‘I had no idea I would learn so much’: Stud Start delivering a new demographic

Cover image courtesy of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia

Last month, just as the Magic Millions National Sales Series was wrapping up, Thoroughbred Breeders Australia (TBA) announced Stud Start, an intensive, 10-day classroom introduction to breeding, followed by a work placement on an industry stud farm.

This new course would differ from the well-established Fast Track in that it was aimed at students of all ages, and in particular those with careers in other industries that might be looking for a tree change.

“Fast Track is aimed at young people coming into the industry, and often it’s their first job,” said TBA’s Tom Reilly at the time. “Stud Start, on the other hand, is really aimed at people who are perhaps in a different career and are thinking about a change, who maybe haven’t worked in the industry but who are looking at it, thinking they might be interested in it.”

TBA Stud Start enrolled six students. They range from ages 29 to 49, and they span such careers as the defence force, plumbing, factory work and mortgage broking. They come from Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, representing exactly the spread of experience that TBA expected of its inaugural class.

The six students commenced their 10-day classroom session at Scone TAFE last Wednesday, after which they will respectively take a one-month working placement on an industry farm.

They’re only a week in, but so far the program has delivered brilliantly to both TBA and the six respective students.

Belinda Wozniak, Robert Murphy and Luke Plozza are among them, and, speaking to TDN AusNZ, they shared their individual journeys into the thoroughbred industry.

“Stud Start kept coming up in my news feeds on Facebook,” Wozniak said. “It was coming up constantly, pretty much every day, two to three times a day. It had come up for months and I’d kept opening it up, contemplating filling it out. But I’d kept closing it up again until I decided to pursue it.”

Wozniak is a mother of five on the Gold Coast. Her oldest child is 20 and her youngest are 10-year-old twins. She is a busy woman. At home, she has six horses of her own, so she isn’t a stranger to the equine industry, competing in show jumping as a household.

Robert Murphy, on the other hand, is completely new to horses. He has come to Stud Start from the Australian Defence Force.

“I was in the army for 18 years,” he said. “We have a company there called Soldier On, which helps veterans transition into the civilian workforce, and I heard about TBA through Soldier On. I was in the infantry corps for 18 years and got discharged as a platoon sergeant.”

TBA is a Gold Pledge Partner of Soldier On in an effort to encourage Australian veterans into the thoroughbred industry. Soldier On is an independent not-for-profit that is all about holistic support services for current and former defence personnel.

Murphy had no experience with horses when he enrolled in Stud Start, but he was aware of equine therapy when it came to veteran recovery. Based in Newcastle, he thought the Stud Start program was ideally local.

For Luke Plozza, however, it spelled a trip interstate. Plozza lives in Camperdown, Victoria, and has spent much of his career in the finance industry.

“I’m a mortgage broker by trade,” he said. “I ran my own business as a sole trader and I’ve been in the banking industry for probably 20 years, with other little jobs here and there, mostly in finance and banking.”

Plozza had a bit of experience with horses. He’s been involved in small syndications, off the top of his head numbering about 30 over 20 years.

“I’ve also got a mare at home, and I bred my first yearling just recently,” he said. “I only started breeding a year ago, but my father-in-law does most of the hands-on stuff, so it’s been really good to get this hands-on experience through Stud Start.”

Finding a way in

Wozniak, Murphy and Plozza, like each of the six students, had different agendas when it came to enrolling into Stud Start. But what was the incentive for them to consider their career changes at this point in their lives?

“I have an orphan foal at home which I was given in October of last year, and I’ve really enjoyed raising that foal,” Wozniak said. “It’s ignited something in me and now I really want to become a foal attendant. That little foal gave me a push that I wanted, and probably needed, to do something for myself, as opposed to just being a mum to my kids at home.”

Being on the Gold Coast, Wozniak has the southeast of Queensland to consider job opportunities. It’s a good spot for a foal attendant, with breeding operations dotted around the Darling Downs, Beaudesert and Canungra. She took on Stud Start with an idea that a foaling speciality would suit her, and the last week’s learning has confirmed it.

“My main focus is becoming a foal attendant, so I’m basically looking at just that,” she said. “But I came into this with a really open mind. I’m just really happy to be around horses, to be honest. If this path takes me on a different avenue, I’m happy to roll with that.”

For Murphy, the journey out of the defence force and into the industry is somewhat different.

“I medically discharged from Defence in February with PTSD,” he said. “I know what equine therapy can do for such cases, so I have a passion for not only helping myself, but wanting to help an animal on a day-to-day basis. My skills, from a day-one member of Stud Start to now, have definitely improved, and not just through the knowledge presented to us by the instructors. The hands-on experience has been amazing too.”

Murphy said the week of learning has been good for him.

“From me first touching one of the horses that is currently at the TAFE here at Scone, I just felt a calming presence within myself,” he said. “Horses can provide so much. I definitely want to stick with the thoroughbred industry when this is all done, but it’s too early to say what, exactly.”

Murphy will spend his month’s farm placement with Tony and Aaron Bott at Evergreen Stud Farm. He’s looking forward to it.

“To be honest, I’m happy cleaning up after the horses, feeding or mucking out,” he said. “Once I get that month on the stud farm, I’ll have more of an idea of the direction I want to go. Maybe a barrier attendant or working in the mounting yard at Newcastle… I’m open to anything.”

For Plozza, relocating into the outdoors from the office wasn’t as much of a leap as might be expected. He grew up on a dairy farm.

However, he’s had a long career in finance and admits that accepting an entry-level role in the breeding industry might not suit him. As such, his expectations of Stud Start and how it will fit into his working life are a bit different from his peers.

“Because I’m self-employed, I have some flexibility where I might pick up one or two days at that entry-level, whether it’s for a season or a year or permanently,” he said. “That’s up to the employer and what they’re willing to accept.

“Ultimately, though, I love breeding. I love pedigrees and I love matching mares to stallions. Whether that can head down the path of a bloodstock agency, I’m not sure. It’s too early to tell and there’s a lot more knowledge to gain, but that would be the dream.”

Like the others, Plozza’s mind is open.

“For 20 years I’ve been trying to work out an avenue to get into the industry, but just not finding what my niche was,” he said. “I thought sales might be that niche, given that it’s similar to banking, so I thought maybe syndication at one point. But now I’m leaning towards the pedigree and breeding side of things.”

It’s clear that the Stud Start students have six very different stories and, eventually, will have six very different outcomes for the industry.

Plozza said the program has been the perfect path into finding his industry niche, already making it a priceless experience for a man who has devoted his career to the private sector.

“I don’t think there could be a better way to find your niche than Stud Start, to be honest,” he said. “Just getting masterclasses from industry professionals, that’s been fantastic. As an example, we had bloodstock agent James Bester give us a demonstration on conformation and what he looks for at the sales. For me, that was mind-blowing.”

Across the last week, the Stud Start students have tuned into James Bester, but they’ve also visited Yarraman Park, Vinery and Darley studs, Kia Ora, the Hunter Equine Hospital and Justin Drake’s race educating and training operation at Scone Racecourse.

It’s a whirlwind experience, delivering the very best of the Hunter Valley industry in a 10-day package.

Also, the demographic of the class means that each of the students, with their respective life experiences, is comfortable in each other’s company. They’re not competing with school leavers or kids in their early 20s.

“I think we’re all a fabulous fit,” Wozniak said. “We’ve had some serious, deep conversations between all of us. It’s been great because we all come from all walks of life, and we’ve all come for different reasons. The love of horses has brought us all together and we each have that in common.”

The friendships among the six have been quick. By most accounts, the class size has helped them to absorb so much information in such a short time. No one is afraid to ask questions or admit they’re an equine novice, and that is a credit to TBA, which wanted Stud Start to be a comfortable learning environment for this demographic.

“I didn’t realise how much I’d actually learn from this,” Wozniak said. “I’m going to take it all home with me and apply it, even to my own horses.”

A new industry staple?

The teaching team at Scone TAFE that is handling Stud Start is the same team behind Fast Track. TBA has a similar commitment to Stud Start as its flagship Fast Track program, and Madison Tims, TBA’s education and project manager, is hopeful that the new program will become an industry staple.

“At TBA, we want to support people with a passion for horses to find a career within the thoroughbred industry,” she said, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “Stud Start allows the individuals to create a pathway and opportunity for themselves within the breeding sector, no matter their experience, age or demographic.”

She said the inaugural Stud Start had been a positive trial for the program.

“The students have all had an extreme eagerness to learn about the industry,” she said. “They are a group that, like sponges, have absorbed all the information they have been taught, be it in the classroom or the stables. They are no strangers to asking insightful questions.

“We hope this is just the beginning of the Stud Start program. Hopefully, it will continue to grow and become a long-term, sustainable program because I think it’s really important that we try to cater for all demographics within our industry.”