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Horse grooms are responsible for the care, exercise and welfare of horses and ponies, and maintain the animals' stables and riding equipment.
You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; flexibly
As a horse groom, you could:
You may need to wear protective clothing.
You could work at a riding stable.
Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers.
You can get into this job through:
You could do a college course, which would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need for this job.
Courses include:
You could apply to a stables or racing yard to do an apprenticeship, for example:
These can take between 1 and 2 years to complete. You'll do on-the-job training and spend some time with a college or learning provider.
If you're aged 16 or over and interested in working in the racing industry, The British Racing School at Newmarket and the National Horseracing College at Doncaster offer pre-apprenticeship foundation courses.
Courses last between 6 and 18 weeks, depending on your experience, and can lead on to an apprenticeship in racehorse care and a career as a groom.
You'll usually need:
Volunteering or doing seasonal work in a stable is a good way to show employers that you're keen to work with horses and learn more about the industry. You can also make contacts that may be useful when you start to look for paid jobs.
If you're working with horses, you may be able to take qualifications, like those offered by The British Horse Society (BHS). They have courses at different stages to match your experience.
You'll need to:
Some employers provide on-site accommodation for their staff as part of a salary and benefits package.
You can find out more about training and working with horses from the British Grooms Association and careersinracing.
With experience and further training, you could take charge of a stable yard or become head groom.
In a racing yard, you could progress to head lad or girl, then on to assistant trainer or trainer.
If you work in a riding stable you could train to become a riding instructor.
If you're interested in working in the horse breeding industry, for example as a stud groom, you could do training with the The National Stud in Newmarket.