It's never too late to chase your dreams

It’s International Women’s Day and what better way to celebrate than to showcase how versatile females can be!

Today’s takeaway is that it is never too late to reinvent yourself and live the life that makes you happy. This is exactly what 39-year-old, mum of three, Fiona Smith did by changing career!

Fiona is now living her dream working on a small stud in Scotland.

Fiona tells us her story...

“I didn't follow the usual groom career path; I started the usual way by working part-time at a riding school until I was 18, but then my parents said I either go to university or they were cutting the apron strings! I wasn’t earning enough to be self-sufficient so off to university I went to obtain a degree in geology. I assumed I'd come straight back to horses after university, but little did I know it would be nearly 20 years before I worked with horses again.”

HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH WORKING WITH HORSES? 

“Although I completed exams and the ABRS teaching award when I was 18 years old, it wasn’t until I was 36 yrs when I fell back into horses after unsuccessfully trying to force my daughter to live her best horsey life on my behalf (she prefers tennis!). It wasn’t long after that I started to loan a hunter hireling out of season.

The timing was perfect as a colleague at work knew I was horsey and asked if I wanted to help her with a small breeding operation when she retired from being a teacher. She already understood the commitment of working within school hours, so I couldn't hand my notice in fast enough!”

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT JOB?

“I work at a small mares-only thoroughbred stud. We have broodmares, youngstock of various ages, and also my boss's own homebred racehorses that come back for their holidays in the summer. It's a lot of handling and some prepping for sales.
We bring the racehorses back into work after time off over the summer, we work them up to canter before they go back into training. We also ride youngsters away after being broken in.

Sometimes we produce riding horses in between stud work as it can be quite seasonal, and it gives me something to ride alongside my boss and her riding horse. There's only my boss and I on a day-to-day basis, so I can end up doing anything and everything; riding, lunging, grooming, yard work, clipping, hand walking and long reining.”

“Don't fear the family! I thought I'd never find a job with horses that could fit around my kids and home life - my husband works away a lot, so my priority has to be the kids. Despite this, I have found if you are reliable, enthusiastic, and flexible you can usually work around most commitments with the kids. In some ways, it's more flexible than an office-type job and I work time in lieu or take unpaid days as and when I need as long as there's nothing major going on at the yard.”

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR DOWNTIME?

“What's downtime?! When I'm not at work I'm usually chauffeuring kids to various clubs/sports/socials. There is a major perk of my job though which is that I get to see our grown-up homebred racehorses run. There’s nothing better than a day at the races shouting on a horse you've helped work and grow from a foal as they power around the track in their element.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PART ABOUT WORKING WITH HORSES?

“Not the rain that is for sure! I live in Scotland with outdoor stables and I am the horse walker - so getting wet is a given.
I think my favourite part is riding away the youngsters, you've put in all the work on the ground little by little over the years, got them well handled, and understanding the questions. I am so proud when they are easy to back and straight away relaxed and enjoying hacking around the farm.”

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CAREER ACHIEVEMENT TO DATE?

“I don't have many 'big wins' as such, but every day with youngsters is filled with tiny achievements that all add up to make a well-rounded horse. I take pride in the fact that these babies can go on to do the best as elite athletes, whilst ensuring all our youngsters know how to be good riding horses too - just in case they need to go on to do another job in the future. We give them the best tools to always help them achieve the best they can in life, wherever it takes them.”

WHY DID YOU JOIN THE BGA?

“When I started back working with horses (and especially young thoroughbreds), I quickly realised I'm not as young as I was, I now have a heap of commitments I didn’t have when I was 16."

"I really love how my membership with the BGA gives that community feeling of belonging.”

Fiona

Thank you for sharing your story with us Fiona, there is no doubt you will inspire other women to follow their dreams. #InternationalWomensDay

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