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Equine groom

Horse grooms look after horses' everyday needs, and make sure they're healthy and in good condition.

Potential salary
£10,000 to £16,000
Working hours
38 to 40 a week
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to use your initiative
  • to be flexible and open to change
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • the ability to work well with others
  • the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
  • customer service skills
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Your day-to-day duties might include:

  • giving horses food and water
  • replacing bedding
  • cleaning equipment like saddles and bridles
  • cleaning, brushing and clipping horses' coats
  • mucking out stables
  • monitoring the condition of horses and reporting problems
  • treating minor wounds, changing dressings and giving some medications
  • following instructions from vets when treatment is needed

You may need to wear protective clothing.

You could work at a riding stable.

Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers.

With experience and further training, you could take charge of a yard or become head groom.

In a racing yard, you could progress to head lad or girl, travelling head lad or girl, or to assistant trainer or trainer.

On a stud farm, you could become a stud groom, stallion handler or stud manager.

If you work in a riding stable you could become a riding instructor.

You can find out more about training and working in the horse racing industry from Careers in Racing and the British Grooms Association.

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