Can you volunteer time and your skills to help us at the Equestrian Therapy Centre?

We urgently need more volunteers to boost our ongoing efforts to provide therapeutic horse riding for its ever-growing number of clients with disabilities.

If you’re a single person, family or company that wants to be involved in helping us with riding or the day to day projects within our organisation we really would love to talk with you.

You don’t need any experience with horses to be of great benefit to us, as there are many areas you can help such as:

• Experience with administration work
• Experience with people with disabilities
• Experience with challenging behaviors
• Experience with farm work
• Experience with horses such as,
  • Leading Horses/Ponies
  • Side-walking
  • Catching and Grooming
  • Helping riders prepare for riding

We operate five days a week from Tuesday to Saturday. Full training is provided.

Whatever your skills and talents and current commitments whether it be a few hours a week or a day, there are many ways you can help make a difference and be part of something special. Read some of our volunteer comments.

If you would like to volunteer, please call us on 07 544 1899, or email info@equestriantherapycentre.co.nz and one of our team will contact you as soon as possible.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)     

• What is horseshare and can I do it?
  Horse share is where we have a paid agreement between an individual that when our horses are not in use they may, under particular guidelines, be ridden, groomed and fussed over by the horse sharer. This is to give the horse variety in their work. Horse sharers either have a high level of horsemanship or are supervised 100% by staff and can only ride at set times on set days. There is a waiting list for horseshare and horses are very carefully matched to riders. Some horses are not horse shared as do not need it. Our absolute priority with our horses is that they are fit, happy and well for their therapy work so horseshare is not considered with individuals if it would not enhance the horses’ wellbeing.
   
• What is TCP and can I help with it?
  TCP stand for Therapeutic Care programme and it is our self esteem programme for teenagers, children and adults. It runs in the afternoon from 1-3pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. We are always looking for volunteers to support with this programme. Each programme has 6 clients and runs for 8 weeks. The clients usually come from a government or NGO organisation such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Child Youth and Family (CYF’s) etc. volunteers for this programme usually have some experience with teenagers.
   
• When can I get some more training?
  We will be holding volunteer training in every school holidays on a chosen day. Over the summer holidays we will hold two or three training sessions. We encourage you to attend as many training sessions as you can as they are fun and a way to meet other volunteers and brush up on your horsemanship skills.
   
• When can I get a free ride?
  During training sessions in each school holiday, every volunteer will get to experience riding a horse and have an opportunity to feel what it’s like to do some of the things our riders do. Unfortunately term time is too busy for reward rides and our horses’ workload is too heavy to give them extra riding as their wellbeing for therapy riding sessions is extremely important. It is not that these horses do hard physical work like racehorses, hunters or eventers but their work can be quite stressful in terms of noise, movement, having to be still etc.
   
• When will the new arena be built?
  An indoor Arena complex is currently under construction at Tauranga RDA and is expected to be completed in December 2011. This complex will be available for hire.
   
• How can I sponsor a horse or a paddock or something?
  Sponsorship is a way of financially supporting Tauranga RDA. Benefits are negotiable to suit the needs of the sponsor. Please see Kat Macmillan (CEO) or fundraising manager Katharine Birks for more info. We also have two brochures for you to peruse: Sponsorship Opportunities and Horse Sponsorship.
   
• Can I graze my horse here?
  Unfortunately we do noy have grazing spaces available here,
   
• Can I buy a horse for RDA or give my horse to RDA?
  We do take on new horses from time to time and welcome the support of people who wish to buy a horse for RDA or gift a horse to us. However, we have a very comprehensive vetting policy that determines whether or not a horse or pony is suitable for RDA. this involves a trial period and a vetting as well as an initial assessment. Many horses are not suitable for RDA due to their temperament, size, gait or soundness.