Daughter wants Equine Management BTEC instead of A levels after open day

[Brainfreeze1]

Hello, my daughter in year 10 is a hard working student with expected 6 and 7 grade passes. Up until recently she was set on history and English A levels and off to university. All good. Until that is I took her to a land and agricultural college who were having an open day. The sun was shining the setting was beautiful. She is now determined to go there and study BTECH in Equine Management (she horse rides every week).

Whilst trying to support her I can’t help but feel this is the wrong choice and will limit her choices going forward. She loves horses but I always saw this as a hobby not a job.

i wondered if anyone had similar experiences of this. Do I respect her wishes and hope for the best or do I insist she goes to college to do a levels?

Thank you! This is interesting..

My academically smart DD elected to go to agriculture college rather than do a levels and whilst this filled me with dread initially she definitely made the right choice - she’s now studying a degree in the same field and is thriving

when we went to the open days, the college were really helpful in mapping out the career opportunities coming from the various course and honestly it was really eye opening - some kids will study the btecs because they aren’t cut out for A levels and stop there and wander off into other careers, but that’s true of a level students too ……

I’ve always fully supported my children in doing what THEY want, re qualifications and employment. One is a financial lawyer, one a baker and one half owns a stables and is a farrier! They are all happy, confident in their own very different lives, and I’m glad I supported them to become so. My eldest’s best friend did what her parents and teachers heavily expected her too then dropped out of university and fell apart mentally as it was too much without any passion for her subject.

Sometimes parents can get a little over-the-top about ‘sensible’ options just because we care so much about our children, but remember people can always add qualifications at a later date and do entire career changes too. Life is for living, not just existing. Be proud your relationship is one where she has the confidence to come to you with this.

6&7 are B and A grades in old money - good grief, the expectations on Mumsnet are ridiculous. My DS got 5/6 grades at GCSE and is predicted AAB at A level (mostly because he actually enjoys the subjects he chose). He has accepted an offer from a top 10 RG.

OP, do your research on career paths, but uni will bring her about £60k-£70k of debt, so make sure it’s what she wants, not what you want for her.

I dont support kids following their bliss. I support kids following careers they can make a living out of.
I actually dont think the Btech is worse than a history/ english degree.
If anything its better especially as she is reasonably bright / able.
Less debt... an actual vocation... fairly AI resilient industry....
Could be a lot worse....

I would encourage research into equine osteopathy. I had never heard of it but (my human osteopath) is trained in this an apparently its incredibly lucrative could be a good string to add to the equine bow.

DS has a couple of friends at Hartbury and a friend who has finished her degree and has a job in equine management at the local stables. Okay, she’s not stupendously well paid but she enjoys her job and gets up at 5am happy each day. Not much more you can ask.

I wanted to do the same. My mum suggested I get the a-levels and a good job and then I have funds for my own horse.
I had also wanted to do work experience as a teenager at our local stables, but my mum pointed out that I can work for free there any time I like and it would be better to experience a role I never would have access to normally during school work experience. She was right. I got a good degree in a completely different subject that I loved, and have worked in an industry that needed that degree ever since. And I’ve always loaned / owned a horse, ridden and had lots of horsey friends at the same time.
The equine industry is hard - firstly to find roles, then generally low pay for very long hours and demanding work.
Going to college every day to learn about horses is the dream… but the reality of working in that environment for every day for the rest of your career wasn’t for me. It’s possible to have the “best” bits of an equine life by working hard in a well paying career so you can afford your own or to continue it as a hobby.

I went to college and did equine studies. I was a freelance groom for 20 years, worked with a huge array of horses including Olympic eventers, stud work, hunters, racehorses etc. for a long time it was a huge part of my life and I don’t regret it at all.

Keep taking her on visits. Would she be interested in wildlife conservation? Anglia Ruskin do this degree: https://www.aru.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/animal-management-zoo-and-wildlife-conservation#course-overview.
There's lots more out there for her to see before she has to make a final decision.

Probably won’t lead directly to a job though and most people taking it will already have horses and be immersed in that world. It’s like farming - you are normally born into it. If you live in a semi in the suburbs and go to your local riding stables weekly it’s not going to propel you into a career.

Passion can though. And the right support.

The students at the agricultural collage by us do really well as a rule. Yes, they might get a qualification in something that seems quite limiting but the college is hard both physically and mentally. I'd say it actually creates a better work ethic than some of the more mainstream colleges. It's also very well respected and looks good on a CV.

Although, a lot of the students come from farming backgrounds and will have been bought up knowing how to work hard so...

Most equine jobs, especially those accessed from a course like this are notoriously long hours and low paid. People who work as grooms/stable hands etc can rarely afford an horse of their own or to compete etc. Experience is nearly always favoured over qualifications in most roles too. I’d definitely encourage one that runs A levels etc alongside. Have her think carefully about where she wants to go with it as it can at least provide progression to a degree course if there are good exam results alongside. DD is considering equine science for example where exam requirements are reduced if you hold certain level of equine qualification. Higher level pony club tests contribute towards this too

LOL. I teach on a highly competitive course at an RG uni with AAA entry requirements and most of my students don’t have a string of 8s and 9s at GCSE.

My pony’s osteopath is a miracle worker and an expense I never spare even when totally broke (I made the wrong choice and chose a job in horses in my younger years and earning potential now limited 😅). However I will say that people have cottoned on and there are more and more popping up. It’s also a lot of work and self funded study

Errr nice thinking but no. Maybe think about how many student do this BTEC course every year and how many jobs there are out there. Im sure they are all passionate about horses. As for “the right support” that is often down to contacts. So someone who is fully immersed in the horse riding or farming world might make it. It’s a close knit community and they don’t let many new people in. If this girl is already on the radar of local stable owners, farmers or farriers and moves in those circles, fine. If she just turns up weekly for her one-hour hack and then leaves, she will have a struggle.

Yes, in the horse world experience will trump a college certificate every time.

I cant imagine horse racing ever being banned. Too much money in it

My dd did an advanced BTEC in animal management and is off to uni in September to study Ecology and Wildlife. There will be options to progress.

Sounds like a better idea to me. I’m an English grad and honestly vocational is the way to go. There are thousands of unemployed arts graduates.

And she can always go to uni when she’s older if she chooses to. It’s not her only chance.

Ok. So me, from my semi in the suburbs, didn't manage to get into the trials for team GB dressage, I just dreamt that? Gotcha.

I broke my knee just before them, but who knows where I'd have gotten to if I hadn't.

Sorry passion and support didn't work out for you, but it can.

I did this….it will give her the same UCAS points as three A Levels. If she stays on for her degree, there are options like Equine Business (business based) and Equine Science (friends studying have gone on to be equine physios and vet nurses).

Be prepared that the course starts from scratch so there were people who had never even mucked out before. It’s all very BHS, health and safety too. You also have to have basic English, Maths and IT lessons there.

I went on work experience and ended up leaving my course to stay there. Because I’d been awarded a distinction for my first year, I had enough UCAS points to later do a foundation degree and then a top up year to gain my full degree.

I basically managed to have a gap year without falling behind in any way.

You're right to worry, that will massively limit her options for the future.

Well done, you’re obviously a very talented rider. Tbf the OP didn’t say that her DD was a competitive rider, just that she wanted to work with horses. I suspect that your success in dressage was down to your talent rather than having a BTEC in Equine Management.

There's a few issues in the equine industry. It's hard, physical, long hours and exploitation is rife. How good of a rider is she? Someone who takes a lesson once a week at a riding school will lose out on the early jobs to someone who has been riding before they could walk. Add to that the fact that horse racing is losing it's social licence and the cost of living forcing people to give up recreational horses I would think twice.

What would be her back up plan if she gets a career ending injury, or if, as in the case of many people I know her body is simply done in by the time she's 35? I would be really concerned if this were my daughter, it's very very hard to make a decent living in the equine industy and moreover it's hard to find a half decent employer.