Equine Science

emma_lucas

Hi,
I am looking into doing this course and there seems to be a lot of business involved in the course. Would I struggle if I don't take business for the leaving cert?

Also what is the doing the course, and what are the actual job opportunities afterwards?
I am trying to decide between the Gurteen course or this one

iLaura

emma_lucas wrote: »

Hi,
I am looking into doing this course and there seems to be a lot of business involved in the course. Would I struggle if I don't take business for the leaving cert?

Also what is the doing the course, and what are the actual job opportunities afterwards?
I am trying to decide between the Gurteen course or this one

sup_dude is our resident equine person around here. I'm sure she'll be able to give you any information you need when she sees this thread

Ave Sodalis

emma_lucas wrote: »

Hi,
I am looking into doing this course and there seems to be a lot of business involved in the course. Would I struggle if I don't take business for the leaving cert?

Also what is the doing the course, and what are the actual job opportunities afterwards?
I am trying to decide between the Gurteen course or this one

Hi

Nah, there isn't that much business and the first two years, it's not very technical. You don't need Leaving Cert business at all. You've about one module of business a semester. Micro-economics is about running a business, macro-economics is a bit of a random one, marketing is fine, and so is accounting. In your third and fourth year, you major in either equitation or business. I major in equitation so I'm not sure what the business side is like but I think it's quite a high standard.

The course itself is really good. It really teaches you to think. Job opportunies... it depends on what you want to do. There is a Co-Op which means you do eight months placement. However, there's a great support system. The biggest problem is some people don't realise the depth of the course, so still insist on BHS exams. You're not qualified to instruct afterwards, unfortunately. But generally, a lot of the managers of the big yards and racecourses have Equine Science as their background, and since Tom Buckley is a lecturer and Head of Microbiology in the Irish Equine Centre, there's a few job opportunities there. It's also a good base course for further education.

If you're looking for quality of education, I'd go with UL. You get a higher qualification and it's more encompassing than business based.

Be warned though, it is a science degree at the end of the day. You share a lot of your science modules with science ed and general science courses so they're not easy and it is fairly work intensive. There's a high drop out rate because people just see the word "equine" and think "oh horses! That's going to be easy!"

It's definitely worth doing though.

emma_lucas

sup_dude wrote: »

Hi

Nah, there isn't that much business and the first two years, it's not very technical. You don't need Leaving Cert business at all. You've about one module of business a semester. Micro-economics is about running a business, macro-economics is a bit of a random one, marketing is fine, and so is accounting. In your third and fourth year, you major in either equitation or business. I major in equitation so I'm not sure what the business side is like but I think it's quite a high standard.

The course itself is really good. It really teaches you to think. Job opportunies... it depends on what you want to do. There is a Co-Op which means you do eight months placement. However, there's a great support system. The biggest problem is some people don't realise the depth of the course, so still insist on BHS exams. You're not qualified to instruct afterwards, unfortunately. But generally, a lot of the managers of the big yards and racecourses have Equine Science as their background, and since Tom Buckley is a lecturer and Head of Microbiology in the Irish Equine Centre, there's a few job opportunities there. It's also a good base course for further education.

If you're looking for quality of education, I'd go with UL. You get a higher qualification and it's more encompassing than business based.

Be warned though, it is a science degree at the end of the day. You share a lot of your science modules with science ed and general science courses so they're not easy and it is fairly work intensive. There's a high drop out rate because people just see the word "equine" and think "oh horses! That's going to be easy!"

It's definitely worth doing though.

Thanks a million for all that, it really helped! One more question, do ye get much hands on experience besides form the co-op?

Ave Sodalis

emma_lucas wrote: »

Thanks a million for all that, it really helped! One more question, do ye get much hands on experience besides form the co-op?

Yup! You go out to Clonshire Equestrian Centre every week. In first and second year, you have one module out there so you're there for half a day. In third and fourth year, if you pick equitation, you're there for a full day for two modules. That doesn't include field trips to the likes of Coolmore, Army Equitation School (which we're going to on Wednesday), Roches Feeds and so on