Job Description: Therapeutic Riding Instructor

Title:  PATH Intl. Registered Riding Instructor
Reports to: Executive Director (ED) and Program Director (PD)

Requirements:

  1. Must have the ability to have a flexible work schedule that can change from week to week.
  2. Must have and maintain current PATH, Intl certification (or equivalent).
  3. Shall be knowledgeable of current PATH, Intl standards and procedures.
  4. Ability to walk up to 12 miles a day over the course of eight hours with few breaks.
  5. Must have and maintain Basic 1st aid and CPR certification on file with SHF.
  6. Possess extensive background in horsemanship and horse management.
  7. Possess knowledge of and have experience working with a variety of special needs.
  8. Possess supervisory and people management skills.
  9. Be able to tolerate heat, cold, and dust.

 

Responsibilities:

(shall include, but are not limited to)

 

PATH Instructors will be placed in either the Hippotherapy or Therapeutic Riding program as needed as determined by the ED. Should a PATH Instructor primarily reside in the Hippotherapy Program, it is suggested/recommended that they teach 20 lessons each year in order to maintain the quality of their teaching skills and to be compliant with the PATH certified instructor program.

 

Instructor will:

 

  1. Serve dually as a PATH Instructor and either a horse-leader, side-walker. Occasionally the PATH Instructor will serve as a PATH Supervisor when the staff members present in a session are not a PATH Instructors; however there is enough staff to cover the needs of the session.
  2. Arrive at least 15 minutes prior to a session.
  3. Shall continually monitor arena area and enforce safety procedures and SHF rules.
  4. Provide support and education to therapy assistants/volunteers on an as needed basis.
  5. Be mainly responsible for providing instruction and tasks to volunteers.
    1. Provide volunteers with supervision and assistance for successful completion of tasks assigned. Instructor should also provide frequent praise and appreciation as well as constructive criticism when necessary.
    2. Oversee volunteers recording their volunteer hours in the volunteer book and ensure that every volunteer is listed on the log at the end of the day.
    3. Continue to train and mentor volunteers in barn safety procedures
    4. Provide continued training for side walking, horse leading, and safety procedures during therapy.
  6. Communicate staffing and volunteer needs with Point of Contact.
  7. Communicate regularly with Executive Director, Program Director, Equine Manager/Barn Manager and Volunteer Coordinator as to needs (staffing, equine, facility and others), successes, concerns, problems, etc.
  8. Be willing to oversee and mentor an intern on occasion.
  9. Attend required staff meetings and trainings.
  10. Enforce safety rules, SHF rules and hold to PATH Intl. Standards.
  11. Other duties as assigned.

 

Equine Related:

(Shall include, but not limited to)

 

  1. Evaluate and monitor equine behavior, recognize equine unsoundness and ailments and communicate observations to Equine Manager, Executive Director or Program Director.
  2. Screen and select equines suitable for clients.
  3. Monitor fit of tack and equipment appropriate to session, reporting any needs to Equine Manager, Executive Director or Program Director.
  4. Respect, support and abide by decisions made by Equine Manager and Executive Director regarding the care and management of horses.
  5. Appropriately turn out the horses that are being used while you are working, according to the feed chart schedule.
  6. Other duties as assigned by the Executive Director or Program Manager.

 

Hippotherapy Related:

(Shall include, but not limited to)

 

  1. General arena safety while therapy is going on.
  2. Match riders with appropriate equines and equipment (including tack) in collaboration with therapist.
  3. Side-walk, horse-lead, or long-line for sessions, depending on staffing situation.
  4. Be prepared to call emergency dismounts when you see a threat to the horse. Be responsible for the horse in the situation including removing them from the area.
  5. Arena set-up.
  6. Prepare horses for Hippotherapy sessions or riding lessons by a) grooming, b) tacking up and c) properly exercising the horse by leading the horse around the arena for a couple of laps, by lunging, or by riding (staff must have approval to ride the horses either by the Program Director or Executive Director) prior to doing so.
  7. Horse should be tacked in a timely manner so that they are ready and on-time for the session when at all possible.

 

Therapeutic Riding Related:

(Shall include, but not limited to)

 

  1. Participate in developing and prioritizing long and short term goals for riders.  This can be done conjunction with input from riders, parents, care-givers, etc.
  2. Arena set-up.
  3. Design and implement individualized rider lesson plans, including goals and objectives.
  4. Match riders with appropriate equines, equipment and instructional setting.
  5. Conduct lessons in a manner appropriate to individual needs (Mounting, dismounting, progression of skills, appropriate activities and games).
  6. Provide and solicit ongoing feedback to both the instructional team and the client.
  7. May be asked to teach from the lead-line depending on staff and volunteer availability.
  8. Document client activities and progress after each lesson. This must be completed prior to leaving for the day if at all possible.

Pay Policy:

 

  1. Staff members are not paid for cancellations.
  2. Staff is paid for one hour per OT or PT client regardless of time the client rides. Staff is paid for a half hour per SLP client who rides for a half hour.
  3. For OT and PT sessions there will be a short period from dismount until the next session, which is part of your hourly pay. During this time, completing barn work and preparations for the next session is expected. Instructors will also help with turn-out at the end of the day.
  4. Pay will be determined based upon a review of what is listed on the time-sheet, which must be accurately entered by midnight on the 15th and 31st of each month. If it is not on the time-sheet by the deadline, you will not be paid until the next pay-period, following the completion of the timesheet (which should at this point be transferred to the time sheet for the new pay-period).
  5. Instructors are paid per session for therapeutic/recreational riders, not per rider. However PATH Intl. Certified Riding Instructors will be paid a higher rate per hour long group lesson (constituted by two or more riders) which includes any note time (instructions on how to record this on your time-sheet will be given at a later time). For private lessons, instructors will be paid 1 hour for able-bodied riders and 1.25 hours for riders with disabilities that require note time, paid at your normal rate.

Hours:

  1. Hours are dependent upon availability at each facility, but will fall sometime between the hours of operation at the facility which is M-F at the Mount Holly farm and M-Sat. at the Charlotte farm.
  2. Hours are scheduled on an as-needed basis, with a volunteer being used first in the therapy assistant role when available.
  3. Hours will change week-to-week based on volunteer availability, cancellations, and schedule changes.
  4. Once a schedule for the week has been provided there will be no further changes unless there is a cancellation or schedule change, however a staff member will not be replaced by a volunteer after this point.
  5. PATH Instructors working in the OT, PT, SLP Programs will be off one week a month for Clinic Week, however they are welcome to still teach Therapeutic Riding lessons during this time provided they solely use and obtain volunteers.

For more information, or to apply for this position, visit our contact us page. or apply to our job listing on indeed.com.

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