Hartpury for Equine studies or somewhere else?

[OhMrDarcy]

DD is thinking of applying for one of the equine degree courses at Hartpury. I can abolutely see her thriving there, taking her horse there and getting stuck in. Aside from the question of is this degree worth the time and money which is under daily debate in this house, we are 4 hours away and don't know anyone who has been there.

Is there anywhere else we should be looking at for equine related degrees please? And does anyone have any experience of Hartpury for equine or indeed other undergraduate courses?

What does she want to do in the longer term?

Longer term I don't know, and nor does she really. She'd like to be a professional rider I think but that's not necessarily going to happen, obviously. Apparently Hartpury say half their equine graduates stay in that field, half go into non related fields.

As parents we have pushed the line that riding and horses are a lovely hobby but much better to get a well paid job so you can ride and compete at weekends.

The thing in the back of my mind is that hasn't taken to any of the more traditional unis that we've visited and I think if she went to one of those she'd end up sitting in her room most of the time as she is fairly introverted. At least at Hartpury it's smaller and she'd have her horse there with her, and she's always made friends on livery yards this way. It's so hard to know what to do for the best as I don't want her to finish A levels and then sit in her room for the foreseeable.

I know someone who did this course. She worked as a stable hand (don't know if that is the correct term!) on minimum wage for a couple of years & now works as a receptionist somewhere. I think she is training to get further qualifications (possibly teaching). She really enjoyed the course but I'm not sure it was worth the student loan (for her, that's just one anecdote).

Thanks @Cookerhood that's really useful, and sort of what I was expecting. Sigh.

Of course that fact that she is now doing further training that needs a degree means that it was useful as a generic degree, if you see what I mean, so saying it wasn't worth the loan is a little harsh!

You could look at Bishop Burton and Askham Bryan. Two of DD's friends went to these - one to each. I'm not sure what one of them is doing now, but the other one is a prison officer.