It was on a sunny Monday morning, the 16th of January 2023, when the Third-year students (MA23) were unsure of how to feel about the training they were to embark on. It was at 09:00 when Col (Dr) L. Olivier welcomed the students at the Military Academy Equestrian Centre. The purpose of the training was explained, the programme that seemed unachievable was presented and she introduced the facilitators including the Equestrian Staff members.?
The Commandant of the Military Academy, Brig Gen A.J. De Castro, graced us with his presence to officially welcome the students back to the Academy and to officially open the training. He further explained the importance and relevance of the training in leadership. He encouraged all students to grasp as much information as possible as it is vital for leadership development.?
On Day 1 the training began with the theoretical orientation of the horses, the body parts, characteristics, hierarchy, and its body language. This was followed by the actual visit of the stalls were the students saw the horses released into a stable, observe the behaviour of the horses with the introduction of a new horse into the stable and were given an opportunity to feed the horses.
Day 2 commenced with theory on join up, taking the lead and gaining the horse's trust and ultimately communicating with the horse using body language to command the horse to follow the students without touching it and opportunity was granted to students to conduct join up practical using different horses with different characteristics.
Day 3 was for the grooming of the horses. This task was mostly based on the trust and non-verbal communication between students and horses. This was where students had to be gentle and overcome their fear of the horses and the challenges of touching and grooming the horses.
On Day 4 the students had a Guest presenter from Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 Main Campus, Prof Sandra Swart, that gave a presentation on the importance of using body language in leadership roles. The practical was an obstacle crossing day with the horses. This task required the students to work together as a group to take the horses via different obstacles and each teach team was given a horse they never worked with the entire week. This required that students choose representative with the required qualities to lead the horse through the respective parts of the obstacle crossing. The students completed this task with immense enthusiasm, energy, and much enjoyment.
Day 5 was the final day of training began with presentation by 5 different grouping as divided on Day 1 on the reflection of the training and its relevance in leadership. Therefore, the ultimate task was to isolate one horse from the herd, get the horse to cooperate and lead it to a designated spot without touching it. The highlight of the training was when the students were given an opportunity to ride on horses at the completion of the tasks of the day. Lt (SAN) T. Magongwa presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Prof Lindy Heinecken and Prof Sandra Swart on behalf of MA23 students and the Military Academy.
