The Council of Equine and Equestrian Professionals South Africa (CEEPSA) has committed itself to facilitate education and skills learning opportunities as well as helping school leavers find a career in an industry.
CEEPSA is a non-profit company, recognised by the South Africans Qualifications Authority as a professional body, which aims to unite the industry, by sharing expertise, empower and unite a traditionally fractured industry.
Director of Communications, Education and Assessments at CEEPSA Diane Pieterse said the organisation has ascertained approximately 500 000 people are dependent on income within the industry.
“CEEPSA is committed to participating in the South African National Development Plan 2030, by facilitating education and skills learning opportunities and to helping school leavers find a career in an industry that is stimulating and through which they can fulfil their aspirations.
“We want to shift the thinking from ‘education for employment’ (developing the ability to do a specific job); to ‘education for employability’ (developing the ability to adapt acquired skills to new working environments). New education and training systems must be able to support the notion of an adaptable workforce,” shares Pieterse.
According to the organisation, there are over 60 exciting career opportunities available within the equine and equestrian industry. Some of these are: professional groom, equine veterinarian, horse dealer, mounted police, equine photographer, jockey, equine farrier (a smith who shoes horses), horse box manufacturer, loriner (a maker of small iron objects, such as bits, spurs, stirrups, and mountings for horse's bridles), and even a hippotherapist.
Hippotherapist is the physical, occupational and speech therapy that utilises the natural gait and movement of a horse to provide motor and sensory inputs and used for patients with physical and mental disorders.