Future Requirements

• What would you like to do or gain in your next job?

Experience new cultures and help build young equine industries up

• Do you need accommodation?

Depends on locartion

• Do you have any special requirements for any animals you wish to bring with you?

2 dogs that are socialised and used to horses

• Do you have any ongoing commitments?

I teach and facilitate skills development courses for horse owners and young members of the equine industry seeking to gain international accreditation

• Do you have any holidays booked that an employer needs to know of?

No

 

Experience with Horses

RIDING HISTORY OF NICOLA DE LANGE (NEE FUTCHER)

2002 – Present: Returned to S.A and have operated under the Bluemoon Equestrian Banner since then. This involved:

• Running my own yard on 3 different properties (The largest of which had space for 90 horses), including all administrative and logistical tasks as well as training and coaching staff and clients
• Coaching external clients – both locally and internationally – either in person, or via video calls.

(Over the years, the ages, goals, and abilities of both the riders and horses that I have assisted has varied greatly. To date the youngest was 2 and the oldest was a gentleman of 86.)

• Started and ran a therapy riding program that is still operational today
• Raised money by planning and hosting charity fund raisers to support the therapy program
• Planned and launched an at risk youth program aimed at aiding those from low socio economic backgrounds to deal with life’s challenges as well as gain skills
• Host and lead guide on high end big 5 safaris throughout South Africa, Mozambique and Kenya. Including care of the horses in extreme environments, training horses for a variety of safari types (Pleasure, photography, hunting) assigning horses, Hosting and entertaining guests in the evenings, Teaching guests about the game and biomes that they were in.
  • The safaris included:
    • Day rides of up to 17 people, many of whom were novice riders or had never ridden before so myself and the other guides did safety briefing, demonstrations and taught the basics of riding while on the safari so guests got to control the horse and do small trots etc by themselves, which added to their experience
  • Holiday / Photographic safaris which we hosted in two ways:
    • We went out multiple times a day either with other riders or privately with just their group returning to the main lodge at the end of each ride
    • Camping Safaris where we headed out for full day rides and met up with the support staff at an agreed upon destination for lunch and for the evening meal and we would them camp there over night
  • Hunting Safaris – These varied depending on the guests requirements with the longest one I have done being 10 days using lances for the hunting itself abut also compromising of dogs, guns and helicopters to flush and guide game down to areas where horses could access safely
• Planning, Formulating the syllabus, Writing the course work including study guides and manuals, and launching the Bluemoon Equestrian Skills Courses. These courses are offered to working grooms at a discounted price as well as those seeking accredited qualifications. They are fully compliant with EQASA / SAQA / BHS and IGEQ standards.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

RIDING FOR THE BLIND

I had a friend that had lost his site and he introduced me to others in the blind community such as Lauren who had ridden all her life, until she lost her sight. While talking she mentioned how much she missed riding and that despite all her efforts no one would help her or let her ride unless she was being walked in hand on a lead a rope and asked if I would be willing to make an exception and let her try just once. I agreed to give it a try as long as she understood that I had no idea how to coach a blind person, that there was no precedent for this, and that it would be trail and error to work out how to have her be safe when at the stables both on foot, when handling horses and when riding. As well as how to effectively communicate when coaching the riding. – Lauren went on to compete in intermediate dressage shows where we used a combination of counting strides, precision stride length and echo location to orientate her in the ring.

Once the word got out within the Blind community I was inundated with requests from them for lessons and ended up taking on 6 blind riders that rode every week. They started on the lunge then off the lead in a fenced arena and eventually were hacking out in a group with the able bodied riders. They were off lead reins and were capable of staying with us in all gaits. Awareness of surroundings is key to doing this safely.

Due to the success of the program we were approached by the Council for the Blind and Action 4 blind and disabled to host the first ever Riding for the blind clinic.

The Council Of The Blind brought 40 young people that are “newly blind” (in the first 5 years of being blind) to come and learn about horses, how to ride and the industry itself as well as using it to teach them to be able to function in a non built up area and over rough and uneven ground. This experience also helped them emotionally and mentally to realise there was still many things that they could do and to empower them to reach for goals. We then hosted another 5 clinics and 15 orienteering days.

To this day I am the only instructor in South Africa to teach blind riders

EQUINE ASSISTED THERAPY:

I was introduced formally to therapy riding while I was in England and it become a passion of mine. At that time there was a very limited knowledge on the topic out side of riding for the disabled here in South Africa, and very few people were knowledgeable on the topic or offered the service.

I, did needs analysis and started making enquires from local therapists as remedial educators to find out if they would be interested in working with us, what they would require infrastructure wise as well as what the children’s needs were and what exercises they required in therapy so that we could implement a means of adapting them as well as create new ones.

Thus the Bluemoon Equine Assisted Therapy and Remedial Education Program was born. (Since its inception it has run on  both a paid and charitable bases depending in the parents means)

At the start while we learned we only worked with the children when the therapists were on site with them. However as our knowledge and confidence grew we started to work on a more independent basis where by each child that world be attending the program was assessed by the therapist and we would then work out that goals which were in line with each child individual needs. We would then reassess every three months to ensure perpetual growth.

As the horse expert I was deeply involved in planning and adapting the therapies that the doctors, therapists and educators wanted. This meant gaining a great depth of knowledge on horse and rider biometrics and biomechanisms, Balance and position of riders as well as how to build their strength correctly. Due to the nature of the work, the way we communicated had a huge impact on the outcome of results.

The purpose of the therapy is to aid them gain physical coordination and strength and to build soft skills such as memory retention, focus, and logical forward planning, as well as help them learn emotional regulation skills in an environment that is pressure free and not overstimulating.  As well as to assist them to learn life skills so that they can be productive members of and function in society to the best of their abilities, The remedial educational therapy is successful as the children are in an open environment that is quiet with little movement and therefore don’t get distracted, while moving rhythmically with the horse which sooths their regulatory system – much better than fidget spinners. They are being taught in an informal, relaxed environment that does not pressurise their system, in small manageable increments with lots of different topics all of which pertain in some way to their horse. Topics that you can cover are maths, geometry, biology, biomes, social studies. For younger kids it is colours, numbers memory games etc. We have found that not only do the children learn faster as they do not have the pressure of the classroom but they also start to apply the coping skills in life and preform better in other environments as well becoming more assertive, more confident and more social.

As our reputation grew we were approached by more places including Irene Ladies home, Yanzeni Children’s home and multiple places of safety too assist with trauma counselling, recondition their social behaviour and teaching life skills. This led to a need for funding so fund raisers, music festivals and charity events were held, all of which were promoted on radio and in newspapers with articles being written about the work I was doing

Results / Outcomes due to this Study:

• Equine assisted therapy became known in South Africa
• There is an acknowledged and standardised best practice for therapy riding in South Africa
• People began to realise that there is a difference between special needs and disabilities
• The Bluemoon Equestrian Best Practices for Coaching now had a full frame work and the math and science as to how and why it worked. It also meant that it could be taught and the knowledge passed on in a quotative fashion,
• My system is built on three core pillars: Integrated Coaching, Performance Evolution, and Data-Driven Strategy and is now taught as part of skills development program

 

Stage 1 (Novice riders / Students with problems)

• Foundation first supported by steps
• Silent language supported by biomechanical comprehensions
• Psychology of self and sport

Stage 2 (Novice Intermediates that are showing interest in a discipline and need to start riding proactively and carrying the horse rather than passengering )

Rider Performance Evolution

• Asses the riders current baselines and abilities, align them with their goals
• Develop the mastership of safe consistent effective riding
• Refinement of the rider
• Develop advanced muscle memory

Stage 3 (Coaching and Mentorship)

Career Blueprint Strategy

• Goal Setting and achievement plans
• Needs Analysis for focused training
• Training for purpose physically and mentally

Mastering each of these step comes with a multitude of skills that need to be learned theoretically and then the practical application mastered. The onus is on the coach to maintain the trajectory by working with the rider physically  in a technical capacity on and off the horse, applying the principles of educational psychology to ensure that the environment is health and conducive to optimal cognitive function and memory retention and thus make the learning and development of skills  a fluid and positive experience rather than a frustrating one.

When training young coaches it is a very interactive process where by you mentor rather than instruct them so they can gain the required milage to be effective.

BLUEMOON EQUESTRIAN SKILLS COURSES:

These courses are designed to for horse owners, grooms – many of which have no formal high-school education and speak very limited English, young equestrians wishing to gain formal accreditation through EQASA. They were written with the purpose of ensuring that those entering the industry have the skill set, proficiency and knowledge to work safety and ensure that the horses welfare is up to standard.

Assignments are given for both course work and self study topics to ensure that the education is well rounded and all students have a broad base line of knowledge on which to build as they gain experience. Topics, manner in which it is which it is presents, course layout and supporting study guides / textbooks are my own personal intellectual property. All subjects, topic content, and wording are in line with the relevant Qualifications Authority’s – South African Qualification Authority (SAQA), Equestrian Qualification Authority Soth Africa (EQASA), British Horse Society and the IGEQ. With many topics being covered at a much more in depth level than those required for examination.

Courses have been taught in South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Lesotho

All courses are offered:

• Either in person at the grooms place of employment and consist of 1 lesson a week that covers theory of topic, practical demonstration as well as time to practice under supervision. They then have 1 week to practice alone and the next week we do revision and start the next topic.
• On line after hours for theory lesson, and assignments are given for practical work. Distance students are required to come to JHB for 1 week before sitting any exams so that it ensured that they are doing everything correctly.

Courses:

• Bluemoon Equestrians: Introduction to horses, Horse handling and care

(NQF / EQASA Module 1 training (Professional Groom)                                                     

• Bluemoon Equestrians: Introduction to Equine Health, Nutrition and Training

(NQF / EQASA Module 2 Training (Head Groom)                                                                                

• Bluemoon Equestrians: Equine specialist and stable manager

(NQF / EQASA Module 3 Training Horsemastership)

• Bluemoon Equestrians: Theory and principles of riding and riding instruction

(NQF / Eqasa Module 4 Training (Assistant instructor)      

• Bluemoon Equestrians: Science of Effective Coaching
• (NQF / Eqasa Module 5 (Professional Equestrian Coach)

 

Educational Guides Currently Available:

• Bluemoon Equestrians: Introduction to horses, Horse handling and care
• Bluemoon Equestrians: Introduction to Equine Health, Nutrition and Training
• Bluemoon Equestrians: Introduction to Nutrition
• Bluemoon Equestrians: Introduction to The Functioning Systems of the horse
• Bluemoon Equestrians: Conformation
• Bluemoon Equestrians: Introduction to basic Business and administration for stable yards
• Bluemoon Equestrians: Introduction to Education Psychology, Teaching methods and Effective Coaching

Educational Guides in progress:

• Poles for Purpose – A practical guide to grid work for correct musculature, rehabilitation of horses and solving training issues
• Coaches guide to Manipulating Movement for emotional regulation and cognitive function in riders – Collaborative work with psychologist and neurosurgeon

Clinics:

• Rider Biomentrics and how they affect the horse
• A supple and independent seat – Why you need it and exercises to get it
• Correct and incorrect jumping position
• Walking and riding courses
• Creating a physically and mentally balanced and willing horse
• Problem solving for horse and riders
• Equi – K9 workshop, stretch, strengthen and spotting signs of injury – Collaborative
• Basics of body work – Collaborative

Key Skills

Working unsupervised and leading a team

 

Strengths and Weaknesses

• What do you most enjoy about working with horses?

The routine and continuity of tasks while at the same time each day is different and presents new challenges

• Is there anything you’d like to improve?

My soft skills

• Why should employers consider you above any other job seeker?

My dedication, my continual advancment of theoretical and practical knowledge and skills by self study as well as the fact that I am continually implementing updated best practices due to my connection to and communication with equine proffesionals around the world