Leaving School and Want to Work with Horses?

Are you leaving school soon and want to work with horses?

Then equestrian apprenticeships with Stubbing Court Training Ltd (SCT) could well be just what you are looking for. The East Midlands-based training company is the UK’s leading provider of apprentices to the equine industry, and goes to great lengths to match young people to suitable employers and to support them in gaining a recognised and valued qualification.

The horse world offers a very wide range of career opportunities, and plenty of scope to progress up the ladder if you are willing to work hard and learn. SCT has outstanding contacts throughout the industry and can give its apprentices unparalleled opportunities to learn from the best people while receiving a wage.

Amy Hunt (pictured) is doing her SCT Advanced Apprenticeship with HK Horses – the international showjumping yard run by Morgan Kent and Richard Howley near Wetherby. The 21-year-old from Tadcaster completed a college course after leaving school, but says that it is her SCT apprenticeship that has really set her on the path to a successful career in the equestrian world.

Being at college just isn’t the same as learning in the workplace,”

says Amy, who has recently returned from grooming for her employers in Spain during the Spanish Sunshine Tour.

You are spoon-fed at college; it’s a bit like learning to drive – it is after you pass your test and are actually driving on roads on your own that you really learn. The apprenticeship scheme supports you, but you learn to be independent and mature, which gives you confidence.

I think college courses are probably useful if you have no prior experience of horses. I had been involved with horses all my life, but it is only when you start working in a professional environment that you really begin to learn, I found. I have learnt so much since joining HK Horses about what having high standards involves and about how important attention to detail is. Learning from the best is inspiring, and how you progress. When I went to see Morgan about getting a job, she showed me that doing an SCT apprenticeship would be my best way into the world that I really wanted to work in.”

The apprenticeship syllabus is broad and very thorough, with modules that must be completed with the assistance of SCT’s excellent and easily accessible vast library of online resources.

SCT’s acclaimed Masterclass Series, which exclusively offers training with world-famous riders and coaches to its apprentices and their employers, is just one example of the opportunities available. SCT’s Enterprise Award and its Apprentice of the Year award aim to encourage apprentices to strive for the highest standards in all aspects of their work.

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Suzanne Ashton

Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.