About horseridingcoach.com

Our mission: To hand over our extensive teaching experience to the next generations (and how to be in business as well).

 

Team Hartog - Your mentors

 

Marion Hartog

Qualifications:

• Equestrian Federation of Australia Level I General Coach
• Australian Horse Riding Centres Level I General Coach, Trainer and Assessor
• Riding for Disabled Level II Coach and National Assessor
• Cert. IV Workplace Trainer and Assessor
  Advanced Diploma in Business Management & Hospitality

After doing only a little riding as a child, Marion didn’t become really involved with horses and riding full time until her early twenties through her marriage to Bert. From there on it became a way of life when they established the first of three riding centres, and a stud with a German Warmblood stallion and lots of wonderful foals.

Initially her role was “starting up the riders” and looking after “nervous beginners”, then the training of staff in their ever increasingly expanding business. She also started up a group for riders with disabilities and many of these riders became independent and competitive riders. Eventually she became so experienced in all facets of horsemanship and teaching that she felt she better sit for the exams to become a qualified equestrian coach, as “you might as well get the recognition” for the knowledge and experience you have gathered over the years.

However, Marion never forgets the early stages, and the pleasure you can give people in their first experiences with horses. She can understand people’s fears, and enjoys helping them to overcome these and become confident and competent riders. If you put effective practices in place people can achieve so much and feel so good about their riding.

Marion is a down to earth, approachable person, who is happy to share her wide experience with people who have a love for horses either as a hobby or as a career in the horse world. The text in the courses written by Marion is clear and to the point. It is easy to read and very practical. Her philosophy is that if we understand what we are doing, we can do it better and a better horse person makes a happier horse.

Bert Hartog

Qualifications:

• International Level III Dressage Coach
• FEI Dressage Rider
• Equestrian Federation of Australia Coach Educator & Assessor
• Australian Horse Riding Centres Trainer & Assessor
• Cert. IV Workplace Trainer and Assessor
• Advanced Diploma in Business Management & Hospitality

Bert has several faces: Riding Centre Proprietor, Businessman, Author, Innovator and International Level III Coach. Together with his partner Marion they took the concept of riding centres to different heights in Australia. Their centre which they operated for 20 years teaching more than 250 students per week, on only 7.5 acres, was a teaching place "par excellence" for riders and trainee coaches. The profile of the riding centre was well known all over Australia. The main income of the centre came from riders who did not have their own horse. They developed many new concepts and ideas which are now followed through by other organisations and are part of their instructor’s course.

He is a well known clinician and author of the book “The Art of Training”. Bert also published numerous articles on dressage techniques in several Australian Horse Magazines, specialising in the Biomechanics of the Horse and the Seat of the Rider. They were hugely popular with the readers.

Like many other operators they had problems getting properly trained staff, so they took it upon themselves to write a correspondence course for riding instructors. It was an enormous task and it became a large document with many drawings, photos and supported with several videos. It took some 5 years to write.

After more than ten thousand hours practice in teaching groups and private students Bert likes to share his extensive coaching experience to help you become a better coach, as he has the ability to break down complex exercises into simple achievable tasks.

His explanations are progressive and without jargon giving you the knowledge you need to give real content to your coaching sessions or your ride.

Marion and Bert's earlier professional experience in executive positions in the hospitality industry combined with their love of the horse and horse riding have helped them to become a driving force in the Australian equine industry. Their knack for coming up with new ideas, combined with their business organization and long term planning has stood them in good stead in the development of many aspects of the sport and their equestrian centres in the commercial sector.

We think of ourselves as Team Hartog. As a team we compliment each other. Some times Bert is the dreamer and Marion puts the idea in practice by providing the nuts and bolts, at other times Marion is the long term planner and Bert acts as the devil's advocate.

Between them they combine many, many years of horse management and riding experience from Europe and Australia. Both competitive riders with Bert going all the way to FEI (International Dressage tests).

Bert and Marion are down to earth-approachable people who are happy to share their wide experience with people who have a love for horses, either as a hobby or as a career in the horse world.

Their motto is: "Together and as a whole we can make a difference in our industry". 

Apart from running several equestrian centres-teaching up 200 students per week- and a warmblood stud during the past 25 years they have held many positions individually or as a team such as:

• Founder members of Australian Horse Riding Centres- Queensland and holding positions as Chair person, Secretary and Treasurer
• National Vice Chair Person and Secretary of the Australian Horse Riding Centres
• National Coaching Coordinator Australian Horse Riding Centres
• Founder Chair and Secretary of Dalson Park Riding for Disabled
• Member State & National Riding for DisAbled Coaching & Safety Panel
• Members of Equestrian Federation of Australia (Queensland Branch) of the National Coaching Accreditation Scheme Committee
• Executive Committee Members Equestrian Federation of Australia (Queensland branch)
• Founder and executive members of the National Vaulting Steering Committee
• Chair person (at different times) EFA Queensland Vaulting Committee
• Members Queensland Government Health and Safety Committee establishing a Horseriding Industry Code of Practice.
• HorseSafe Auditors Australian Horse Industry Council

At Dalson Park, the equestrian centre they ran for 18 years Bert and Marion developed many "firsts":

• First Horse Expo
• First Australian Vaulting Competitions
• First Dressage Freestyle to Music Competitions in Queensland
• First Indoor Polo Matches First to create monthly discount cards, enabling students to ride more than once a week in a win-win situation for both riders and the establishment

Next to the high profile events Marion and Bert Hartog developed many basic, effective and profitable business practices such as:

• Running Full and Part time Riding Instructor Courses, providing the industry with highly trained and effective team members. This course is now available as a Correspondence Course and online
• High standards of risk management and recording procedures (now adopted as "Best Practice" by the Australian Horse Riding Centres)
• Providing extremely reliable and well trained school horses for riders to learn or improve on
• Graded classes for riders
• The development of the "Beginner's Special". A formula for a rider's first lesson, in which they learn to walk, trot and canter and steer the horse in 3/4 hour on a specially trained horse
• Regular performance & display evenings with their students drawing great spectator numbers
• Staff management & development practices
• Competitions Logan City Business Achievers in 1992

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