A day in the life of Emily Worthington, Horseperson at Robinsons

Did you know at Robinsons have a passionate team who look after our Shire Horses?

Emily joined Robinsons as our first ever apprentice back in 2021 to work in our Shire Horse team. Shires have served Robinsons for over 100 years and are a familiar and much-loved part of our Stockport heritage. This year Emily celebrates completing her Level 2 Equine Groom course and has since joined the team as a qualified full-time horseperson – congratulations Emily!

From a little girl, Emily has been around Shire Horses, as they’ve been in her family for five generations. As a child she’d always helped her dad and grandad at horse shows and competed in the young handlers’ classes in hand several times.

Now she is older, she has been involved in foaling for her family’s Shires and wants to continue to support Robinsons’ Breeding Programme, which was introduced in 2018 to preserve and promote the Shire Horse breed. As well as being linked with Shire Horses since birth, Emily’s grandparents, uncles and second cousins have all ran Robinsons pubs over the years, so her family have formed a strong connection with the brewery.

We caught up with Emily and Helen, Head Horseperson at Robinsons to hear more about a typical day in their life.

Emily said: “We have a few different places we need to be with the horses but mainly I’m based on Hillgate at the stables. A day at Hillgate starts around 7:30am, where I begin mucking out the horses’ stables. The horses’ hay nets will be prepared and then their housekeeping continues.

The horses then need exercising and how we do this varies, depending upon the weather on the day. After they’ve had their exercise, they’ll then have a bit of pampering, brushing them down and grooming them. We’ll clean the harnesses and the dray which can take quite a bit of time and will take us towards the end of the day!”

As well as the day-to-day tasks, we run a Shire breeding programme at Robinsons which is Emily’s main interest, and we also take the horses to competitions and fit in plenty of pub visits for our customers.

Emily continued: “Since starting, four foals have been born, three of which I have enjoyed assisting with. I chose to specialise in breeding as part of my apprenticeship, which brings something different to our team. I enjoy visiting the pubs with the Shires, but one of my favourite aspects is showing them at events and competitions.”

Helen Preece, our Head Horseperson, said: “Emily’s apprenticeship has been a really positive experience. She has learnt so much since she started, and about how we do things here at Robinsons. Emily has her own area that she can focus on and drive, which is a big plus! A lot has changed in the past few years since Emily started. We never used to enter as many competitions or enter in-hand classes, so it’s very exciting to think of what we’ll be doing in the future.”

Robinsons’ Shires make guest appearances at promotional events, anniversaries, pub openings and notable celebrations. They can also be found competing in a range of shows, carnivals and country fairs throughout the year – winning many prizes for their immaculate turnout, grooming and show discipline – all of which Emily assists with.

To stay updated with the latest Shire news, follow Robinsons Shire Horses on Facebook here.