EMS hints and tips for students

Overall activities that our EMS students will be involved with, they're very varied. 

So this can start off with literally feeding the horses early in the morning. So our grooms go out and they do field checks every morning, which is giving feed or medicine and checking all of the horses completely over, picking out feet.

This just means any sort of problems, any cuts, scrapes, lumps, bumps, they get picked up early on in the day and they can then get passed onto our vet team.

Also, things like mucking out, so mucking out their stables, mucking out the barns, poo picking.

We are fairly strict on PPE, so we'd always want students to have steel toe-cap boots. We do often have a lot here that we can help out with. If you haven't got availability to have them, then we can quite often find a pair that you will fit here, as well as wearing a hard hat.

Definitely would recommend wet weather gear. So whether that's just a thin pair of waterproof trousers that you've pulled from the utility room or a coat that's waterproof and that you know is gonna keep you warm and dry.

Joggers, leggings, something that you're comfy in, something that you can bend and lift and work in.

I think students looking at the best out of their EMS placements by really trying to make the most of it, asking all the questions that they need to ask, really utilising the people that are here to help them, whether that be the veterinary professional, such as Nikki on our site, or whether that's the grooms on our yard. You know, they really know the horses inside out and it gives all of the students a really good insight in seeing different behaviours in horses as well as figuring out different medical sides.

Quite a few of our guys who are retired have got different ailments and issues with them, whether that be lameness or behavioural problems, which we do try very hard to work on.

I think a good student really comes from them being themselves. Everybody is an individual. We absolutely love to see such a variety of people coming through here at the trust. And the more people show themselves, the better; the more they're going to get out of it at the end of the day.

And also, just being completely transparent. If there's something that you're not confident with, then, you know, letting people know, being open and honest about that, because equally everybody wants to help you learn and help you develop your skills. And if we're, you know, not aware of the things that you need to learn and the things you're not confident with, then it's gonna be harder for us to help you build that confidence.

I think an area that really, it also makes a good student, is being enthusiastic, really engaging with what we're we are showing you, and also, you know, taking away everything that you can from that situation.

I think also to really come in with a positive mindset because I think you get out of EMS what you put into it. So I think coming in and giving it a go, just getting stuck in. It's more practical. It's where you get to see your lectures come to life. So actually to be more hands-on, just approaching it that way and knowing that actually you can get involved, and they want you to.