January 2007Coaches’ Corner - January 2007
2007 looks to be another busy year in coaching. The new English Learn to Ride Program Levels 1-10 will officially replace the old English Learn to Ride Program Levels I-III as of April 01, 2007, in both official languages. Anyone who is planning on testing under the old program before the change over must do so before March 31, 2007.
Many coaches have been asking when clinics on the new levels will be. Equine Canada has been working on updates for the new program, and we should receive the updated information in January 2007. Once we have that information, we will start arranging additional clinics. The new information will be available on a CD. Anyone who has already been to a clinic for the new rider level program will automatically receive a CD. Updated test sheets will be available on request from the OEF Office.
The new Instruction of Beginners program is also getting close to implementation, look for information on this program on our website at www.horse.on.ca and in upcoming issues of WHOA!
Instructor and Coach status letters have been mailed out to everyone. Please take the time to read this letter, as there is a lot of important information included. If you have any questions about your status or about programs and courses that we are offering, please contact Catherine Barker, Education Coordinator at the OEF Office.
Please note that we have made a couple of changes to the Instructor/Coach listings on the website.
- There are now two lists per level, the first is sorted by city and the second is sorted by last name.
- Email addresses are now provided.
- Coaching disciplines are listed for Coach 2s and higher.
English Instructor Workshops
On Saturday, October 21, the OEF held an Instructor Workshop at Bethany Hills School @ Saddlewood with MH Lessard and Jill Stedman. The clinic started with a demonstration on the New English Learn to Ride Program Level 1 and 2, followed by a lunging and a teaching clinic with demonstrations by instructor candidates. The clinic not only provided mentoring opportunities for these instructor candidates, but it also allowed for certified Coaches to see the standards to help them with mentoring future candidates. Thank you to Georgia-Gail Kidd for assisting with the organization of this workshop, as well as the demonstration riders from Bethany Hills for their participation.
On Sunday December 3, a group of certified Instructors, coaches and others interested in learning more about the coaching program attended a workshop facilitated by Casey Gillis, Kerstin Blaeske and Victoria Andrew. Riders from Kemptville College demonstrated the Level 1 and Level 2 riding standard of the new English Learn to Ride Program followed by discussion and clarification of the standard.
A lunging clinic was included in the program to clarify the requirements of the Instruction of Beginners context and Coach 1. As well, four lessons were demonstrated at the Instructor and Coach 1 level. Feedback was provided to those who offered to teach the lessons and the mentors in attendance had the opportunity to see some good demonstrations of the required standards. The audience used a draft of the new Instruction of Beginners rubric to track the participants’ lunging and teaching ability. The new rubric was very well received and will be available in 2007 to assist mentors and candidates in preparing for evaluations.
These training workshops would be impossible without the cooperation of volunteers from the audience and in this case, the students of Kemptville College, who were willing to teach, lunge and ride in front of a large audience. Thank you for your help and participation!
Western Workshop in Thunder Bay
On the weekend of October 21 and 22, Barbara Newlands, Western Master Course Conductor, and Catherine Barker were in Thunder Bay for a Western Workshop. Saturday’s Western Update Clinic included information on the coaching and rider level programs, mentoring requirements and a demonstration of common coaching specific problems. It was great to see so many certified coaches come out for this update clinic, which gave them their updating hours as part of their requirements to remain active.
Activities on Sunday included a rider clinic in the morning, followed by demonstrations of lunging, and the teaching requirements for instructor and coach candidates. The whole weekend included some good discussions and provided networking opportunities for coaches in the northern part of the province. Many thanks to Laura Jones and her family for their hospitality and the use of their beautiful facility, Dreamfields Riding Center in South Gillies.
The 2007 Coaching Schedule is posted on the OEF website, and upcoming dates will also be listed in the 2007 OEF Ontario Horse Directory and Planner. The OEF reserves the right to cancel any scheduled course, clinic, assessment, evaluation or examination if there are insufficient pre-registered applicants. Please remember that all assessments, evaluations and examinations are set-up through the OEF Office, please contact Catherine Barker for more information.
Congratulations to the following successful Instructors and Coaches who received their certification:
English Instructor:
Rosemary Coleman, Brockville
Melissa Gunn, Orangeville
Emily Karpazis, Oakwood
Connie McNamee, Jasper
Alison Overtveld, Ottawa
Jessica Rhinelander, St. John’s, NL
Heather Yeo, Hampton
English Coach 1:
Breanne Hayes, Newmarket
Kate Lane, Keswick
Dawn O’Neill, Ajax
Katie Stephenson, Toronto
Megan Wagland, Millgrove
Ministry of Health Promotion’s Quest for Gold Program for Coaches
The Ontario Equestrian Federation is pleased to acknowledge the funding received from the Ministry of Health Promotion’s Quest for Gold Program for 2006. Thanks to funding from this program, we were able to offer training opportunities for our coaches.
Mentor Workshops
One of the opportunities was for Coach 2s or higher to attend a Mentor Workshop on “How to Mentor Other Coaches” with Andy Higgins. The Mentor Workshop is a facilitated process aimed at encouraging personal reflection and creating a positive learning and work experience between a mentor coach and an apprentice or mentoree. These sessions helped to provide a framework and progressive approach to a form of training widely used but one that often lacks structure. Andy Higgins is currently the Director of the National Coaching Institute Ontario and has 34 years experience in the educational and sport system and four years coaching high performance. First and foremost and educator, Andy was one of the key developers of Canada’s National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) and a founding member of the Canadian Professional Coaching Association.
Seven coaches attended a Mentor Workshop with Andy on Friday, September 22 at the Sport Alliance Building in Toronto. Another 15 coaches participated in a Mentor Workshop on Sunday, November 26 at our Annual Conference. Both these sessions were complimentary, and the funding provided from the Quest for Gold Program helped pay for coaches expenses to attend the sessions. We would like to thank Andy for sharing his wealth of knowledge and experiences with us.
Coaching Tools Seminar
The OEF was also able to host a “Coaching Tools Seminar” at our Annual Conference with some of the funds received through the Quest for Gold Program. As part of the Master Coach Program encouraging high-level coaches to work with other coaches to help improve coach/athlete performance, close to 50 coaches, instructors and spectators attended the well-received clinic at Cedar Peaks Farm in Cookstown on Friday, November 24. Clinicians Barbara Newlands and Sandy Webster-Stolte presented horses and riders to demonstrate that a solid understanding of the basics of horse and rider body mechanics is important to developing a coach’s awareness of rider problems. A positive approach to an analysis procedure encouraged interaction between the participants and clinicians.
A unique component of the clinic was the use of Western and English riders, of varied levels who performed the same exercises. They demonstrated transitions, a suppling exercise and lateral work. This showed that there are more similarities than differences between disciplines and that basic concepts apply at all levels. Essentially, “a horse is a horse” no matter how you dress it up or what you ask it to do.
Thank you to Bente McKenna, Kelly Heshka and Martina Fagermann for their invaluable contribution as the demonstrators.
Coming in 2007 Para-Equestrian Information Session
The OEF is also planning to host an information session on Para-Equestrian with certified Level III and Team Coach Lorraine Stubbs, and Senior Steward Margaret Murdoch in February 2007. Unfortunately, all of the information on this session was not available at press time. Please visit our website at www.horse.on.ca for current information.