Equine Training Apprenticeships & courses.

Getting trained and or qualified in the equine world

2024

I seem to spend more and more time on the phone these days answering questions from parents about the training system in the UK.   None of the colleges or organisations/societies/associations/training providers that we have heard about, seem to be prepared to tell people about all of the routes available for training or about the different qualifications available. They tell you only what they offer.  Why is that?  Because they are in the business of making a profit – even those with charitable status.

There is no set place to find out everything and none of the schools offer sufficient advice – because they mostly know little about the equine industry and cannot find all of the information easily anywhere – Why?  because no one seems to have it listed or compiled all in one place.

Hundreds and hundreds of kids go to college every September and it is not always the right place for some of them.  The trouble is, all the colleges get funding per student as do organisations like the training companies/agencies – i.e. the ones who arrange apprenticeships at yards.  It is unsurprising with government funding being quite easy to access for training apprentices and for every college place, that the industry is in a bad way and that some youngsters especially are not getting good training or good experiences.

Not only that but many of the college trained young people are blissfully unaware of the actual hard labour that will be involved in their day to day work with horses.  This is of course in all weathers and all conditions, from early in the morning to sometimes late in the evenings and with few weekends off and for minimal pay,  minimal future training options and few prospects of advancement.

The average livery yard both small and large, barely covers it’s costs and the same applies to riding schools.   When people are not earning much from their business they are unable to pay much to their staff, and not earning much makes for unhappy employers and similary unhappy staff or apprentices.  When will this change?  It can only change if the leisure horse owners are prepared to pay considerably more for their horses to be cared for.  It is a sad fact but that is how it is.

The racing industry charges far more to look after the horses in their care even though training is included.  They can and do charge more because owners are prepared to pay a good going rate for their horse to be cared by well trained staff in a premises that is a good, sound and safe environment.  The trainer and his yard manager also earn a decent salary for the service they provide.

The horses in the livery yard sector of the industry may have a lower value than the racehorses but the average leisure horse is today still worth several thousand pounds.   Horses are not cheap and the premises in which they are kept need also to be good sound and safe and have overheads and other business expenses which have to be covered.  The owner or manager of that premises surely also deserves a living wage but few can achieve it.  The private leisure horse owner with a horse at a livery yard whether that is DIY or full livery or anything in between, is without doubt going to have to pay a good deal more for the facilities at the yard such as the stable, field and fencing, for the mangement and services provided – this will have to increase sooner or later. Only then will people working in this industry get a decent wage.

An apprenticeship

Many employers at livery yards have looked at taking on an apprentice.  It is a commitment and a good thing to do.  However it does not always go right.  I spent an hour on the phone this morning with an obviously experienced horse mum whose daughter is trying to train for Level 2 on an apprenticeship at a retirement yard on a farm.  This apprenticeship is run via one of the regionally based ‘Training companies or agencies’.  The sort of company which find placements at yards for apprenticeships or training places and oversee the training and send out assessors to check the trainee is improving etc.  I personally have not seen the situation this mother was discussing but my instinct was that a retirement yard would not be ideal for a Level 2 placement bearing in mind the standard includes riding to a certain level and lunging reasonably fit horses.

It really is vital for a prospective apprentice to choose the best work placement for what they need and hope to do in the end.   It is not a good idea for parents to assume that the yard closest to home is the best and most suitabe place.  Training for a professional qualification is not always free and parents sometimes need to step back and consider this.   If transport is an issue, it is not out of the question to factor in to the training costs a contract with a taxi company to get the trainee too and from work when there is no other cover for this.

How it works:

The training company get funding and the yard owner also gets funding and a worker.  In return the yard owner promises to provide training during working hours. The apprentice does not necessarily stay on after they have completed their apprenticeship – staying on at the same place of employment is not part of the deal.   Many youngsters on apprenticeships do not actually get sufficient training.  Yes we realise that they are supposed to be learning ‘on the job’ from their employer – but as far as ‘training ‘is concerned, they need more than doing or learning to do the simple daily tasks or  ‘grunt’ work i.e. the general routine of the day to day mucking out, sweeping, cleaning, water, rug changing, bringing in and turning out etc.  The employer in our opinion should be mentoring these young people and putting some effort into training them.

  Apprenticeships

 What are they – what are the rules

Taking on an apprentice means you will pay them the required wage for apprentices – currently around £4.60ph and you may well get a little funding as well.  You must follow the government guidelines for employment of an apprentice.   You must  honour an agreement to train them to a specific standard – this is a must and it must be done during working hours.  The apprentice does not necessarily stay with you once they have achieved their qualification – that is not part of the deal.   If you make it worth their while and you are both happy with the workplace they may well stay on with you.   Rules will be seen in the various links below.

If an equine employer needs help to provide their apprentice with theory knowledge of equine management to back up the practical skills they are gaining, Lingfield Equine Distance Learning can help and support this.  Lingfield can offer their Level 1 Plus course (£228) or Level 2 courses on equine care & management which suit most apprentices.  The courses comes with free personal one to one tutor support for every student – thereby freeing you up to get on with running your business whilst they train.

The apprentice could work / read up, on a distance learning course at work entirely on their own for just 30 minutes twice a week – perhaps after lunch or at a time that suits you both.  This work would need to be undertaken be on their own or on your laptop – or from the printed page.   This 1 hour of reading a week should  enable them to complete the theory prior to their ‘end point assessment’ for the apprenticeship qualification.  It would of course depend on student input and existing ability.

The courses are comprehensive and produced for adult horse owners rather than college students.  They are written in everyday language suitable for those who are not good at studying or have not studied for a while or since leaving school.  We suggest the employer orders and pays for the course from Lingfield Equine Distance Learning – www.horse-care.uk and directs the course material directly to the student,  However, the employer agrees at enrolment to oversee downloading and saving of the material ith their employee. Useful links for both apprentices and employers

https://www.gov.uk/become-apprentice – pay days off etc.

 https://www.gov.uk/employing-an-apprentice/pay-and-conditions-for-apprentices

https://www.gov.uk/employing-an-apprentice/get-funding

https://www.gov.uk/employing-an-apprentice/create-an-account -for larger companies

https://www.gov.uk/employing-an-apprentice/print

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flexi-job-apprenticeships

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flexi-job-apprenticeships/flexi-job-apprenticeship-agencies Equine Employers Association

are useful for research on employment from the employers point of view. They also have a contract creator.  Well worth looking at joining if you are an employer.

https://equestrianemployers.org.uk/membership-benefits/eea-contract-creator British Grooms Association

If you are a member you will have access to plenty of useful  info.  Worth joining for their insurance.

https://britishgrooms.org.uk/member-services/my-employment/am-i-employed-correctly Training agents such as Haddon or Keats :

These oversee the training of apprentices out in the field – they will come and assess how the trainee is doing and how their training is progressing.

https://haddontraining.co.uk/haddon-training-official-site/about-us/policy/r

https://haddontraining.co.uk/haddon-training-official-site/traineeships-and-apprenticeships/

https://keits.co.uk/testimonials

Employer incentive https://keits.co.uk/hire-an-apprentice Livery Yards:

If you are a bona fide livery yard and were to advertise with the Livery List website (approx. £20 pa) you will have access to a vast amount of documents relating to running a yard – contracts, risk assessments, policy documents and loads more.   They also have a private members hub to enable you to ask other yard managers for advice and support.

If you enrol on the Lingfield Livery Yard Managers course you will be able to apply for free membership and advertising on that list.  It is the biggest provider of information and the biggest advertiser of yards in the country and is very proactive.