Mentors

Finding a Mentor

The Pony Club NSW Mentor Panel includes experienced and knowledgeable members who are available to guide candidates through various areas of coaching and horsemanship. Mentors may be approved for all topics or restricted to specific subjects where they have demonstrated expertise.

Each mentor is classified as either:

• All: Approved to mentor across all aspects of the Pony Club NSW syllabus.
  
• Restricted: Approved to mentor in nominated subjects as specified by their Zone Chief Instructor (ZCI).

ZCIs carefully select mentors to ensure they uphold Pony Club NSW’s high standards of knowledge, fairness, and support.

Attributes of a Mentor

A successful mentor should have:

• Strong knowledge in their approved subjects
  
• Availability to work with and support candidates
  
• The ability to conduct fair and reliable assessments of a candidate’s skills and understanding

Mentors are responsible for verifying the candidate’s progress by signing their logbook to confirm competency in specific subjects prior to assessment. The mentor’s input plays a key role in each candidate’s learning journey and final outcome.

Mentoring Topics

Mentors may guide candidates across one or more of the following areas, as outlined in the Workbook and Coaching Log Book for NCAS accreditation:

• Horse care
  
• Points, colours and markings
  
• Grooming and hosing
  
• Care of the feet
  
• Health, condition and routine health care
  
• Saddlery, tack and equipment
  
• Rugs
  
• Feeding
  
• Gear checking
  
• Diagonals and leading legs
  
• Poles and small jumps
  
• Simple mounted games
  
• Road rules
  
• Floating
  
• Control of pony, aids, warming up and cooling down, rider exercises
  
• Mounting, dismounting, holding the reins, and rider position
  
• Coaching and safety