22-year-old Kate Young is one of the Victorian breeding industry’s shining lights, already in the position of Yearling Manager at one of the state’s most renowned stud farms, Rosemont Stud.
A lover of horses since a very young age, she was bound to be working in the industry, especially growing up in a stable environment with her father (Mark) and mother (Janelle) training horses, including stakes winner Secret Flyer.
Young has recently been recognised as the Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria, Digital Media Creations Rising Star at our recent awards night.
“It was a huge shock winning that award,” she said.
“It’s awesome to receive recognition like that to show that I am on the right track with my career.”
Young has been working with Rosemont since she was around 18-years-old and has worked in most aspects of the farm, but always found herself loving her time around the yearlings.
At the age of 21, Young was offered the role at Rosemont as Yearling Manager, around the time of the Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale.
The Yearling manager at the time, Karen Sinclair, was taking on the position of Assistant Stud Manager, which gave Young the opportunity to further her career at the workplace and importantly in the industry that she loves.
“Karen put my name forward when she knew that they needed a Yearling Manager,” Young said.
“I said that if they were happy to give me a shot at it, I would love to have a go.
“I worked under Karen for that season and she is still teaching me now, so she has been a big help to get me where I am today.
“I properly began the role on October 17 when all the Gold Coast Yearlings came in, so that is when I started doing a yearling prep.”
Young’s preparation for the Magic Millions Sale has been about making sure that yearlings are at a healthy weight, that there are no soundness issues, that their farrier is kept hard at work and ensuring that vaccinations are up to date.
Young will be floating up with the yearlings on January 2nd to the Gold Coast in readiness for pre-inspections across the first week of the New Year.
“There is a very good structure to how Rosemont operate so if there is anything that goes wrong, I do have steps to take to rectify or fix the issue,” Young said.
“I am also very lucky to have Karen mentoring me who has been there and done all of this before.”
Not long out of her teenage years, Young is looking at the coming years in her career with a ‘one step at a time’ outlook, just wanting to get through and do a good job at her first sales season in this current role before looking at what an ultimate goal could be.
“My main goal for a while has just been to get to the Gold Coast sale and do a good job, then to the Melbourne sale and do a good job,” Young laughed.
“One thing I know is that I love the stud industry and I would love to work my way up in this career and get more experience under my belt.
“I am very lucky to have connections with the people I do already which does open doors if ever I want to try something different.”
When it comes to opportunity for the younger generation, Young believes there are countless chances to find your own career path, and there is huge job satisfaction that you will not find in any other industry.
“The breeding industry is always looking for workers,” Young stated.
“You can work with mares, weanlings, yearlings, stallions or even in the office, just depending on where you want to go.
“It can be a very physical job, and of course there are long hours throughout the season that you can’t always help.
“But, this is a very rewarding work environment where you get the opportunity to work with horses through the weaning process and until they go through the ring as a yearling.
“It is just an amazing feeling watching that growth and knowing that you have been a part of that development.”
As for what breeding looks like in the years to come, Young does not necessarily see what is known as the ‘staffing issue’ changing, as this industry is always looking for workers as it continues to grow and evolve.
“It’s an industry that will never stop growing, and there is always a need for it which is the most important factor,” Young said.
“When it comes to staffing, every stud always needs more workers and as far as I can see it, that will just always being around.
“What I have noticed is that there is great opportunity for backpackers to do stints, but then they leave again so it is just a recurring issue.
“If we can get more full-time staff, then that’s how the staffing issue would change, but we need to promote the career paths for the younger generation and show them the reward for being involved.”
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