Any advice please on my dilemma pls? ?Equine further education at college or riding stables

[Gymbob]

My DD is16 and is enrolled at a local college on an equine course to start in September. She will attend about 16 hours per week, and get the usual school / college holidays. There's a free bus from the end of our street, the option of renting a room and experiencing college life. There's a lot of classroom based work, and if she doesn't achieve high enough grades will start on the lower level, which starts with 'how to put on a headcollar' etc. She's not at all academic, but a good experienced horse woman..

She is a PC member and spends all her free time at the associated stables, which she totally loves. Its a great, well run and professional place. I have just discovered that its also a registered college. It would be 40 hours a week, its out in the sticks with few buses, no classroom work, but I'm told that the hands on experience in a riding school will be invaluable when it comes to getting a job.

wwyd please?

I'd be tempted to say stables, as you say proper work experience against purely college based must surely be a advantage. My dad manages a hotel and is always complaining about the college kids who've got the piece of paper but can't actually do the job! Could she manage to get there by bus, lifts etc till she learns to drive?

thanks lost, she could get a bus half way there, then would have to keep a bike at the park and ride to use for the rest of the journey. there's nobody else going from our side of town.

Are both college and stables offering the same courses/qualifications?

What kind of career does she want to pursue with horses?
For some options, e.g. groom, it's best to ignore formal qualifications and go for hands on experience. Colleges, on the whole, have far too much classroom time which is pointless for future employers.

If she wants to be a riding instructor she will need formal qualifications, the BHS run a good scheme, so she should research what is on offer and what fits best with her strengths as a learner.

If she wants to be a professional rider an apprentiship scheme might be the best option. She should contact the relevant body (BD, BS, BE) for opportunities.

In my opinion nothing gives you an accurate impression of what a horsey job is like than actually doing it. She should spend 2-3 years mucking out 8 plus horses in all weathers to make sure this is what she wants as a career, and I don&'the think any college gives you that experience.

I gave up on my hnd after a year (although this was 10years ago!!) did various jobs starting as a general groom working my way up to stud groom/sole charge/ head girl positions and found that my friends from college had to work their way up just the same as I did but starting a year later! They found working on a real yard a shock to the system too as at college you'd have 1/2 to kick out and an hour and a half to do it, most places I've worked its more like 4/5/6 to muck out and an hour to get it done!

I'd've inclined to go for the riding school and do something like bhs or keits exams unless she wants to do something like physio and the college course is equivalent to Alevels

What does she think? Bike/ bus combo in all weathers is going to need some commitment! If both courses are the same I do think the work based despite being the tougher option would give her a advantage.

Ito would suggest the stables. My yard offers apprenticeships to the girls that work there. They can take BHS exams & gain their qualifications that way. Could this be an option?

Thank you all for your replies! You all seem to be leaning towards the riding stables rather than college.....

To try and answer some of your questions, the riding stables offer the BHS qualifications (the college offers those too, but they are only 6 week courses and they cost about £350 per course). Actually, there's another question - would the riding stables charge me £££ for dd to do them??

The college offer a Level 2 Equine Diploma, and a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Horse Management. There are other more advanced courses, but they go down the science or business route etc and dd wouldn't be able to do those I don't think. The courses at the college are free of course until she's 18.

Which are the best courses to take, do you know??!!

I forgot to mention that my dd is disabled. In addition to her disability she does lack confidence and doesn't articulate herself very well, so she is probably thinking that the riding school she is so familiar with is much less scary than starting afresh in a college.

I think she would be looking at being a groom at first, I'm not sure how much further she could go at this moment in time. I think becoming a riding instructor would be fantastic for her confidence, but she doesn't believe that she could do that.

The stables is the tougher option there's no doubt about it, but she's thinking 'Confucius say, find a job that you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life'

I'd love to hear any more advice or comments

If she wanted to be an instructor BHS exams are a must but if grooming is her choice personally I would not spend a penny on exams. This is not because grooming is not a skilled job but rather because all the skills are learnt on the job and employers know that.

With ink grooming there are a few options:

• she could look at specialising in a particular area such as travelling competition groom. This probably has the best pay but is the most demanding in terms of hours, flexibility and travel.

• another option is livery yard groom. There is always a shortage of committed, caring and reliable grooms and as long as she lives rurally there will be a lot of yards to chose from.

• another option is freelance. This has less job security but more variety. She could offer holiday cover for livery yards and have private clients, e.g. people who keep their horses at home and need part time help.

The British Grooms Association has excellent resources

www.britishgrooms.org.uk

One more thing to keep in mind for the future is that an HGV license can be very useful in grooming. Obviously she is far too young at the moment but that is what I would be saving money for for the future.

does she also have any interest in working with children or helping other young people with disabilities? that could combine well in terms of jobs and the recognition of how much confidence young people with disability can gain from riding. may be worth looking into organisations who do that kind of work too for some voluntary involvement or advice on the kinds of qualifications they look for if that line of work interests her.

i'd lean towards the stables too. colleges are obliged to keep pushing the basic skills qualifications as part of their funding deal - if she gets the right gcse's and can focus on the practical side of her course then fine but if she doesn't and is forced to go to absolute basics on the practical side it will be very frustrating for her. on the other hand the hours are short enough to still have plenty of time at the stables and maybe get more involved with other stuff voluntarily.

The Fortune centre helps people with disabilities develop skills in animal husbandry - might be worth a look.

Sorry about the delay here it is

www.fortunecentre.org/

They may have some advice on how your DD can develop a career in riding as therapy, perhaps working for them as an apprentice? I don't know but it might be worth chatting to them.

Hi and thank you all for your considered and helpful replies once again!

You are confusing me even more - but in a good way - lots of food for thought.

Yes, she is interested in helping other young people with disabilities. She volunteers for the RDA, and really enjoys it, she finds the yp fascinating. I did check out the website thank you, and the Fortune Centre is based in Dorset - is that right? If so, for now it is too far away for us, but very interesting for the future, so thank you.

The British Grooms Assoc website looks really good, again it's something for the future, so I will bookmark these great sites for then.

I'm don't know if the competition groom would suit her or not - certainly not for a few years. At the moment, she can't bear the thought of not being close to home, I'm hoping she'll get there in the end, but she is a few years behind her peers at present.

Freelance sounds kind of ok, but would be out of her reach I think for quite a few years too.

The HGV licence idea is one I wouldn't have thought of, but sounds like a great idea to give the career a great deal more scope.

A livery yard would probably be a great option, but we don't really live rurally, more like a suburb. She does plan on passing her driving test asap when she turns 17 in the autumn, so hopefully if she does, everything will be more accessible.

We need to decide first whether to do college or riding stables, I am torn, as the college would be sooooo easy for now and until she matures a bit more - but not proper real life !

Time for personal growth is an important part of these decisions. Could she accept the college place, take her driving exam in the autumn and then look for a p/t job at a livery yard or riding school which she can do in addition to college?

that's a great idea boo, she's already mentioned doing college and working at the stables on her days off, just as she does now. But then she said if she's at the stables and loving it she may as well be there full time trouble is I'm already worried about the long days and having to get there herself in all weathers

I know what you mean but on the other hand that is the reality of horse jobs - long hours, shift work, outdoor work in all weathers, and you get kicked! If she tries it out full time now she can double check that it does suit her as a lifestyle. If she still loves it then it's for her, if it's too much maybe it's better to realise this sooner rather than later so she can develop other career plans.

Can she defer her college place for a year and take a gap year to work at the stables full time?

hi, many thanks again! I'm just being a neurotic mother re her being so independent and disabled too. there is nothing else she wants to do. I tried to get her into horticulture as I knew she could get an apprentice ship and she went with it for a while, but now I've given up. you're right, she does need to do it full time to properly test the water, but I'm busy finding endless reasons as to why she'd be better off waiting.

I did ask the careers lady about deferring college for a year, and she said it would be highly unusual for a yp to do that

common sense in me says take the college place - it's free and as she says she can continue part time at the stables. it keeps her busy and having a record of being doing something until she gets her driving license. if it really doesn't work out she leaves it and goes full time at the stables with the driving license of something else.

at the minute it sounds like the priority is putting everything into getting maths and english and whatever else is considered necessary to get onto the level course that will be more up her street practical elements wise at college and avoiding having to do endless basic skills classes at college and ending up having to start from scratch on the practical unnecessarily.

so tutors if you can afford it and massive encouragement with lots of reminders of what the incentive is now and a big push to get those c's.

Honey, I think you are absolutely spot on, thank you so much, and to everyone who has replied to me while I dither about so painfully.

That is the sensible thing to do, college first and see how it pans out. If she doesn't achieve the C's, she will have to do night school or something to get them if she does the stables.

The priority really is getting the right grades, so she doesn't end up starting on the basic skills. We already pay £30 an hour for a maths tutor, as that is her weakest subject, we can't afford any more.

Part of her disability is the inability to function at home and do any school work, so the maths tutor works well for her. It's just all the other subjects we can't cover! School are aware of course. Even the threat of starting a college course with ' Now, this is a headcollar' doesn't make any difference, although she is desperate to get the C's. She is a complicated character I'm afraid.

I had thought of talking to the stables owner and asking if she could start work later and stay later to fit in with the buses, but I don't think they'll do that. First job at 8am is to skip out the liveries, so don't think it would go down well if she missed it every morning.

moped?

are you installed in my house somewhere listening, badger was talking about that over tea and she said no way does she want a moped. don't know why tho yet. thanks again tho for your considered replies

that's a shame, nice cheap solution especially petrol wise and it could help with the driving.

God you're an early riser! I will revisit that and find out what's at the bottom of it. I suspect she will feel vulnerable on it. or else the helmet will ruin her hair

just re read, you're right it would help with the driving. I will put that to her. you have been such a help on here, big thanks to you

stupidly early riser - i had a body clock reprogramming whilst pregnant and never got over it.

i had a scooter at 16 or 17 ended up hating it because of the way car drivers treat you but it did give me freedom and let me take part time jobs further away. good luck with it all.