Equine Manager

At Catapult, we are supporting our member, CORRAL, in their search for an Equine Manager at their Cary, NC Farm. This is a full-time, onsite role, and will be required to work on Saturdays.

About CORRAL

CORRAL is a faith-motivated nonprofit that provides adolescent girls in high-risk situations a holistic program of equine therapy and education so they may gain access to a bright future. Our participants may be "high-risk" due to socioeconomic status, trauma such as neglect, abuse, or, more frequently, a combination of these situations. CORRAL is intended as a long-term intervention for the participants, requiring a minimum of one year's commitment from each girl upon enrollment. Our staff provides intensely personal and high contact programming that includes only the uppermost standards of literacy and academic tutoring, vocational training, and equine-assisted therapy programs.

Description of Role

CORRAL is looking for an experienced, full-time Equine Manager who is passionate about working with historically marginalized and underserved youth by building healthy relationships with CORRAL horses that are trained in natural horsemanship. The Equine Manager is responsible for horse care and training to meet the needs of the program participants in riding and Equine Assisted Psychotherapy sessions. The Equine Manager supports the diverse participants of CORRAL Riding Academy and is committed to lessening the stigma surrounding mental health issues in BIPOC youth; creating equitable spaces for youth to be seen, heard, challenged, and understood is a must. Additionally, the Equine Manager will lead the Equine and Facilities Volunteer Teams to provide a safe barn, arena, and fields for the horses and programming.

Programming Hours are Tuesday-Thursday 11am until 7pm and on Friday and Saturday 9am until 5pm. A typical work week is Tuesday through Saturday. Summer Hours may shift to Monday-Friday 9am to 5pm. Approximately 40% of these hours involve direct service hours and being outside in varying weather conditions. This role is responsible for the health and well-being of our equine herd, so emergency attention outside of programming hours will be necessary periodically. IMPORTANT: Please do not apply if you are not available to work on Saturdays.

This position will report directly to the Program Director. The CORRAL team is big on collaboration, so you must have the ability to demonstrate positive team interactions with other staff members. Outcomes and documentation are important, so you are able to complete the paperwork and analyses that help CORRAL hone its programs.

Key Outcomes

• Equine line items will be within budget
• All horses will hit targeted body score, depending on health needs
• All horses will have individualized training plans based on time in the program and desired training level
• All girls will have individualized lesson plans that has them passing skills each week, culminating in advancing one riding level every 12 months

Responsibilities

Lead Instructor/Equine Specialist

• Leads equine component of the Riding Academy
  • Coordinates with the Programming Team to monitor the progress of each participant; designs equine lesson plans to meet riding and therapeutic needs; creates the daily/weekly equine schedule for the program
  • Prepares lesson plans daily for each rider to meet program goals
• Plans horse-related activities on and off the farm including horse shows
• Coach volunteers to participate in sessions and produce program deliverables

Champion Management

• Ensures champions understand the "why" of CORRAL
• Promotes teamwork and collaboration among CORRAL instructors
  • Assist volunteer instructors with horse and rider challenges and concerns
  • Provides training for Equine Volunteers
  • Coaches volunteers to ensure that they are thoroughly prepared for sessions
• Leads the Equine Team which:
  • Maintains barn, tack, feed, horse related supplies, and equipment
  • Oversees the feeding schedule
  • Addresses care routines of horses (deworm, vaccine, feet)
  • Procure necessary items for herd health
• Coordinates with staff and volunteer to complete farm work through Community workdays
• Onboards and promotes an inclusive environment for volunteers
• Update Salesforce with interactions with champions as needed

Herd Management

• Manages the health and well-being of the herd (wellness, soundness, nutrition, forage)
  • Establishes and maintains daily/weekly/monthly care routines for horses
  • Handles routine and emergency vet occurrences and resulting ongoing treatment plan(s)
  • Organize and maintain tack, feed, horse-related supplies, and equipment
  • Plans and arranges the training of CORRAL horses
• Handles all equine related donations
• Trains horse volunteers for the horses feeding, training, and care of CORRAL horses

Farm Management

• Oversees the management of the barn, farm, and pastures
• Maintains the cleanliness, organization, safety, and working conditions of all CORRAL horse facilities Coordinates with staff to utilize the Volunteers, girls, interns, and working students to address needs for facilities
• Performs weekly farm walk-throughs
  • Barn, barn area, and arena: make sure the barn is organized and items out of place are put away, check the tack room, check supplies, and make the space orderly
  • Pastures: check for down fences, posts, wires, or unsafe conditions; assess forage for rotation, seeding, fertilizing, completing soil samples, and other pasture management needs

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience in Natural Horsemanship
• Advanced or professional riding experience in any discipline
• At least an Associate's Degree in a Human Services related field, or at least one (1) year of Human Service experience working with CORRAL's population
• High level of organizational skills
• Experience with farm, barn, and pasture management
• Excellent social and personal skills
• Ability to stand for prolonged periods of time, fitness level to work with multiple horses daily and work outside

Preferred Qualifications

• Training & Certificate in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy
• Experience in starting horses
• Experience teaching riding lessons

Salary/Benefits

This is a direct, on the ground, full-time salaried role. CORRAL offers a competitive benefits package including employer contributions to health, vision, and dental benefit plans; the ability to contribute to a Flexible Spending Account (FSA); and employer-paid life insurance, long-term disability coverage, and an employee assistance program, available after 60 days. CORRAL observes 13 paid Holidays per year and offers a competitive PTO policy.

Diversity Statement

CORRAL aims to serve girls in the highest risk situations in our community. Among those risk factors is the pervasive influence of systemic racism and discrimination. As members of a marginalized population, these youth are statistically more likely to have negative health, academic and economic outcomes. Understanding this context, CORRAL bears the same responsibility to heal the trauma our girls have experienced due to systemic racism and other forms of exclusion just as much as more commonly understood forms of trauma i.e., physical or emotional abuse.

EOE