My name is Aoife, I’m 20 years old and live at Eildon Mains in the Scottish Borders.
I work for Geoff and Elspeth Adam, having worked my way from a weekend poo picker, to a groom at local shows and international shows then yard supervisor.
The yard is for pre training and rehabilitation. We buy horses as youngsters and train them to race and after their hopefully successful career we retrain them for things like eventing and showing. Then they get to enjoy their retirement in big fields.
I’ve worked here for 5 years all together, I started when I was 14 at weekends whilst still at school and did more days during the holidays, then when I turned 16 I left school and went full-time. I left for 8 months to go down south to learn from different yards, then came back home and started here again.
Before that I worked weekends at a riding school, and as didn’t have the money for lessons I worked my hours to have a chance to ride. I was always very grateful to Jenny and the girls at Nenthorn Equestrian Centre as I only started horse riding when I was 11. A lot of the girls that helped had horses and knew what they were doing, so were constantly showing me how to do new things.
I did an SVQ level 5 apprenticeship, which I really enjoyed. There were challenges but I overcame them, learning a lot but also getting confidence about things I already knew.
The qualification has helped improve my knowledge and understanding about horses and has opened doors for jobs and promotion. As well as getting paid while learning, it was also rewarding as I worked very hard each day.
I’ve always loved horses, and it was just natural that it became my path of work. I love my job and there are times that are hard but it’s always worth it. Not a minute goes by that I’m not thinking about horses so it doesn’t feel like work. It’s always worth it when I see horses happy being themselves out in fields grazing and playing with their friends.
There are lots of skills you need, but the biggest one is patience. We don’t speak the same language as horses but there are other ways of understanding them individually and getting their trust through unspoken conversations.
The best thing about my job is also the worst thing, it starts when a horse gets injured and either goes to the vets or the vet comes to us. How rewarding it is when after all the hard work, you trot up the horse at the end and it’s sound and happy back out in the field with its friends.
I’m proud of always stepping up to the challenge of new experiences. When I became yard supervisor I had lots of new jobs I’ve never done before, like booking people to come in for horse care, making rotas for staff and organising their days. I feel a sense of pride for getting the jobs done and hopefully will continue to keep things running as smoothly as possible when it comes to horses.
Being small and young and feeling the need to prove myself was a challenge, but with experience and self confidence I don’t need to prove anything to anyone now.
My favourite part of living in Scotland are the views where I live. I can see beautiful hills and fields for miles, and being out in the countryside is the best.
If anyone is thinking about working with horses, I would say take the jump, you won’t regret it. There will be days that are hard, but it’s great seeing your horses winning or doing well, and seeing a horse that’s been unwell or been injured get better and feel itself again is the best.
Honestly don’t know what my future will be, but I see myself working with horses, either here or traveling to different yards around the world to learn about and experience different cultures.