My mum was like, 'You’re not going to come back home are you?'

The Entry to Stud Employment Programme (E2SE), an idea funded by the National Stud, Thoroughbred Breeders' Association and the Racing Foundation, is a course designed for people who are seeking a career in the thoroughbred industry but who lack relevant skills or experience.

It involves a residential course followed by a work placement at a leading stud, which will result in students receiving a diploma. We caught up with two members of the latest intake to see how they’re getting on.

Scott Innes, placed at Blue Diamond Stud

One afternoon in 2019, when studying for a sports business management degree at the University of Stirling, Scott Innes' friend asked him if he fancied coming over to watch the Cheltenham Festival. It was to prove a seminal moment in his career development.

"I went round, had a couple of bets and then it just kind of took to me," he recalls.

"To be honest the first bet I had won, which was nice. It was the Supreme Novices' that Klassical Dream won. My grandad loves racing, he would have spoken to me about it, the one thing he always said was Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh.

"I couldn't have told you who they were or whatever but I remember looking at the betting, saw Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins, so I thought I'd put some money on that. But it quickly turned away from the betting, l still enjoy studying the form but I was looking at the breeding and where the horses came from."

After graduating in spring 2021, Innes had decided to look into a career in the industry.

He says: "I came across two courses, the BHA graduate scheme, that wasn't until this year, and the E2SE, that I could go on in August. I thought the sooner the better, get some experience and see where it takes me."

Although he had managed to make a visit to Ayr racecourse, the 21-year-old had not even touched a horse before he had enrolled.

"Coming from Glasgow, you're in a city, you're not really around any animals apart from your pets in the house, and it's not as if any of my immediate family in Scotland would have had them anywhere," he says.

"I remember on my first weekend somebody saying, 'You'll soon realise that horses have personalities', and I remember thinking they were absolutely mad, they can't, that's just stupid. But you start working with them and think you'd never have believed these things.

Scott Innes had not even touched a horse prior to beginning the course

"My mum is Irish and my grandad would have had a couple of horses but I would never have met them, so it's in my family tree somewhere. However, I wasn't brought up to tell the difference between one horse and another."

Being a jockey is out for the 6'5 Scotsman but he has rolled up his sleeves, exchanged lazy student habits for early mornings in the fresh air, and is learning new things every day.

He has joked with his old friend, who is still studying for a Masters, at the irony of that afternoon punting on Cheltenham and what it led to.

"Things change very quickly," he says. "I wouldn't have known how to approach a horse, put a headcollar on, anything, it really was starting from the absolute beginning.

"Obviously going from having a uni degree, I did start thinking I probably didn't need it to do what I'm doing now, but I'm hoping it will still help me in the long run.

"I know I'd like to work in the thoroughbred industry, whether that's breeding or racing I'm unsure, but I think whatever experience I get at this kind of beginning stage will help me wherever I end up."

Emily Stevens, Juddmonte Farms

The pandemic prompted many of us to reassess our direction of travel, whether by necessity or design, and for Emily Stevens it was the catalyst for her own life-changing experience.

The 21-year-old is based with Juddmonte until the summer and already hopes to be kept on.

"When I was 18 I was going to apply but I chose uni instead," she explains. "Due to Covid I lost my job in retail. I was working on little farms and yards local to me and I just thought it was an opportunity to get into what I want to do.

"When I was researching for jobs, the National Stud course came up again on Google. I didn’t think I’d get accepted but I thought I’d apply and see what happened."

Stevens, from Essex, is a graduate in animal management and zoology, although she admits that she arrived with little knowledge of thoroughbreds.

A love of animals has taken Emily Stevens into the world of the thoroughbredCredit: National Stud

"If people are having racing conversations I’m not the best to get involved, but I’m finding it interesting and I’m learning," she says.

"I was always an animal lover - it sounds silly but if I was having a bad day my dad would take me to a little yard to spend the day with horses, and when I was older I’d volunteer on farms. I’d always want to be outside.

"If I could go back in time I don’t think I’d have done that course, I probably would have done an equine or agricultural course because I can’t really see myself working in a zoo!"

Her final job before the course involved working on a stallion yard for carriage horses, which were used largely for weddings and funerals, but now she is ensconced at one of the world’s biggest thoroughbred breeding farms

"I thought I had a little bit of experience, I’d worked with stallions and done some lambing, but I realised it was a different world," she admits. "The whole process is a big eye-opener.

"One day we were trying to pull a foal out, its shoulders got stuck so it was half-in and half-out, it was still alive but in the end we pulled it out and it passed away. I was in absolute bits, I know it’s part of the job but for the first time seeing it, I did struggle."

However, this cheerful individual has not been deterred after such a traumatic initiation.

"Where I’m from is very towny so being in the country, I think it’s where I’m suited," she says. "My mum was like, 'You’re not going to come back home are you?' And I said, 'I don’t think so, no!'

"I don’t look back, I think everything happens for a reason and I can’t see myself doing anything else now."

For more information on these courses, click here.

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