanted to end up running and managing a specialist yard, be it breaking and backing/showing/rehabilitating/competition training etc. I don't quite know what I'd like to go in to yet, I'm interested in most aspects of the equine world (except I can't see myself going into racing) so I would like the knowledge of the EBM at the very least, even if the qualification doesn't help me get anywhere, it would be good knowledge to have.

Hope that made sense! I try to keep my options open

Saddleupsin, surely if your end goal is to run/manage a yard and you are mostly attracted to this EBM course by the practical/horsey modules (but we have a few people saying it is really mostly business/lecture/classroom based) then you are far better off starting with your BHS stages at a good equestrian centre or competition yard/stud? Where you will get the relevant hands on experience and industry preferred qualifications? I am now finishing off at uni doing something unhorsey but before I went to uni I did a stint as a working pupil at a dressage yard, and it is my understanding to run a yard you have to rise up the ranks. Ie working pupil, groom, head girl, yard manager. Getting there requires really good stable management knowledge and practical skills as well as decent riding in most but not all cases. So I think an equine business degree could be a bit of a waste of time and money. Once you are in a position to run a yard, with enough practical experience and you feel you need the business aspect you can do part time courses in business/accounting etc. I don't know how much Hartpury is? If it is like normal uni fees of around 9000 I would say it isn't worth it, for what you are hoping to do in the long run. I think the knowledge you are hoping to find from this course would be better found with BHS stages and a good yard. It would also let you consider the realities of this type of career, and if you decide it is not for you there is not much money wasted.

Hope that is some help, just my initial thoughts.

 

[concorde]

I totally agree with Murphy. I doubt anyone would recruit a new graduate with no industry experience to manage their yard.
I am nothing to do with Hartbury but think someone should alert senior staff there to this thread. A culture of bullying in places of work / study is totally unacceptable in this day and age.

 

[GreenEyedMonster]

.-.

 

[GreenEyedMonster]

This is not a fabulous attitude at all - it is very sad indeed. To expect a place to be bitchy, is simply to condone and collude with bullies. To set yourself up so you can't be bullied shows you are relieved when another is victimised. All workplaces and educational establishments should be free from all forms of bullying. There are laws against it and the college must have a policy of dealing with bullying and intimidation. The policy has failed.
I am shocked by what I have read - I have visited Hartpury and was hoping my son might apply, but he chose a different route.
From this thread one can only assume that the college clearly has a reputation for and a long standing issue with bullying that has not been addressed. This is a major failing on their part.
Nobody should ever accept that bullying is OK or part of an industry, you do a disservice to all sections of the equine industry to suggest this is in any way acceptable.

MrSpam - I am not a bully so please don't think that I'm one of them or I agree with their behaviour.
One of the girls who kept her horse on livery at the college bullied me during my lessons by laughing at me, giggling whenever I answered questions, gossiping and openly talking about me as if I wasn't there and then when I went to a teacher she pretended she'd not done a thing and sucked up to me for the next couple of months.

What I meant to say is it is the horse world and reknown for its bitchiness and judgemental attitudes so your best option is to be respectable by looking smart as opposed to scruffy and hungover, be modest rather than the arrogant loud mouth of which there are many at hartpury and take part in what's on offer - if you keep to yourself and don't talk to anyone or show an interest how can you expect to be treated equally?
Do you think people will think nicely of you if you don't talk to anyone, behave snobbishly or ignore any activities or opportunities on offer? - I wasn't much of a partier so I believe this is where my own experience of bullying stemmed from and since making friends and getting involved the issue has been resolved!