Holiday programme grows students' confidence

Kayla-Lee Wainwright helps Michael Ellis with his pony. Photo/Bevan Conley

Moira Wainwright offers a school holiday programme with a difference.

Children who take Mrs Wainwright's holiday programme get to spend a week with horses - learning to ride, learning to groom, horse trekking and other horse-related activities.

Mrs Wainwright runs the holiday programme from her ActiFun Riding Stables at Kaitoke.

"We run a holiday programme for either three or five days in the first week of most school holidays," she said.

"Some kids come for just one day, but most come for the whole programme."

The first thing the students learn is how to groom and turn out the horses, giving them what Mrs Wainwright calls "the Rolls Royce treatment".

They learn to ride or, if they can already ride, they brush up on their riding skills, and they play games like tag on horseback.

At the end of the week, depending on the students' riding abilities and the weather, the group will go on a trek across the farm or over the state highway to Lake Wiritoa.

Mrs Wainwright said the students were mostly girls, but there were usually a few boys as well.

This holiday she has 12 students on the programme.

She said anyone could learn to ride, no matter their age.

"We don't have any age restrictions. If a kid wants to learn to ride when they're two years old, I'll teach them as long as they wear a helmet and a body protector."

Mrs Wainwright said her own children learned to ride before they could walk.

She said it was very pleasing to see students gain confidence as they learned to ride.

"Some kids come here and they can't ride at all, and in a few days they become really competent with the horses."