Grooming prospects
QI’m interesting in becoming a professional groom — where can my career progress to? Sally Fish, Poole Alex says... Grooming is a valued profession in its own right. Career opportunities are diverse as there are such a wide variety of yards — you could be working for a professional competition rider, as part of a racing yard, or as a commercial groom in a riding school or equine college. If turnout is your passion, then a competition yard would suit you. If you’re interested in youngstock and the science of breeding, working in a stud yard might be for you. There are also opportunities for grooms as part of rehabilitation and veterinary yards, mounted forces or equine welfare charities. The BHS Groom Pathway combines the specific knowledge and skills you will need to be successful in this career — health, anatomy, feeding, fittening, grassland management, lungeing and turnout. As you progress, you will develop the necessary skills to manage a yard and how to run a successful business. As with all of the BHS Pathways, you will learn the necessary skills for a variety of disciplines and types of yard. So, if in your career you decide you want a change in the type of yard you work at, you can be confident that you will be able to adapt your knowledge and transfer your skills to a wide range of settings. If you wish to expand your skill set further and offer expertise in exercising and training horses too, the BHS Professional Rider Pathway will support this. This offers additional career opportunities as a work rider, since many professional competition yards also expect their grooms to care for and exercise their horses. There is nothing stopping you from developing your skills and following the Coach in Complete Horsemanship Pathway if you decide you want a complete change in career and working towards a coaching and training career.