.:EQUUS:.

I was surprised to find chatting with a young girl at the riding school where I teach the other day that she wants to become a jockey. But why should this surprise me? A riding school would be the perfect place to start out learning how to ride a horse at a young age.

If you have a desire to one day be involved with racing horses - be it thoroughbreds, quarter horses, arabs or perhaps standardbreds - then the best place to start would be at a young age getting hours in the saddle and around horses, learning about how they move, their temperaments and general health. Gaining experience in the saddle at a young age will make it easier I believe to pursue track work at training properties in the future.

Research your possibilities - it’s great to get experience but make sure you’re learning where you’re working, that you’re not being given horses past your capability as you start out but that you’re also being given opportunities to prove yourself.

Also consider taking up a job as a track rider or an apprenticeship if offered to you and be willing to travel - the best races across the world or even one country will be found in different states/regions. You’ll need to travel to take part in these race meetings.

Take a look at http://www.jockeysroom.com/msg4.htm -this page answers many questions about becoming a flatwork jockey and provides links to relevant sites as well as some information about being a jumps jockey.

http://www.northernracingcollege.co.uk/ - offering courses and apprenticeships on a range of horse related vocations but especially becoming a jockey.

The Australian Thoroughbred Racing Employment Centre site lists positions across Australia in relation to track work.

http://www.jagb.co.uk/wanttobeajockey.aspx - Professional Jockeys Association

http://www.brs.org.uk/ - the British Racing School

“There is nothing wrong with being an intelligent rider” - Mike Smith.

tag: horseriding, training, education, united kingdom, apprenticeship, racing, travel, racehorses, thoroughbreds, jockey, exercise rider

With her race mare Ethereal, Sheila Laxon became the first female trainer to win the Melbourne Cup in 2001. John Symons and Shelia Laxon run JSL Racing located in Seymour, Victoria, Australia. Sheila kindly took the time to answer some questions about her profession.

Have you always been interested in horses and when did you start out training racehorses?
We spelled beach ponies at our farm from when I was about three so was riding before I can remember! Was involved in training racehorses from 12 years old when my sister and I went to the local racing stable to groom them and ride them out. Actually had a Trainer’s Licence in 1997 but started training a bigger team in 1999.

How much of your day/week is hands on with horses?
You could say 24/7! Never stops (see what time it is now! 6.30am)

In this field is it possible for someone to be a full time professional, earning a livable income?
Yes, the job is what you make it and I do believe that the more you put in to it, the more you get out of it. There is a lot of luck involved in getting the horse that can run, but there are plenty around if you can spend the time in developing them into wanting to be a racehorse. And certainly the prize money is huge if you can get the right horse.

What are the general steps taken to become a qualified trainer?
If you are horse orientated from a young age (i.e. show jumping / eventing etc) I think you gravitate into the racing game because it’s the most financially rewarding aspect to be involved in. You can be involved in breaking in, spelling, pretraining, re-educating rogue horses and get the chance to continue training them to get to the races.

Any advice for those interested in pursuing this discipline?
I am not sure that the courses available are the best way to pursue getting into training as I do believe the hands on experience you can have developing horses that other people have given up on, gives you the edge on the trainer next door. I would suggest someone who is keen to have a go at being involved with training horses should go to work for a trainer they admire and learn as much as they can about why that trainer has the success he/she has.

Is there anything else with horses you’d love to learn about or try?
I think you can learn something new about horses every day. I’d love to go back to show jumping, which was my initial involvement in the competition world, but it is a very full time pursuit for little financial reward and, in this day and age, you have to consider the time input ratio into whatever path you wish to follow.

Favourite horse memory?
Ethereal getting to the winning post first in the Melbourne Cup!

Future goals?
Doing it again to prove it wasn’t a fluke!!

Best thing about your sport/profession?
Earning your livelihood out of your favourite pastime, meeting so many people, traveling so much, spending a lot of time outdoors.

“To get in shape to own a horse… drop a heavy steel object on your foot. Don’t pick it up right away. Shout: ‘Get off, Stupid! Get off!’”

tag: training, australia, showjumping, thoroughbreds, racehorses, melbourne cup

‘Spending Time with Horses - Horselovers Blog Carnival for January 30th.’

I’ve been spending a bit of time of late browsing blogs online and came across a gorgeous site Scarletwords.com and a page that provoked particular interest - http://scarletwords.com/1001/. Titled 101 things in 1001 days, it explains the concept of having 101 goals and achieving them in a specified time (1001 days).

I am working toward a list of 100 life goals to complete over the duration of my life. A fair amount focus around horses and the time I’d like to devote to them and learning about them.

These include:
- taking part in a horse running in a group 1 race (whether I own the horse, strap for the race, have bred the horse)
- try out barrel racing, polo and polocrosse
- complete a 20-40km endurance ride (this is possible for younger riders who are part of Pony Club and up to doing their K Certificate)
- horse trek over the snowy mountains
- have a horse drawn carriage(s) and arrive at my own wedding in one
- see lippizaners in Vienna
- visit an estancia in Argentina (perhaps one polo focused)
- learn about driving horses in carriage (it is possible to advertise on horse related sites - like horsedirectory.com.au - that you’re interested in learning about a particular discipline and consequently happy to give of your time to help out in return for being taught about a subject)

And the big ones for this year that I plan to focus my time and energy on:
- get my booked published (I’m writing a fiction piece based around the thoroughbred industry and horse riding schools and would love to have it finished and published by the end of this year. The fact that mum got one published late last year should be driving force enough!)
- achieve a passive income via horses (see above goal)
- launch Vocation 100 - a page on this blog listing at least 100 different jobs/disciplines that focus around horses and posts relating to these vocations: links to associations, explaining the discipline, interviews with known people in that particular field, etc
- reach 250 books in my equine library
- spend more time working with my horse, learning more in the saddle and out

Do you have particular horse related goals for the year, more time you want to invest in them or things relating to them? Consider setting a time frame to achieve these goals in, something that will make you more inclined to achieve them.

“He who needs a mounting block had better not fall off in the middle of the field.”

tag: blog carnival, horse goals, passive income, writing, horseriding, instructing, travel, horse books, equine library

Been looking at sites online for a friend who wants to do the traveling thing with horses and I stumbled across YardandGroom. Sure, a few of you are probably asking if I’ve had my head under a rock or something - I’m sure it’s a popular site.

Found a few possibilities for her but it didn’t help my plan of not wanting to do any travel this year! I’m trying to be a good girl and focus my energies (and money) on saving for a house rather than further travel at this point in time. I did come across a few jobs that looked rather appealing though. Most were under the subject of ‘Working Student.’

For those of you who are interested in travel, work with horses and don’t have much in the way of financial commitments, this would be worth exploring. Many of the jobs offered provide food and accommodation, but you’d be lucky to see money as part of the agreement. However, many places that compete and teach for a living offer daily riding lessons, the chance to show/compete and some offer a place for your horse, too.

If you’re between 18-29, this is the best time to consider traveling as it seems that once you hit 30, working Visa’s are very hard, if not impossible to come by. Yard and Groom covers all sorts of disciplines - breeding, holiday riding places, racing, hunt, riding school, livery, showjumping, dressage, showing, endurance, polo, stud work, eventing, etc. If you’ve an area you wish to learn more about and want to add some traveling to that experience, look into possible Working Student Positions.

http://www.yardandgroom.com/Jobs/job.aspx?id=3378 - one of many working student positions available.

“A horse, like Cary Grant, lends romance to any venture.”

tag: working student, travel, self education, training, horseriding

Just loaded up a horse that is positive 45 days in foal today and therefore ready to leave the farm and head home and it hit me… transport! Don’t think I’ve got that listed as a possible job - terrible!

If you love travelling and handling horses and like the idea of getting about the country and viewing different places, then perhaps you should consider getting into horse transport.

Granted, you’re going to need truck/semi license but that may be your only prerequisite. Take a look at http://www.transportdrivertraining.com.au/.

The transport companies I’m familiar with in Australia include:
Livestock
Goldners
Carmody’s
Victorian Horse Transport

“A racehorse is the only animal that can take thousands of people for a ride at the same time.”

tag: driving license, transport, thoroughbred stud season