Instructors

WEC Riding School Resident Instructors:

The Waikato Equestrian Centre Riding School is open to owner-riders floating in their horses or can provide safe and reliable horses for lessons. The Riding School caters for beginners through to the more advanced rider with instruction in jumping, dressage and cross-country.

KAYLEEN FOOY
DNA WELLS - Hamilton Group RDA
HEIKE EHRLENBACH

Kayleen Fooy

WEC Equine Coach/ Yard Supervisor

I was born and raised in California; my Mum was a horse person so I was introduced to the equestrian world at a very young age. I joined Pony Club when I was seven and by the time I was 8 I had already decided to fully complete Pony Club to obtain my "A" Rating.

Throughout my teenage years I rode competitively and strived to consistently take my riding to the next level. During this time I trained with some of the top trainers in the United States who are also internationally recognized. From the age of 12 I was also a working student for my long time trainer Liz Jenner who helped lay my foundations. During this time working for Liz I learned how to be humble, always take responsibility and became a successful barn manger.

When I was 18 I successfully passed my "HA" (in Michigan) and later that year my "A" (in Oregon). In the USA teaching is a large portion of the "HA" certificate. The "HA" is a 3 day test comprising of preparing a "random" horse that you're given for a sale and includes an in-depth level of veterinary knowledge, bandaging as well as teaching.

Whilst preparing for my "HA" I found that teaching came naturally for me and that it was something that I truly enjoyed doing. At this time I also moved onto higher level trainers to take my riding to an even higher professional level, this included working as an assistant trainer for an FEI German dressage Trainer, Christiana Noelting.

As well as working for Christiana I also ran the children's riding program, which was highly influenced by the traditional German riding programs. I did this whilst studying to successfully obtain a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from, California State University of Fresno.

I moved to New Zealand in September of 2007 and have worked in a variety of positions ranging from Race Track work to Office Management. I am very excited to be back doing what I truly love to do; teaching, training and riding. I really look forward to having the opportunity to meet everyone and helping people reach their goals whether it is recreational, competitive, or professional.

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About Dna Wells

RDA Program co-ordinator &
Dressage & Showjumping tuition

I have now held the position of Riding for the Disabled (RDA) co-ordinator for a little over one year and must say I enjoy it, and have learnt a lot. When I first started we were riding 56 children from the Hamilton North School, we now have 78 children and 7 Adult students. This keeps me very busy. We have increased our days of riding to, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 9 -12. My job would not be as successful if it was not for my great team of volunteers, a very big thank you to them and as always, more volunteers are needed.

When I was first approached about this position as Program co-ordinator, I had no idea what was involved and whether my previous experience was enough. Yes, I am a qualified teacher and instructor and had just finished 4 years of tutoring the Certificate in Equine Studies at the Waikato Institute of Technology. Yes, I am a capable horse rider and have been teaching people to ride for many years. No, I have had no experience working with children with disabilities. So I asked myself, how different could it be? The answer was so easy, no different, just get out there and teach them how to ride.

Over the last year I have attended courses and training programs and are 2 unit standards away from completing my RDA Level 3 Instructors Certificate. Along with the knowledge I have learnt for the courses and using my own teaching style I believe that we are delivering a very successful riding program. Our aim is to increase confidence and independence, also to use the horse to increase muscle strength and toning. Working with the therapies, we together set goals for each student. The therapies knows which muscle groups or what can't be done with that student and I set a riding plan accordingly. The results of this method are great, we have received wonderful feedback from the parents, the staff and the school principal who has incorporated horse riding as a subject in their teaching plan. You just have to watch the students to see improvement. I now have two groups that can ride independently at work and trot, and a few have been cantering. This is a very rewarding job.

Dna's life with horses....

Dna began riding at the age of 2 and went to her first show at the age of 4. Trained by her mother, Ona Wells, who was a New Zealand Show Jumping representative. "Living in Kaitaia and having two very supportive parents and lots of great help gave me the best start to riding possible. There was a very competitive show and show jumping circuit up there. With all those beautiful big hills to get your horses fit and lots of natural jumps - drains, logs, gates, troughs, etc, laying around, I soon became very confident on my ponies".

At the age of 15, Dna competed at her first 3 Day Event and then was hooked on the sport. At 18, Auckland businessman Peter Tatham quickly recognised Dna's talent and approached her, offering to buy her an Advanced Event horse and to support her in her quest to be a NZ representative. At this stage Quest was purchased for her. Then at age 20 Dna moved to Auckland to manage farms for Peter Tatham and surround herself with top class instructors.

Meanwhile, Dna graduated from Intermediate to Advanced and was selected to represent New Zealand at the age of 22 in the NZ 3 Day Event Team 1993 & 1994. Quest was later sold and with Peter Tathams on going support and help, along with her parents support and help, Dna began riding an inexperienced Bravo, whom she trained up to Advanced. Unfortunately, Bravo died of a heart attack before being able to compete in America.

Dna then took some time to travel, before returning to New Zealand to work as a Tutor for the Waikato Institute of Technology. Dna tutored students in Jumping and happily assisted them with Dressage as well as providing useful information. For the first time in years, all of the students who chose the Show Jumping module, passed. One of her students, Melia Kape, who rode a green horse and with little jumping experience, credits her passing of Show Jumping to Dna and her teaching skills. Dna was not only liked by all students, but excelled in teaching, and always managed to provide a challenging experience for all. Dna also ran adult riding courses at the end of the semester and the classes were always full with satisfied customers.

Anyone interested in lesson with Dna can contact her on:
Home: 07 829 6171 Mob: 021 629 271

Any one interested in our RDA riding program or if you would like to volunteer please contact me on 07 8296171 or 021 629271

Dna Wells
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About Heike Ehrlenbach

In 1989 I completed a Masters in Horse Breeding and Training Management (Pferdewirtschaftsmeister FN) at the Bavarian Research Estate Achselschwang and have since then been registered with the German National Equestrian Federation (FN). This qualification is a 7 year fulltime theoretical and practical training that includes all aspects of the horse industry.

During this time I also received training from Grand Prix trainer and Reitmeister Guenther Festerling and had tuition from accomplished dressage trainers such as Charles Coxhorn and Angela Langgartner who herself has been trained by Dagmar Krech. While managing a private dressage training center and riding school in Wolnzach, Bavaria I was fortunate to receive regular instruction from the former Showjumping National Squad member Hans Peter Reisinger who happened to be based in the same town.

In 1995, after Immigration to New Zealand, I met Dave Davies, former assistant to Neil Davies, who taught me a natural, stress free way of handling, breaking in and training horses. In 1997 I was able to put my knowledge to test when Robin Sisley and I successfully handled and started nearly 100 wild Kaimanawa horses from the 1997 muster. Several of those horses spent some time at the Waikato Equestrian Center as riding school mounts to complete their education.

In 2001, I embarked on a one year training course in Equine Sports Massage Therapy with Anna Monds and Marshall Gray. This very inspiring and informative course made me aware of the possibilities to maintain and increase the physical capabilities of horses and humans. From there I decided to further my training and enrolled at UNITEC Auckland to become an Osteopath. In 2006 I completed a 3 year fulltime Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and I am presently postgraduate student in the Master of Osteopathy Program.

I believe that over the years my abilities as a riding instructor have reached another dimension. Being able to combine classical german dressage training with natural horsemanship and manual therapy puts me in a unique position to help horses and riders in their quest to fulfill their potential.

I have been a Riding Instructor at the Waikato Equestrian Centre since 1998.

Heike can be contacted at the Waikato Equestrian Centre on 849 6756
or Friday and Saturday on 825 5263