16 Sep 2022
‘It was such a great experience’ said one of our Year 12 students, Helena W, who recently completed the ‘Thoroughly Schooled – An Introduction into the thoroughbred horse industry’ program in Scone. This free introductory discovery program, sponsored by the Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association, TAFE and Hunter REIP, complimented Helena’s studies of the Certificate III in Performance Horse qualification that she is completing as part of her HSC. I caught up with Helena to find out more about this amazing opportunity.
Talk me through about some of the activities that you did during this week-long program.
I learnt so much on this program! For the first three days, I built on my knowledge and skills through hands-on practical training at Scone TAFE, in the Hunter Thoroughbred Breeding Centre of Excellence. We went through the basics of horse breeding, health checks and observations, safe horse handling techniques and the grooming of horses. For days four and five, we went on site visits to major horse breeding stud farms (Godolphin Kelvinside, Vinery Stud Farm and Bhima Stud Farm), Scone Equine Hospital Intensive Care Unit - Clovelly, and Scone Racecourse and Stables, where I learnt about numerous career pathways across the industry with a strong focus on horse breeding, racing and equine veterinary nursing.
What were some of the highlights of your experience?
Definitely getting first-hand tours of major stud farms and having them speak with us about the industry and offering different perspectives relating to stud farms and racetracks. I have been working with horses for four years, so it was also very exciting to cement all my understandings when working with the horses directly and being supervised by stud farm professionals. All our teachers and mentors were incredibly informative making the experience so worthwhile!
Do you have any recommendations that you could offer to CHHS students?
I would recommend for any student who loves working with horses to participate in this program next year, especially to learn more about the opportunities that exist within the Godolphin Stud Farm such as the Godolphin Flying Start Program. The Thoroughly Schooled program is also a great way to make connections with other young adults from around NSW who share similar interests. Even if you are not interested in horses, any person who is interested in working in the agriculture industry would benefit from it.
Thank you, Helena, for sharing this experience with us!