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Kat MacMillan - Chief Executive Officer
Kat has many years experience in managing equestrian centres in the UK, Australia and in Malaysia.
Much of her equestrian experience has been working for equine welfare charities including the International League for the Protection of Horses in the UK. She has a university degree in Zoology with a focus in psychology and animal behaviour from the University of Liverpool, UK. Kat has recently gained a certificate in Small Business Management from Te Wananga O Aoteoroa.
Kat also has experience in working for local government and before coming on board at RDA was working as a health promoter for the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand.
Kat is a keen and experienced horse rider herself and competes in all equestrian disciplines but particularly enjoys bringing on young horses. Kat has been living in Papamoa since 2006 with her husband and two sons Lucas and Jed.
Contact Kat by email at
manager@equestriantherapycentre.co.nz
Mina - PA to CEO
Mina is eleven years old and watches all the goings on from the offices at RDA. Her favourite part of the day is morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.
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Katharine Birks - Fundraising Manager
Katharine has had a career in fundraising, sponsorship and public relations spanning more than 30 years based in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Chiefly this experience has involved working with tertiary institutions, equine sport and animal welfare organisations.
Katharine has also worked in a volunteer capacity within these sectors and served on the boards of animal welfare and equine sport organisations.
Contact Katharine by email at
fund@equestriantherapycentre.co.nz
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Jessie Vale - Coach
Emigrating a couple of years ago from England with her parents and younger brother, she moved up from Queenstown with her partner Aaron to the Mount to pursue a Career in the Equine industry.
Growing up with horses, Jesse gained experience in a range of different disciplines as well as using her own horse on the weekends to give riding lessons to children. She has a passion for show-jumping and would like to hopefully include this in some of her lessons.
Jesse started volunteering for us in August and soon realised that this was the place for her. She is eager to progress and has already begun training to become a NZQA qualified RDA coach and use this to bring some new ideas to our centre. She loves meeting people and working with children.
Contact Jessie by email at
coaches@equestriantherapycentre.co.nz
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Sharon Aldersley - Coach
Sharon is a physiotherapist and although not currently registered due to taking time out with her children, is now working towards becoming registered again. Sharon spent three years volunteering for Gisborne RDA as a teenager. She has also been a keen volunteer at Tauranga RDA.
It was Sharon’s work with RDA that originally motivated her to become a physiotherapist. Sharon enjoys riding herself and is passionate about horses. She also has a lot of experience working with people and children with disabilities.
Sharon is married to Tony and has four children, Anna, Luke, Sophie and Nathan and they live in Welcome Bay. Sharon is very involved with her children’s schools and is very committed to her community.
Contact Sharon by email at
coaches@equestriantherapycentre.co.nz
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Elisha Brownrigg - Volunteer Co-ordinator
Elisha works in our main office from 8.30am to 1.30pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and coordinates, trains, supports and recruits volunteers. Elisha also undertakes all our administrative duties.
Elisha lives in rural Te Puke with her partner their son and a menagerie of animals.
She has a high level of experience in various administration roles including, administration manager, Operations manager, receptionist and PA and she has a bachelor of Tourism Management degree.
Elisha has been riding for years and competes in various disciplines, but focuses on Eventing and enjoys bringing on green horses. Elisha is also an equine Craniosacral Thereapist. Elisha’s other interests outside horses and family are, squash, kickboxing and mountain biking.
Contact Elisha by email at
info@equestriantherapycentre.co.nz
T: 07 5441899
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Joye Koerber - Accountant
Joye moved to Tauranga from the USA two years ago and has recently become a NZ resident. She is a degreed accountant with eighteen years experience working for non and not for profit organisations. Her last position was with the state of Florida government as a financial manager for the Department of Financial Services for ten years.
Joye first came to Tauranga in 2002 for her son’s wedding and knew then that this is where she wanted to live. She now lives in Tauranga and has her son, daughter-in-law and a wonderful little granddaughter to spend her time with.
Her other interests are drama, church, tramping and sailing and although she has only limited experience as a horse rider she’s eager to become more experienced.
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Charlotte Besse - Holiday Program Co-ordinator
Charlotte organises and runs the OSCAR Holiday Programs here at RDA. She started out as a volunteer at RDA in May 2009 and really enjoyed working with the fantastic children and horses.
Originally from Hawkes Bay, Charlotte was given her first pony aged 10 years old and has never lost her passion for everything equine. She has a keen interest in developing her horsemanship skills and enjoys dressage, hunting, and jumping.
Charlotte has four years previous experience working with children with disabilities. She has also been involved with Pony Club and has taught private riding pupils in Hawkes Bay. She has 3 young children, who are all learning to ride. Charlotte regularly rides with our manager, Kat.
If you have any queries regarding the holiday programs, please contact Charlotte by email at charlotte@equestriantherapycentre.co.nz
She will get back to you straight away.
Look forward to hearing from you!
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