Horse courses in Ireland?

ejayy

hi there, I'm currently repeating my LC this year, I initially repeated cos I wanted psychology but now I really have done a 180 and decided to do something with horses. Does anyone out there know of any FAS courses or 3rd level courses?
And what jobs could you go into with them?
And if anyone has any information on equine science or the likes please post on here.

thank you

Enya

tricky D

UL have 2: http://www3.ul.ie/courses/CoursesScience.shtml

mariannewims

I know people who have done, or are currently doing, Equine Science at UCD and the BHS fas course at Thornton Park Equestrian Centre and both are great depending on what area you want to get into. The UCD course has a very big emphasis on Agriculture too so that might appeal or put you off depending on your interests.

ejayy

Thank you!

i would love to get into the more physical side of working with horses, maybe even competing with them??

What are your thoughts?

Ave Sodalis

I'm in third year of the BSc Equine Science in UL, OP. It's supposedly more equine based than the course in UCD but with either course, please bare in mind that there is the word science in the title and our course does have a strong element of science (your science modules are with science ed mostly, if that gives you an idea). It's aimed mostly at people aiming to go into lab work but it's also a great course if you want to go into other things afterwards. I would also say that our work experience (CoOp) is very effective and there is very few places that won't take UL students for their CoOp. The university itself is great and the campus is lovely. You also get to ride once a week in Clonshire. I'm enjoying my course if I'm honest and would recommend it.
If that's not your thing, I would look at CAFRE in Enniskillen which seems to be nearly all practical but from what I've heard, has very mixed reviews.

ejayy

wow thank you! I'm considering equine science in UL what were the points can I ask?
yeah I love science aswell you see as I am doing the three sciences for leaving cert :P What can you go into afterwards in your course?? Have you done your work experience yet?? And if so where? Or where do you hope to do it?

Oh wow ok I will definately look into CAFRE!!

Ave Sodalis

ejayy wrote: »

wow thank you! I'm considering equine science in UL what were the points can I ask?
yeah I love science aswell you see as I am doing the three sciences for leaving cert :P What can you go into afterwards in your course?? Have you done your work experience yet?? And if so where? Or where do you hope to do it?

Oh wow ok I will definately look into CAFRE!!

They were either 320 or 340, I can't quite remember which. Achievable none the less You should be grand then so! There's a number of drop outs in first year and its generally due to the science element.
Afterwards, for example, I'm hoping to go on to do physio but the Irish Equine Centre takes people afaik, there's an opportunity to go into the business element, or nutrition or reseach or some people get offered a job with their CoOp placement. I'm in the middle of mine in Richmond Park Stud. Other people are in Ashford in Kentucky, Darley in Japan and various other places.
If you are looking to get to UL, I would recommend booking a place in either Kilmurry or Plassey student villages now so as to get a spot. If you don't get in, you just get your deposit back. If you do pick and get UL, give me a shout on here and I'll give you any help you need since I'll be an old fourth year then

mariannewims

If you're more into the physical side of it and riding, it might be a good idea to do a fas course first and then see what you'd want to do more of. That'd only be a year as opposed to 4 years on a degree course, which you could still do after. With that you'd do a lot of yard work, stable management lectures and ridden and lunge lessons every day and be able to do your BHS stage 1, 2, riding and road safety and ptt in that time. If you wanted to go into teaching, riding, groom work etc it'd be a great foundation and you could always go into something more specialised then afterwards.
If I had the time and good enough health I'd love to do one just for my own knowledge because I saw a lot of the lectures/lessons when I was leasing a horse at a BHS centre and having amazing instructors giving you lessons and lectures every day you would learn so much in a year!

Good luck, hope you enjoy whatever you decide to do

ejayy

Oh cool I already got 440 last year in the leaving with no effort so I will most likely get higher this year :P Oh really and how many does the course take each year? And is the course a 2/4 year course??
What does afaik mean sorry? And physio what would that entail??

omg richmond park, you lucky thing!! and how is it going?? How on earth did people et placemnets in Japan/ America?? :O Unreal!!!!
Yeah I was in Limerick a few months ago and visited both those places! I preffered Plassey tbh :P

Oh stop being a 4th year means your a year closer to achieving what you want to be!!

ejayy

Thank you Mariannewims!!

yeah I love the physical side, I have my own pony and love jumping with her, been riding now ever since I was 4!! So I am definately looking into a fas course!

aonb

There is an EQUINE BUSINESS degree course in Maynooth - go to NUIM.IE and search for it there.

Where are you based?
I know a couple of people who did a FAS course in EQUINE STUDIES in Naas
which involved class work and on the job training and riding lessons

Ave Sodalis

ejayy wrote: »

Oh cool I already got 440 last year in the leaving with no effort so I will most likely get higher this year :P Oh really and how many does the course take each year? And is the course a 2/4 year course??
What does afaik mean sorry? And physio what would that entail??

omg richmond park, you lucky thing!! and how is it going?? How on earth did people et placemnets in Japan/ America?? :O Unreal!!!!
Yeah I was in Limerick a few months ago and visited both those places! I preffered Plassey tbh :P

Oh stop being a 4th year means your a year closer to achieving what you want to be!!

You should have no bother getting it 50/60 or so. Not really sure of exact numbers. It's a four year course. The two years is a cert. Oops, sorry, afaik=as far as I know. Physio would mean I will possibly be going to England after this for another year or two to get my qualification in animal physio.
It's going fine. Hard work but grand otherwise. Placements abroad are fairly common
Aha yeah, but it also means my last year in college and I don't think I'm ready to leave yet :P

ejayy

aonb I'm based in Mayo! I will look up that course too thanks

Oh cool and do you mind going to England?

really whats the chances of getting placement abroad? Really want to leave Ireland tbh :P

Haha I get what yeah mean :P

Ave Sodalis

ejayy wrote: »

aonb I'm based in Mayo! I will look up that course too thanks

Oh cool and do you mind going to England?

really whats the chances of getting placement abroad? Really want to leave Ireland tbh :P

Haha I get what yeah mean :P

Chances are fairly high. If you ask for one, you'll most likely get one

aonb

To apply for a degree course in any UK university, you will have to fill in a UCAS form which is the equivalent of the CAO form. (I dont know when the closing date for UCAS is/was)
A lot of Irish students are applying for courses to other European countries. THe fees for EU universities are the same or less than Irish Universities, so well worth looking at.
I know some 6th years who have applied for degree courses in universities in Holland & Belgium. Most EU universities teach classes in English.
There are scholarships to be had, there are ERASAMUS scholarships to be had (i.e. a year or two of your Irish degree course would be spent in EU 'partner' universities) Did you go to the HIGHER OPTIONS in RDS this year, to find out what irish, UK and EU universities are offering for courses, for Irish students.

ejayy

Unfortunately I didnt fiil out the UCAS form

thank you so much aonb, I actually neve even thought about applying to other EU universities!!

Squuzzling

I did my Leaving last year and got very low points , but cafre offered me a place and now I study here. I'm in FDSc 1 which is the foundation degree and I can highly recommend it.In first year you can choose to do Racing , Equitation and Advanced Grooming . (I've taken part in both Equitation and Advanced Grooming, but dropped out of riding due to a persistent injury.) In your second year you get the option of - Behaviour and rehabilitation , improving business opportunities and young stock production/equitation and training techniques. In Bsc (Honors Degree) its pretty much the same for year one in both degrees minus the fact you do nutrition in your first year unlike FDSc where you do it in your second. The only REALLY big difference between the two courses is the extra year in BSc. As far as I know 3rd year Bsc's do veterinary .

The accommodation isn't too bad and is extremely convenient , the lectures are lovely and they have a nice selection of horses and ponies.

If you need to know anything more , pm me :-)

ejayy

Thank you squuzzling! Did you apply to CAFRE before you did your leaving isit??

And does anyone know what the big difference is between equine science in UCD and equine science in UL??

aonb

On Saturday 29th March 9am-4pm in OReilly Hall, UCD there is a "Where in the world do you want to study" exhibition - check out www.thestudentworld.com - free entry - The ad is on p.8 of todays Irish Times - "meet universities from around the world and find out how to study English-taught degrees abroad"

might be worth your while going along if you are interested in finding out about courses in universities abroad...

opticalillusion

While I loved doing my degree in UL in equine science, if I could do it all again I wouldn't. I graduated 7 years ago and could never get any equine based jobs (you know, ones that would pay well, not shoveling out sh1t). I gave up sending off CVs after a few years. Going back to college now to do something else.

About 90% of our class who graduated couldn't get any jobs either so went on to do further education in another field altogether or just changed career.

convert

ejayy wrote: »

Thank you squuzzling! Did you apply to CAFRE before you did your leaving isit??

And does anyone know what the big difference is between equine science in UCD and equine science in UL??

It would probably be a good idea to look at the university websites to get an idea for what's covered in each course. It will also allow you to compare the courses and, if interested, choose the course most suitable to you and what you want to do. There's also an equine business course in NUI Maynooth (http://www.careersportal.ie/courses/coursedetail.php?course_id=2002#.UzDIpqh_uSo). That link should also give you an idea of what info you can find. Likewise, take a look at all the websites for CAFRE, BHS courses, etc. in different places. Everywhere offers somewhere different, so it's definitely worth taking the time to look at them all so you can choose the best one for you.

Squuzzling

ejayy wrote: »

Thank you squuzzling! Did you apply to CAFRE before you did your leaving isit??

Yeah I did but I've heard of people who met them at Dublin horse show and applied then

TG1

Have you looked into the equine business studies course that's done through Gurteen Ag college and AIT? It's more equine than business, and it is quite general.

There is also Kildalton, but I don't know much about that one.

As others have suggested if you're looking for hands on, doing the BHS through fas or by yourself as a working pupil might be a good way to go.

I feel I have to warn you I did the Gurteen course years ago, then went on to do my BHS and worked for a couple of years, before going back to college to study business again, as I decided after 7 years or so that horses full time wasn't going to be for me when I was 60, so just consider every angle of it before you reach a concrete conclusion!

saddlesoap

Hi
I went to Kildalton college. If you want really work with the horses and know what its like to work on a real yard and get though properly this is the course to do. You start at half seven mucking out have lessons, theory or stable management during the day finish at 5 after more mucking out. You also work there some weekends.
The really go through the BHS exams and if you fail them its you own fault. I did my BHS stage 1 and 2 and stage 3 horse care while in kildalton as that was all I could afford at the time.

I also did the fas course as they pay for your exams (they never paid for mine which is a long story). Didn't like it at all. I found that most of the people they let on the course were people who may have had riding lessons for a few years and did found themselves out of the job and did the course to pass away a few months. I also thought it was a way for yards to have workers and not have to pay for them. You get a lesson some morning together even if one of the students was a week rider and your not. and then have a theory lesson which in the yard I did was go into a room for an hour and read a book and then do yard work for the rest of the day.

Just be aware working with horses is not all rosettes and gallops on the beach, the pay is low, hours long, work is physical and your out in all weathers. Saying all that you could work all around the world with horses I have done a little travel and worked with horses In Australia. In Ireland with all these fas courses and jobs bridges things it really is hard to get a job in the horse industry that you earn enough to support yourself I find it hard.

Not trying to turn you off but if I was getting the points you got in your leaving I would go to university get a good job that pays well and then start buying horses and pay some one to mind.:D

ejayy

Thank you all for all your words !!

And thank you saddlesoap, I know your not trying to turn me off at all! I know its hard work cos I did infact work in a yard for a few years, in which I did jobs like breaking ponies etc. I am repeating this year and I do hope to get in the 500s so I am actually considering going to uni, and doing psychology, and then hopefully I will have a large enough cash flow in a few years to buy horses and ponies and train them myself!!

Thank you everyone it has been great getting insights from everyone which I really do appreciate and I did take all them into consideration when I did make my mind up!

minty01

Hi,

Does anybody have any feedback/info on the Masters in Applied Equine Science in UCD? This is the first year it has been run so its hard to find out much about it. I'm really interested in finding out more about course content and potential careers opportunities after graduation.

ejayy

Ring them up thats what I did!

Its more agricultural based in the first two years not as horsey as UL

convert

ejayy wrote: »

Ring them up thats what I did!

Given that it's exam time at UCD at the moment and staff are busy grading and entering results, it's not guaranteed that they'll be available to discuss the course until late next week or the week after.

KOB19

Kildalton college do two courses (equitation & stud management) they are brillant courses and very very hands on.
Equitation involves alot of riding etc and stud management involves no riding but working with breeding the horses.
I did the stud management course and got to do a years work experience on a stud farm and found it great.

It helps to have a years work experience on your CV too
hope this helps and GOODLUCK!!