5 Things I learned at the Region 3 PATH Conference

Guest blog post by Equine Business Management class member Hallie Myers.

This year, St. Andrews hosted the Region 3 conference and I had the opportunity to volunteer for the event. It was an amazing experience and I was able to learn a lot throughout the weekend. Although I learned much more than I could list here, these are a few of the highlights…

1.       The NFL is a nonprofit-In a session by Jennifer Donahue, I learned that the NFL is actually a nonprofit. Her point was that therapeutic riding centers should not feel the need to beg for their money but should recognize that they are offering a legitimate service and should charge accordingly.
2.       Tweeting is not as easy as it sounds-Jackie Dwelle gave a presentation on social media for therapeutic riding programs. As part of our Equine Business class, I was the social media representative for the week (which is why I am writing this blog) and I got to tweet throughout the conference. It was interesting to be able to apply some of the techniques to my posts, but it really is difficult to limit it to 140 characters.
3.       Centers can raise money by hosting birthday parties for 50 year olds-Caroline Fritch, a St. Andrews alumni, gave a presentation on how to incorporate able bodied lessons into a therapeutic riding program. The presentation was interesting because it opened up a variety of different ways that centers can earn money. One center said that they had hosted several birthday parties for 50 year olds as well as a couple of weddings. They also mentioned that offering Boy and Girl Scout troops the chance to receive badges may be a way to earn money to support a program.
4.       How to cook an old chicken to make it tender-I had a long conversation while waiting for dinner with the State Representative for South Carolina, Denise Bishop. She told me all about the chickens that she raises and eggs she sells to restaurants. The bottom line is that this conference gave me the opportunity to meet and connect with many people that I would not have otherwise. Even outside of sessions I was able to take in a lot and learn from others’ expertise.
5.       A good team makes the difference-Over the course of the weekend, I was just so amazed at how everyone worked together to make the conference run smoothly. We worked quickly and efficiently together and there were no major glitches. Although teamwork is vital in almost any field, in Therapeutic Horsemanship, it is especially important to learn how to work with a team, which may include volunteers or other instructors.