Danny Wright started his career in racing aged 17 and has spent the last fourteen years in various roles, briefly taking out a licence as an Apprentice and working for various training and breaking in yards in the UK and abroad. After damaging his pelvis working with a horse who flipped on top of him, he has regularly received treatment at Oaksey House so, as an IJF beneficiary he was able to receive support which has allowed him to pursue a second career with arboriculture company JPAS Contracting.
How did you transition from racing to arboriculture?
A friend who also was a former Apprentice had received help from JETS and he suggested I have a word with them. I honestly had zero clue what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to be outside. When I was at Oaksey House, I just had a chat with JETS Manager Rachel (who runs drop in sessions there on Mondays) and she suggested JPAS who had recently started working more closely with JETS. It sounded a bit exciting so I thought I’d try it! I had a few phonecalls with the boss and then got started with the various courses I needed to do to allow me on site.
How have you found your new role?
It’s been great. They do a lot of contracts on power lines near Newbury so I haven’t had to travel far and I actually think all the stretching and physical work I have been doing working with the trees has actually helped with the sciatica I’d been having. In less than three I have been working as well as completing all the training and assessment I needed to become a fully certified arborist which means I can handle various equipment such as woodchippers and chainsaws and I am now able to work in the trees. It’s been amazing how quickly it’s all happened.
What do you enjoy most?
It’s definitely been the camaraderie, the people, I can’t fault it, everyone helps each other and it’s a good laugh. I’ve still got a similar adrenaline rush hanging on the end of branches that I had when riding horses.
What are the skills you had from riding which have been most transferable?
I spent a lot of time breaking in horses which you need a huge amount of balance for so that’s really been useful when working in the trees and also being a smaller size is very beneficial when working on smaller limbs as a lot of the guys I work with are a lot bigger and can’t get to the same places as easily.
Where do you see your career going from here?
My plan is to just gain as much experience as possible, I’d like to spend a few years here but maybe in the future I could move abroad, it should be easy to find work with the qualifications I’ve now got and there are countries like Ireland or Australia with lots of trees where I could find work.
How helpful have JETS been?
They’ve basically changed my whole life. I really felt lost and everything was getting on top of me so when my friend suggested I speak with JETS they were nothing but supportive and here I am, already earning more than I was in racing and doing something I really enjoy.
What career advice would you give to others?
I think if you’re not happy, just go and speak to people. I have struggled with anxiety and depression but there is a network of support available either through Racing Welfare, JETS or the IJF. I will never regret getting into racing but I’m 31 now and I wish I’d started looking at a second career five years earlier.
June 2026