This blog post is created from the transcript of an earlier podcast.
Should you wish to listen to Molly Sherring chat to Julie Bishop about life as a travelling head at Fergal O Brien Racing then pop over to the podcast on Spotify
Discover how Molly got into horse racing and what she recommends if you want a similar career. Find out why being a travelling head is more of a lifestyle than a job. Molly talks about the most enjoyable parts of the job as well as the most challenging parts.
Molly is also a racing management student, and she tells us how she fits studying in with early mornings and late evenings.
How did you get involved in horse racing?
Both my parents worked in racing. My dad's a farrier and my mum used to be a stable person before she had me and my brother. So after finishing A levels, I really wanted to get into horse racing.
I went to the British Racing School when I was 18 and I did a nine-week course there and I loved every second of it. BRS put me into a job and it's gone from there really.
Now you're a travelling head.
Did you have to do a lot before you that position?
I worked for Ferg (Fergal O'Brien Racing) for three years before I got that position.
It was never really a position at Fergal's before because we didn't have enough horses, everyone just kind of shared it. In the summer we had a huge expansion and we moved yards so I just mentioned to Ferg one day about it, saying we probably needed someone to just be in charge of it all.
He was like, do you want to do it? And I was like, yeah, definitely! and then it's just gone really well ever since.
What exactly is a travelling head for somebody who doesn't know?
So, it varies between yards, but my job role is to make sure that all the racing kit for the horses travelling to the races is packed every day.
Transport the horses to the races and be in charge of the horses and the people, the stable staff, while at the races and be Ferg's representative when he's not there but work alongside him when he is.
Do you get to liaise with vets and farriers at the race courses as well then?
Yeah, you do that a lot, especially after racing, if something's a bit amiss or you want something checked, it'd be my job to go and speak to the vets and make sure that they do that.
There's a lot of travelling.
Do you travel internationally as well as in the UK?
Ferg does have some runners in Ireland, Punchestown and a couple in the summer. We don't tend to have too many runners abroad.
How would you prepare a horse for a trip to the racecourse?
So, the night before, or the morning of, we tend to give them a bath at home, by washing their tail and legs, just making sure that they get to the races looking clean.
They then get all bandaged, their legs and tails, to try and keep them clean in the horse lorry. They get a good brush and make sure they're all tidy at home.
When we get to the races, we just give them another wash to make sure they're all clean. Check they haven't sweated on the way and they're really clean.
How do you keep them calm while you're travelling?
They're all really good and they never really travel by themselves. They always have a horse next to them. So they are pretty chilled out and the lorries are really comfortable and smooth. So, they're all very relaxed and quite often they'll have a hay net after racing.
So they're just more bothered about eating that than they are doing anything else really.
You say smooth, so is there a special way to drive to keep that smoothness with the lorry while you're travelling?
Yeah, so, our horse lorries actually travel backwards to the way that the lorry is moving so when they're looking out the window they can they can't see where they're going, they can see where they've been.
Going round roundabouts and sharp turns, everything's got to be really smooth, the gear change is really smooth, and obviously braking, you've got to allow much bigger distance to brake, a lot more time to brake, because with so much weight on, the lorry just can't be as quick as a car.
Everything's just got to be kind of done slowly and smoothly so that they don't get unsettled.
Do you cover many miles? Well, I suppose you do. Approximately how many miles would you cover in a normal year when you're, when you're doing this type of job?
I think we do about 70, 000 a year.
We do a lot, a lot of trips to Scotland. Perth is one of Ferg's favourite places, so we do a lot of overnight stays to Scotland and then, we're racing nearly every day somewhere around the country, so I think about 70, 000 miles a year.
So to do your job, they have to really like travelling.
Yeah, definitely.
Do you get to watch the races as well?
Oh yeah, definitely. I'm there the whole time, the whole day. I'm there to watch them all. I stand with whoever's led up the horses and we're there from the beginning to the end. It's great, you really do get to feel part of it.
When your horse wins, do you get to go in the winner's enclosure?
Yeah, I actually look after five of my own horses, so I get to lead them up when I go racing, but all the rest of the time I'm just taking care of them. I always get to go in the winner's enclosure because I help the jockey and then I'll get videos and pictures afterwards for social media.
So you really do feel part of it, even if it's not my horse that I look after, it's still such a good feeling when they win.
So, you're a bit of a social media manager as well?
I just send the pictures to the person who does all the social media and then he takes it from there.
When you're at the races, what part of the job is the most enjoyable?
Oh, definitely when they run well. When they win or when they've just put on a really good performance. Because you've been with that horse all day and it's largely your responsibility that they're there and they're okay. So, it is the best feeling ever when they go and win. You just feel like, oh yeah, it's just the best feeling.
I'll say it's all worth it. Yeah, 100 per cent, and it makes the way home so much more enjoyable because you just really feel accomplished.
What is the most challenging part of the job?
Sometimes it can be a bit stressful when you're a bit tight for time or things start to go wrong as they do with horses.
Something's forgotten or you're running a tiny bit late or doesn't look quite right. But probably the most challenging thing is when a horse is, very rarely, but if it gets injured on the track it is your responsibility to make sure that they're stable. Check that the horse is okay and the owners are ok and make sure Ferg knows, it can be a stressful situation. Trying to keep everyone calm is definitely the hardest part, trying to be level-headed when really all you want to do is just cry and stress out but you've got to be the one to try and hold it together.
So to do your job then you do have to be somebody who has a calm nature about them?
Yeah definitely, and even if you don't you have to make people think that you do so that they stay calm.
I'm sure you'd have to be highly organised as well to remember everything.
Yeah, definitely. There have been several occasions where my mind has been elsewhere and I've forgotten to pack something from a kit.
Then you've got to go to someone from another yard and beg, like, please can I borrow this? Luckily they're all really helpful and they don't mind, everyone does it. When you're in a rush or you've got eight horses somewhere and four somewhere else, then things do get forgotten, but there's always a way around it, so just not panicking is the best thing to do.
So when you are off to the races with the horses, I'm assuming it's an early morning start and you're there all day. Explain what a typical day at the races is like.
Well, it's totally dependent on where the track is. How long it's going to take to get there and in the summer it's evening meetings.
You normally work the full morning and a little bit of the afternoon before you then go racing. So they are really long days in the summer. Before the horse runs you tend to get to the races two hours before, so if the horse ran at two o'clock, you'd get to the race course for 12 and you start putting the bridle on and saddling half an hour before the race.
That gives you an hour and a half to get yourself ready and get the horse ready, which sometimes can be a bit tight for time, especially if you've got more than one runner to get done. Sometimes if you're faffing around for very long, you've got quite a long time just to chill out. You always kind of add on another quarter of an hour when you're driving a lorry to allow time to get there and time to fill up with petrol and get some food from the garage.
It can be quite a long day, but sometimes you just work in the morning and then you go racing in the afternoon. You'd still get to do your normal job, and you get to ride your horses, and then you get to go racing all day, innit?
It's like a lifestyle, isn't it, really? Not just a job.
Oh, yeah, definitely. Like, yeah, you couldn't, you couldn't fit it in with much else. Because you're, you're up at the crack of dawn every day. So we kind of get to the yard half five, six every day. And then most days when you're home from racing, you won't be home till seven, half seven. And by the time you sorted out everything, it's then eight o'clock and then the whole day's gone.
So it definitely is. You have to be very dedicated and you have to love it. Otherwise, it would probably be unenjoyable. But if you love it, it's just the best job in the world.
It sounds like you really absolutely have to love it.
Yeah.
You're a racing business management student as well.
What is that and how do you fit that in?
Oh, good question. It's a full-time degree, three years at Hartbury and it's actually quite a new degree. The BHA specified that they wanted a degree for people to get into racing, but to start at a kind of managerial level rather than at lower levels.
The whole aim of the degree is to get you ready to go into a kind of a marketing role or role with the BHA or the jockey club or something. It kind of gives you a really broad knowledge of racing and business management, accounting, finance and marketing. It's brilliant, but it is hard work. I'm in my third year now and I'm just writing my dissertation and it is really hard to fit it all in. When I was just saying we get to the races two hours before, I'm normally in the lorry and I whip out my laptop and I try and do an hour's work before I need to go and get the saddle and start saddling the horses, so it's quite hard to fit it in but it'll be worth it in the end.
What are your goals then for the future?
To be honest, I actually think that I'm just doing my dream job now. I just couldn't think of any, there's nothing in the world that I'd rather be doing now. I think it's probably not a job you could do for your whole life because it takes up so much of your life. Probably one day I'll want to quieten down a bit and do fewer hours. If that's the case, I think I would probably work for the BHA or something, maybe do something in marketing because I am really interested in that. I could never not be involved in racing, I don't think I'll ever be able to, to not have something to do with racing. To be honest, I don't ever see myself leaving Ferg's cause I just absolutely love my job. I think one day there'll come a day where probably I'll have to, but I think that's not in the foreseeable future.
So, at the moment, you're just having your dream life, your dream life sounds perfect. At least with your racing business management course, you've got that as a backup, haven't you?
Yeah, exactly. So if ever I do want to leave, I can go on and do something and it could still be so relevant to what I'm doing now.
The experience that I've gained from working in racing will just be second to none if I go on and work in a role like that because it's all well and good spending three years at uni but if you haven't had a taste of the job and the lifestyle then I just don't think you're any help.
I think that I will be quite well equipped when I go into a job like that, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.
What do you like to do in your free time? Well, you don't get any free time, do you? If you did have a bit of free time, what would you like to do?
Well, I've got my own horse as well, he's Barracula. Ferg trained him and he finished third in the Fox Hunters at Aintree for Ferg, he was brilliant in his day. Over the last two years, I've just been retraining him and he's had a few niggles, he's just having a bit of a holiday because I have no time to ride but he loves life in the field every day. I think in the summer when I've got a bit more spare time, I'm going to try and do a lot more with him. So I do a bit of ROR with him and a bit of show jumping. So hopefully get him out going places if there is anywhere to go this summer.
You enjoy jumping do you?
Yeah, I do with him. It's a very fast experience and it's over and done with very quickly. He absolutely loves it and he is really, really good. But, um, sometimes it's a bit scary with him. He's a bit too passionate, he just thinks that he's still a racehorse. He hasn't understood yet, he's not a racehorse, and I don't think he ever will, but, he's Brill. He lives such a lovely life now, and he deserves it, because he was such a good servant for Ferg, and before that, he was at Evan Williams and he was a really good racehorse in his day when everything was right. He lives the life now, he's enjoying his life, and that's brilliant.
What would you say to somebody who wanted to get a career in horse racing? How would you help them with some advice?
I would definitely say no matter how old you are, what experience you have, the racing school is such a good place to go because It's really good for making contacts and you make friends you will have for life.
My best friend I met at the racing school and she now lives in Scotland, the other end of the country, but we keep in touch all the time. When we go overnights and stuff, we get to see each other at the races, which is great. You learn so much at the racing school, practical experience that really gets you ready for the job.
I think I just recommend going there to anyone, no matter what you want to do, just to get a brief knowledge and then you can build on that, whatever career you go on to do. But yeah, the racing school is really good grounding, It is really something that you will never regret.
Brilliant. OK, Molly, it's been a pleasure speaking with you.
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