Frankie’s Residential at the British Racing School sparked a new passion

Living in a rural community in South Wales, Frankie had always been surrounded by horses but had little experience of horse riding herself. Volunteering at a local stable gave her a taster, but it wasn’t until her Gold Residential at the British Racing School she was able to take her interest to the next level.

Frankie got the chance to pursue a hobby she’d always been interested in at her Gold Residential thanks to funding from the Gerald Leigh Charitable Trust. She did the ‘Introduction to Racing’ course at the British Racing School (BRS), giving her a taste of horse riding, and an insight into the racing world.

She said: “Before, I always thought you had to be born into the horse racing industry, and there weren’t many opportunities to be involved. But everyone at the BRS was so open minded and welcoming.”

“They offered so much at the Residential, I was so grateful it was fully funded.”

Horse riding Residential opened up opportunities

Attending the course was a real eye-opener for Frankie, as she describes the staff as “open minded and welcoming to everyone”. Suddenly, horse riding wasn’t out of reach anymore.

With the programme involving lots of activities throughout the week, she was able to get a real insight into the racing industry. By the end of the course, the BRS had sparked a passion that she doesn’t feel would be “the same elsewhere”.

In other parts of her DofE programme, Frankie also delved into her interests. As she plays netball for Cardiff County, that fulfilled her Physical section. For her Volunteering she coached younger students in the sport.

Living in a rural community, learning to drive was an essential to become more independent. So, she chose driving for her Skills and passed her driving test.

When it came to the Expedition, Frankie says it was “tough”.

She admits: “There were moments walking up the hills where a few tears were coming out”.

But getting to the top made this all worthwhile, as she describes herself as being “so proud” for sticking at it and reaching the finish.

Despite being in a group of people she’d spent little time with before, the 17-year-old was able to overcome her worries and make new friends.

She says this helped her understand different types of people, and resulted in her forming a new group of friends who she could spend time with back at school.

Frankie’s teamwork experience came in useful at her Residential, where she worked in a group to take care of the horses.

She said: “We really worked as a team to understand each horse. Riding the horses was the best thing.”

Since the course at BRS, Frankie is keen to get more involved in her horse-riding community back home.

She also hopes to gain more experience in the field, as the programme has sparked her interest in training more at the school or pursuing a career.

Frankie said: “The Residential has got me thinking about different jobs within horse riding – there’s so many different elements that you don’t realise.”