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What is a Stablehand?
A Thoroughbred racing Stablehand is a hands-on horse care professional responsible for the daily care, handling, and wellbeing of racehorses in training. Stablehands are the backbone of every racing stable — they look after the horses before, during, and after races, ensuring they stay healthy, clean, and comfortable.
Some of the key responsibilities of a Stablehand include:
- Daily Horse Care
- Exercise Preparation
- Health and Welfare Monitoring
- Race Day Duties
- Stable Maintenance
A Thoroughbred racing stablehand is the day-to-day caretaker of racehorses — feeding, grooming, exercising, and maintaining their wellbeing. They form the closest relationships with the horses, noticing small changes others might miss, and are vital to keeping the racing stable running smoothly and safely.
Steps to becoming a Stablehand
- Class A Miscellaneous Stable Hand Licence
- Stable Assistant Licence
- International Licence Stable Assistant
- Confident and calm around horses, including nervous or fit racehorses.
- Strong attention to detail and observation skills.
- Good physical fitness — stable work is hands-on and physically demanding.
- Patience, reliability, and teamwork.
- Basic knowledge of horse health, feeding, and behavior.
Stablehand of the Year
Sponsored by Saddlery Warehouse Cambridge & Tauranga, we were proud to celebrate the incredible work of our three regional winners in the Stablehand of the Year Award at Sunday night’s New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards – proudly sponsored by Sport Nation.
From an outstanding calibre of finalists, Lucina Aitken (Allan Sharrock) took out the Central Districts title, Gee Saejorhor (Anna Furlong) claimed the Southern honour, and Stephanie Hyde-Richards (Stephen Autridge) was named the Northern winner – before going on to be crowned our overall Stablehand of the Year.