Hi there,
I am looking to find a working student position on a breeding farm. If anyone has any recommendations as to where I should apply I would really appreciate it. I would also like the opportunity to ride however my main focus is to learn as much as I can about the breeding aspect of the equine industry. I ride in the hunter/jumper discipline so I am looking to work for a stable that breeds horses for that purpose. Thanks in advance.
I think there are on-line jobs sites. You might also want to post in the Sport Horse Breeding thread, as they might have more specific ideas.
Yard and groom.
There are also fb groups/pages for working students and/or grooms.
That said, go read all threads on working student positions.
EWSZ.
Thanks everyone I will go check those pages out!
Iron Spring Farm
Iron Spring Farm looks lovely however I am looking for something that specializes in the Hunter/Jumper discipline. 
Just curious, but if you want to learn about breeding, does it really matter if the farm produces warmbloods or sport ponies or QHs? Why does the performance focus matter so much? Last time I checked, breeding was pretty much the same as it involves live cover or collecting for AI. If you want to learn AI then look for a breed that does lots of AI and embryo transfers. I would not confuse the opportunity to ride with the focus on breeding.
[QUOTE=IronwoodFarm;8865766]
Just curious, but if you want to learn about breeding, does it really matter if the farm produces warmbloods or sport ponies or QHs? Why does the performance focus matter so much? Last time I checked, breeding was pretty much the same as it involves live cover or collecting for AI. If you want to learn AI then look for a breed that does lots of AI and embryo transfers. I would not confuse the opportunity to ride with the focus on breeding.[/QUOTE]
OP may want to learn those specific bloodlines if that is the area of focus. Breeding is the same, the background changes. Though I wouldn’t be apposed to dressage or eventing primary which differs from the riding preference for her of h/j.
OP, you are there to learn and be a slave. You don’t chose who to ride or when or even if. Pick a place, apply, hope they accept you then bust your butt doing your best hard work.
[QUOTE=IronwoodFarm;8865766]
Just curious, but if you want to learn about breeding, does it really matter if the farm produces warmbloods or sport ponies or QHs? Why does the performance focus matter so much? Last time I checked, breeding was pretty much the same as it involves live cover or collecting for AI. If you want to learn AI then look for a breed that does lots of AI and embryo transfers. I would not confuse the opportunity to ride with the focus on breeding.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. And ISF does have H/J horses… just look at their Facebook pages and the people who have horses from their sires. Lots of H/J in there.
Why go be a WS when you can go work [for pay] and learn while you’re at it.
.
As a breeder, I sell foals and stallion services. I don’t necessarily raise my young stock to the point they have performance careers. Would think that ISF would be a good opportunity to learn about breeding either as a working student or a paid employee.
Wild Turkey Farm in Wilsonville, OR is an AMAZING facility with lots of nice young stock. They bring them up to performance age.
Kilkenny Crest in Bend is less well-known, but their horses are all over the PNW.
Both are h/j focused.
[QUOTE=huntergal101;8865288]
Hi there,
I am looking to find a working student position on a breeding farm. If anyone has any recommendations as to where I should apply I would really appreciate it. I would also like the opportunity to ride however my main focus is to learn as much as I can about the breeding aspect of the equine industry. I ride in the hunter/jumper discipline so I am looking to work for a stable that breeds horses for that purpose. Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]
Where are you located? Hard to recommend anybody without knowing what your car/travel/relocation needs might be and where you are. And if you are a minor or over 18.
Many, if not most, breeders don’t have enough older broke and going horses to need a rider, the idea being to sell them before they get that far. But they often need barn help in breeding and foaling season, roughly late January to July or so.
Thanks for everyone’s input I appreciate it!
[QUOTE=findeight;8866265]
Where are you located? Hard to recommend anybody without knowing what your car/travel/relocation needs might be and where you are. And if you are a minor or over 18.
Many, if not most, breeders don’t have enough older broke and going horses to need a rider, the idea being to sell them before they get that far. But they often need barn help in breeding and foaling season, roughly late January to July or so.[/QUOTE]
Hey! I am in Canada. Willing to travel. And I will be 18 very soon.
Thanks I’ll check it out
Generally speaking, the Lexington KY is a HUGE area for horse breeding. Obviously primarily Thoroughbreds (which are only live cover, quite different from AI breeds), but if you want experience with breeding, mare management and foaling/foal care the TB farms have it in spades and will be some of the more intensively managed farms out there. The is a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and such a high number of foals (and work!) that many have breeding season internship type positions. Obviously no riding on race horse farms though. KEMI is a internship program that helps people get positions on TB farms in their area of interest: http://www.kemi.org/
There’s also a growing amount of WB breeding in the area, since Lexington has such a wealth of resources. Spy Coast Farm comes to mind as a h/j breeder. They’re a bit unique in that they also have a young horse training program and sell many (most?) after they are under saddle. No idea who rides them though or if they have working students/interns.
Other option would be to go to Europe, since you’d need some sort of visa whether US or EU, tons of jumper breeding there (obviously no hunters, that’s a N American thing) and generations of expertise and knowledge.
If I was 40 years younger I would jump at the chance to work at Ironwood but to each their own…
Some here:
I’ll check it out
Thanks I’ll look into that
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