Working as a groom is the career where you will spend the most time directly with horses. It is not always a 9 – 5 Monday to Friday job as horses need to be looked after every day and sometimes out of usual business hours.
How to become a groom
The skills you will need to become a groom may include - the ability to handle a range of horses, efficiency at completing all day-to-day tasks, lungeing, plaiting, clipping, trimming and a high level of turnout. You will also need a broad knowledge base covering topics such as equine health, feeding, fitness, saddlery and grassland management. These topics are covered in the BHS Groom qualifications, starting with BHSQ Stage 2 Foundation Groom and progressing to the BHSQ Stage 3 Groom.
Benefits
There are numerous types of yard you could work in including; studs, livery yards, riding schools, private yards, racing yards, showing yards or competition yards. The type of work may vary depending on the yard, but at its core you will be working directly with horses. You could also work as a freelance groom and set your own hours. You will have the option to work only caring for horses as a non-ridden groom, or to be involved with riding and exercising horses. You have the option to add riding units to BHS Groom qualifications.
There is great demand for grooms in the industry – so there are lots of job opportunities. You can work in any area of the UK or even work overseas. Working as a competition groom you could have the chance to work at shows and travel all over the world – you could even groom at the Olympics!
Working as a groom will provide you with a wealth of practical experience and could lead to a career as a Yard Manger.
How to get started
BHS Groom or Groom with Riding qualifications are the choice for you. Generally, you will begin at Stage 1 and progress through the stages, however if you already have work experience or other qualifications you may want to consider entering at a higher level via our direct entry options.
As a benchmark qualification for this career, we recommend working up to BHS Stage 3.