Hi All, I apologies for my naivety before I start, my daughter loves horses and rides when she can, but my knowledge is very limited.

She would like to work in the equine industry and is looking to go to college next year, we live near Broomfield, which is part of Derby College, who run the BTEC Level 2 Diploma in Horse Care.

We have been around the site on their open day and the staff and college seem nice.

Is there anything she should consider when looking at:

Courses,
College facilities,
Staff Experience
Or anything else….

can you share any experiences or expertise with me, all information will be gratefully received.

Thank you Rhiannon

Hi Rhiannon,

I would not worry about your lack of experience ad there are many ways of finding out the answers to your questions!
I myself was going to go to college when I left school to do a National Diploma in Horse Management but aftr having ym interview and a tour of the college I decided against it as I didnt think I would get anywere. But everyone is different so apply to the college, go to the interview and she can always decide after if she wants to accept the place if it is offered. One thing thatI found is that the competeitive nature of the horse industry did effect my decidion as whether to accept ym placement or not. for example, just because I did not have my own competition horses or event horses I felt I was judged as having less experience than the kids that did.

If your daughter decides this or for what ever reason does not want to do equine at college there are other options!
I think the best option in my opinion if she is determined to work within the equine industry is to maybe look for an apprenticeship or a working pupil placement. Both of these with mean a full time job at a yard but she will be trained while she works and a lot of the time still get a small wage as she is working full time. I personally think that these are better as your experience is greater with all types of horses. Also if she has her own horse they normally offer free livery at the yard.

Hope this helped

Hi Melx,
Thank you very much, this is great.
R

sorry if this comes a bit late..

she can work as a working pupil wich will allow her to train and earn money at the same time.
I worked at a riding school to get my NVQ's but if she does BHS's then i think she will have to pay for them.
Im not sure about a betec, but i knew someone who did them at a collage and then moved onto NVQs at a working yard.

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I realise that your daughter may have decide by now but in case anyone else is looking I thought I would add my bit too.

You CAN pay to get training for the BHS exams but you certainly DO NOT HAVE to, and I would say that as a general rule, unless you are a mature student, it is unusual to do so.

Plenty of equestrian centres / riding schools etc train people for their professional exams. In fact before the colleges started doing these exams too, that was the only way to train ! The colleges have loads of money to advertise their courses so of course that is what most people think of before considering other options.

Some riding centres provide a small wage whilst providing training and experience and some pay for the exams too. The work at an equestrian centre does not of course provide those long holidays like the colleges and that is what some young people want. They dont always want the long hours they will have to do at a riding centre - which is what they will have to do eventually of course.

For those who are really seriously keen to get qualified however, there are loads of options.

I would personaly look out locally for good equestrian centres and ask them what options they offer. We have found that many people who run stables prefer people who have trained in the commercial environment rather than at colleges ! It is worth considering all options before going to the first one you heard about.

Check out the ABRS site (Association of British Riding Schools) and the BHS site (British Horse Society) look at their - 'where to ride section' or 'Approved' establishments and see what centres there are near you - look a their web sites and see if they do training for exams. Most do. ring and ask to speak to the person in charge of training rather than the person who answers the phone.

The other thing you could do is to ring someone near you who is on the BHS register of instructors and ask them which centre they think is the best for your needs.
It is quite possible to train part time too - even those who are married and have a family. There is a book called "How to Get Qualified" which might be useful for this.

Hope this helps

Just a thought. Is the BTEC going to give her the qualifications she wants. Does she want to teach or what ? If it is a teaching qualification she wants then maybe she should be looking at the BHS Stages or ABRS Levels rather than BTEC!


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