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Racehorse trainer

Racehorse trainers run stables, manage staff, look after horses' training and welfare, and prepare them for races.

Annual Salary

£0 to £0

Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

45 to 47 a week

You could work: early mornings; flexibly

2.2%
Future employment

There will be 2.2% more Racehorse trainer jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

In your day-to-day duties you could:

  • work out daily training and exercise routines
  • plan feeding programmes for each horse
  • monitor horses’ development
  • talk to staff and vets about any problems
  • supervise stable staff
  • manage preparations and travel for race days
  • keep racehorse owners up to date with their horses’ progress
  • deal with administrative work like training records, wages and payments

Working environment

You could work at a riding stable, in an office or at a race track.

Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers.

You can get into this job through:

  • an apprenticeship
  • working towards this role
  • specialist courses run by professional bodies
Apprenticeship

You can work towards this role by doing a senior equine groom advanced apprenticeship.

This will usually take at least 18 months to complete.

Entry requirements

There are no set entry requirements but it may help you to get in if you have:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
For more information
  • equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
  • guide to apprenticeships|https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide
Work

You could work at a racing stables as a groom, a rider or instructor. You would then move on to become an assistant trainer before applying for the full trainer's licence.

As an assistant trainer, you could do a 3-day course at The British Racing School or National Horseracing College, which includes:

  • staff management
  • handicapping
  • media training
  • health and safety
  • racing welfare
  • licensing

Other routes

If you have a lot of experience in a stables, you could complete the Level 3 Diploma in Work Based Racehorse Care and the trainer's pre-licence preparation course.

You could then apply for a trainer's licence from the British Horseracing Authority.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

  • You must have a trainer licence issued by the British Horseracing Authority.
  • To apply for a licence, you'll need to meet several conditions, for example, you must:complete the Level 3 Diploma in Racehorse Care and Management; have a minimum of 5 years' experience in a racing yard; pass a pre-licence training course with The British Racing School at Newmarket, or the National Horseracing College at Doncaster

More information

Further information

You can find out more about about working in horse racing from careersinracing.

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With experience you could become a specialist racing consultant, trainer instructor, bloodstock agent or thoroughbred breeder.

Visit careersinracing for more information about working in this industry.

The British Horseracing Development Programme (formerly known as the British Horseracing Graduate Development Programme) is well known and highly regarded throughout the British Horseracing industry

This Programme, which has been running for over 30 years, provides an invaluable source of talent to the sport and its supporting industry.  For the 31st running in 2021, we were delighted to announce that the Programme was renamed to the British Horseracing Development Programme and is now an early careers programme suitable for candidates with Degrees, Higher Apprenticeships or equivalent skills and capabilities.

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Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to work on your own
  • knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
  • customer service skills
  • the ability to work well with others
  • the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
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