HI, my name is Kathryn Spiers and I am 17 years old and from County Down. I have just completed the Level 2 Technical Certificate in Equine Care at CAFRE, Enniskillen cam-pus.
I have always had an interest in horses and I knew from an early stage that I wanted to go to CAFRE. I have really enjoyed the opportunities of working with different horses and studying the range of modules.
Competition grooming was one of my favourite modules as I got the opportunity to plait manes and tails and turn out horses to a high standard. I had never done this before and really did enjoy it. I was then able to take the skill set that I have learnt at CAFRE to my work placement.
As part of the Level 2 Technical Certificate in Equine Care, stud-ents have to complete five weeks of work placement. After speaking with Jenny Richardson, the work placement coordinator, I decided to go to L & M Carriage Driving in Ballyward, County Down.
I thoroughly enjoyed my place-ment. Before going on work placement I had never considered carriage driving as an option. Work placement was one of the highlights for me and I am planning on getting my carriage licence. I got the opportunity to assist the owner, Liz Ward, on many carriage drives and also attended funerals where the horse drawn vehicles were used.
Living away from home was hard at the start. During the first week I was a little unsettled, but after that I really settled into college life and got used to being away from home Sunday night to Friday afternoon.
We had different activities on each evening at college. We could attend yoga, jive classes, cookery classes, and evening trips. These events gave me the opportunity to meet other students from different classes and to make new friends.
I have now completed the Level 2 in Equine Care and I hope to progress onto the Level 3 Advanced Technical Extended Diploma programme starting in September 2022.
n Further details about the range of courses offered at CAFRE, Enniskillen campus, are available at www.cafre.ac.uk
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