Nerula 1,403 Report post Posted August 17, 2023 Following is a story I wrote for the Owners Bulletin. The reason for putting it up is recognition of those who make a difference. WINTER 2023 13 NEW ZEALAND EQUINE ACADEMY A collaboration between education-provider Skill New Zealand Limited and Byerley Park Limited, New Zealand Equine Academy was created as YOUR pathway to a career in New Zealand’s exciting equine industry. What is the most important thing for the future? Of course, it is those that come after us and carry on what we and that those that went before have put in place. IT IS THE YOUNG! Some years ago I wrote a story on Byerley Park, meeting Daniel and Elias Nahkle down there at the facility. Daniel said they had a plan to enable an equine academy to provide an education for young aspirants in the equine industry. To that end they built a classroom on a rise and were seeking a collaboration with NZQA accreditation in mind. Retired jockey Donavan Mansour was lined up to teach and I resolved to see where this went. Then Covid intervened. But we lead a fairly busy life and when recently I heard Donavan was transferring to Cambridge to set up an Apprentice Jockey Academy, as well as recruiting more students and upskilling students in the workplace. I thought I had better get cracking before he goes. Auckland Owners President Mike Gething and I headed down, met Donavan at a repurposed barn and were introduced to a roomful of delightful girls who were in the main very engaged. They were from all over the country. There was maybe a dozen in the class, and they were at week 4 of a 14-week course. The cost of which is zero as it is partially funded by the TEC (Tertiary Education Commission) and Daniel Nakhle. Byerley Park teamed up with Education provider Skills New Zealand Ltd to create the New Zealand Equine Academy. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS – A passion for horse, Physical fitness – Age 16 + years. GRADUATE PROFILE OUTCOMES – Knowledge, skills and confidence – Ability to safely handle horses in an equine facility – Proficiently create and maintain a clean and safe equine environment. The course rises to level 3 and the girls said that they did not have a pre-conceived decision of where they ended up. The first thing was to get a stable hand certificate which assured a proficiency to care and handle horses. And then look at options. There was a lot of enthusiasm to gain riding skills for trackwork. Two girls said they definitely wanted to be jockeys, Donavan leads the group with a developed syllabus that covers work – life skills and all aspects of equine care. The course work is varied and wide ranging. Guest speakers attend and provide valuable additional information. Dunstan Feeds nutritionist Gretel Webber is a regular who pitches her talks to whichever level of class present. Behind the classroom is a well-appointed gym with a lot of apparatus, some for-riding exercises. Notably there was a full sized exercise horse that had a large mirror on the near side so the rider could check the style. But it is not all classwork and likely it is the “out of class” experiences that keep the group fizzing. There is the ”self-care and pitching in” that is part of the course. The students live in on site in the main and prepare their own meals and maintain the living spaces. There are prizes of Countdown and New World vouchers to be won for good effort. The cost to live on-site is $180 per week. Then there are visits where they see vets at work, stud farms and racing stables. They visit feed companies. museums and attend bloodstock sales. They can go to the races with the float driver, see the starter, camera crew and stewards at work. And then there are the jockeys the strappers – and us the owners to observe. Prior to going to the Academy, I had sought from a handful of associates what I should say to these young aspirational equine workers. Well I got a page of those comments... who hasn’t had a jockey leap off the horse and wordlessly dive for the jockeys room? Maybe a stablehand that ignored you? But as many grizzles as there were there was supportive comments that wanted the youngies to know how important we see the people who look after our investment. And how we appreciate them sharing a word with us. The class listened attentively. Mike and I thought it was great to imprint our thoughts on young minds. I left the sheet of those comments with Donavan. He was with visiting jockey Warren Kennedy. I light-heartedly offered a copy to Warren. He laughingly refused and said, “I know all those.” Change is coming, Donavan is transferring to Cambridge to set up n jockeys’ apprentice school and level 3 Equine skills programme. Donavan will remain Programme Leader and under his wing will be Amber Sims, the well – known rider/trainer. Amber is sub 30 years old and the daughter of local trainer Patsy Riley. Amber is a past Ellerslie “Fashions in The Field” winner so she is an all-round class act. The other tutor/riding coach is Renee Faulkner. Renee is from a racing family and is a talented events rider. Donavan says, “The Academy gets some funding from TEC which does help but Daniel Nahkle has in the main been funding the programme. We do have support from Dunstan Horse Feeds and Majestic Horse Floats and have just brought on NZB as an official sponsor. We are always open to industry supporters, whether its financial, products or even volunteering their time to come and share their expertise with the students.” We recognise the vision of the Nahkle family for the inception of the NZ Equine Academy and the where-with-all to bring it all into being. Donavan has been there from the start and then there is Skill New Zealand the education provider. In an all-round word, commendable! Lastly Mike and I would like to say thank you to the girls (class). We thought you were great. If you can – go on and take your chance. We need you. The industry needs you! What you are learning is a skill that will give you a job around the world. But we would love to see you here. Neil Miller 14 NEW ZEALAND THOROUGHBRED RACEHORSE OWNERS FEDERATION BULLETIN chevy86, Sayer, nomates and 9 others 12 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby3051 10,978 Report post Posted August 17, 2023 Well done to Daniel and Donovan for getting this off the ground, there first two apprentices are doing well too...hope the results keep coming for them. Alf Riston 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissJools 509 Report post Posted August 17, 2023 17 hours ago, Nerula said: Following is a story I wrote for the Owners Bulletin. The reason for putting it up is recognition of those who make a difference. WINTER 2023 13 NEW ZEALAND EQUINE ACADEMY A collaboration between education-provider Skill New Zealand Limited and Byerley Park Limited, New Zealand Equine Academy was created as YOUR pathway to a career in New Zealand’s exciting equine industry. What is the most important thing for the future? Of course, it is those that come after us and carry on what we and that those that went before have put in place. IT IS THE YOUNG! Some years ago I wrote a story on Byerley Park, meeting Daniel and Elias Nahkle down there at the facility. Daniel said they had a plan to enable an equine academy to provide an education for young aspirants in the equine industry. To that end they built a classroom on a rise and were seeking a collaboration with NZQA accreditation in mind. Retired jockey Donavan Mansour was lined up to teach and I resolved to see where this went. Then Covid intervened. But we lead a fairly busy life and when recently I heard Donavan was transferring to Cambridge to set up an Apprentice Jockey Academy, as well as recruiting more students and upskilling students in the workplace. I thought I had better get cracking before he goes. Auckland Owners President Mike Gething and I headed down, met Donavan at a repurposed barn and were introduced to a roomful of delightful girls who were in the main very engaged. They were from all over the country. There was maybe a dozen in the class, and they were at week 4 of a 14-week course. The cost of which is zero as it is partially funded by the TEC (Tertiary Education Commission) and Daniel Nakhle. Byerley Park teamed up with Education provider Skills New Zealand Ltd to create the New Zealand Equine Academy. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS – A passion for horse, Physical fitness – Age 16 + years. GRADUATE PROFILE OUTCOMES – Knowledge, skills and confidence – Ability to safely handle horses in an equine facility – Proficiently create and maintain a clean and safe equine environment. The course rises to level 3 and the girls said that they did not have a pre-conceived decision of where they ended up. The first thing was to get a stable hand certificate which assured a proficiency to care and handle horses. And then look at options. There was a lot of enthusiasm to gain riding skills for trackwork. Two girls said they definitely wanted to be jockeys, Donavan leads the group with a developed syllabus that covers work – life skills and all aspects of equine care. The course work is varied and wide ranging. Guest speakers attend and provide valuable additional information. Dunstan Feeds nutritionist Gretel Webber is a regular who pitches her talks to whichever level of class present. Behind the classroom is a well-appointed gym with a lot of apparatus, some for-riding exercises. Notably there was a full sized exercise horse that had a large mirror on the near side so the rider could check the style. But it is not all classwork and likely it is the “out of class” experiences that keep the group fizzing. There is the ”self-care and pitching in” that is part of the course. The students live in on site in the main and prepare their own meals and maintain the living spaces. There are prizes of Countdown and New World vouchers to be won for good effort. The cost to live on-site is $180 per week. Then there are visits where they see vets at work, stud farms and racing stables. They visit feed companies. museums and attend bloodstock sales. They can go to the races with the float driver, see the starter, camera crew and stewards at work. And then there are the jockeys the strappers – and us the owners to observe. Prior to going to the Academy, I had sought from a handful of associates what I should say to these young aspirational equine workers. Well I got a page of those comments... who hasn’t had a jockey leap off the horse and wordlessly dive for the jockeys room? Maybe a stablehand that ignored you? But as many grizzles as there were there was supportive comments that wanted the youngies to know how important we see the people who look after our investment. And how we appreciate them sharing a word with us. The class listened attentively. Mike and I thought it was great to imprint our thoughts on young minds. I left the sheet of those comments with Donavan. He was with visiting jockey Warren Kennedy. I light-heartedly offered a copy to Warren. He laughingly refused and said, “I know all those.” Change is coming, Donavan is transferring to Cambridge to set up n jockeys’ apprentice school and level 3 Equine skills programme. Donavan will remain Programme Leader and under his wing will be Amber Sims, the well – known rider/trainer. Amber is sub 30 years old and the daughter of local trainer Patsy Riley. Amber is a past Ellerslie “Fashions in The Field” winner so she is an all-round class act. The other tutor/riding coach is Renee Faulkner. Renee is from a racing family and is a talented events rider. Donavan says, “The Academy gets some funding from TEC which does help but Daniel Nahkle has in the main been funding the programme. We do have support from Dunstan Horse Feeds and Majestic Horse Floats and have just brought on NZB as an official sponsor. We are always open to industry supporters, whether its financial, products or even volunteering their time to come and share their expertise with the students.” We recognise the vision of the Nahkle family for the inception of the NZ Equine Academy and the where-with-all to bring it all into being. Donavan has been there from the start and then there is Skill New Zealand the education provider. In an all-round word, commendable! Lastly Mike and I would like to say thank you to the girls (class). We thought you were great. If you can – go on and take your chance. We need you. The industry needs you! What you are learning is a skill that will give you a job around the world. But we would love to see you here. Neil Miller 14 NEW ZEALAND THOROUGHBRED RACEHORSE OWNERS FEDERATION BULLETIN I see the Level 3 Academy, and raise you a Level 5, I have studied Horses up to Level 5!!!! #Beatthat. #Youcant Level 5 is the same Level as first year University, to answer each question you pretty much had to write a novel!!!! The Level 5 course is sadly no longer available, it was run by Telford Rural Polytech in Balclutha, which is near Dunedin!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerula 1,403 Report post Posted August 17, 2023 Miss Jools you are no doubt a Superwoman. But the object of the story was to recognise folk that saw a gaping hole in the staffing of the equine industry, put hands in pockets, forked out and addressed that. A lot of these kids will take their grade 3 ticket and work in places where horses are kept. The business owners will be assured of the competencies by the NZ Equine Academy training. Train up our own kids instead of having to import staff from Asia. JJ Flash, Pam Robson, nomates and 1 other 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Robson 1,551 Report post Posted August 18, 2023 Fantastic initiative and well done to the Nahkles and all concerned. Some good sponsors too, I see. But where is NZTR in all this ? JJ Flash 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerula 1,403 Report post Posted August 18, 2023 If you were to adopt a "user pays" it would be whatever equine industry outfit that employed them. But a lot dont have spare dough Entain would be a good sponsor. Studs? Who has the dough? I photo'd 3 kids on the horse and chose the one below for the Bulletin cover as she was wearing a Dunstan feeds "ear - warmer" And Dave Smith is a good bugger JJ Flash and Pam Robson 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggy 4,096 Report post Posted August 18, 2023 Someone needs to teach her how to hold the reins Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggy 4,096 Report post Posted August 18, 2023 https://irishnationalstud.ie/thoroughbred-breeding-course-application-form/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
