When are you going to get a proper job?

22 year old BGA member Harriet Wood is based at the New Forest Pony Stud (The Farriers Stud). She shares her thoughts on getting a ‘proper’ job.

It is surprising how often people you don’t know, or at least hardly know, feel it’s their place to comment on your choice of career. Since graduating in 2019 and choosing to continue with my job as a groom at a stud farm, I found that it didn’t come without a raised eyebrow or two.

It’s inevitable that when you tell people you’re at university, it’s often met with the question, ‘So, what do you want to do afterwards?’ In my case, as I did an English Language degree, I very often got, ‘Do you want to be an English teacher?’, and this really couldn’t be further from the truth!

I have been lucky enough to grow up with horses. When I was a teenager, it became something I took a bit more seriously. And although my father was convinced it was just a ‘phase’, horses continue to be a passion of mine which I haven’t quite managed to shake off, no matter how hard I try!

When I graduated I felt that horses were something I still hadn’t explored enough, even though I didn’t know life without them. And ultimately, after spending the ungodly hours in the library that I did, it made me not want to spend the rest of my working life sitting at a desk!

When I became a full-time groom, especially as I very often work on my own, it made me realise quite how much responsibility I suddenly had. This is something to be proud of because in order for a yard to run smoothly, it demands huge levels of trust from your employers to know that you are capable and able to care for a number of horses to a high standard.

The grooms are involved in everything that goes on behind the scenes. They are there before and after the show and they have also played a part in what happens on the ‘main stage’. From the traveling to the plaiting, from the feeding to the first-aiding, as well as making sure that the horse and rider look their absolute best, the groom’s job knows no boundaries and the demands are high.

So, the next time an acquaintance (most likely) asks you when you’re going to get a ‘proper job’, you should feel confident to hold your head high and be proud of the fact that you’re a groom."

If you would like to join the BGA like Harriet then have a look at how we can support you. 

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