Aura Sabadus One of East Anglia's top studs is looking to employ more staff and extend its training programme to give thoroughbred horse enthusiasts a chance to build a career in the multi-million pound industry.

Aura Sabadus

One of East Anglia's top studs is looking to employ more staff and extend its training programme to give thoroughbred horse enthusiasts a chance to build a career in the multi-million pound industry.

Shadwell Stud near Thetford wants to create a new five unit hostel, each with two bedrooms to accommodate students throughout their training period.

Stud manager Johnnie Peter-Hoblyn explained the facility currently has five NVQ students and eight youngsters from Hungary, but said bosses were hoping to sign up on their training programmes as many local people as possible.

“By expanding our training programme, we are looking to give people a foot in this business,” he said.

“We have a lot of horses. Two thirds of them are thoroughbreds,” he said.

“We constantly buy horses and bring in visiting mares for our stallions. We also have horses in rehabilitation. Last week we bought 11 thoroughbreds from Deauville in France. Two horses, Nayef and Sakhee, have recently become proven stallions, attracting mares to the stud.

Bosses say this means they need more staff who have to be available 24 hours per day to look after the horses.

The stud manager said the business is flexible about the number of new personnel it wants to take on.

The site already has a 10 unit hostel for staff who want to live on site, built in 2005, which also has a common room for residents.

The new accommodation would be tied to employment on the site and would also see an extra seven car parking spaces.

A supporting statement said the stud, on 500 acres off Brettenham Road, Shadwell, is “a significant part of the horse racing industry, one on which much of the local economy relies. Offering accommodation has proved particularly successful and has helped create a good sense of community among the workers.”

The stud which is owned by the deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, can hold up to 250 horses at any one time, currently has five stallions and employs more than 150 people.

The sheik owns eight stud farms worldwide containing over 200 regally bred mares and many top stallions. Six of these are in Suffolk and three near Thetford.