Nga Tawa is home to New Zealand's largest on-site school equestrian centre. We take pride in creating a caring, inclusive and family-like environment where our riders are respected, nurtured and supported to pursue their individual goals.
Set amongst 90 acres of rolling Rangitikei farmland, Nga Tawa's Equestrian Centre provides all the facilities young riders need – including three all-weather arenas, 80 covered yards, a 1200m exercise track and a 9-horse truck. We also have 30 school-owned or leased horses and ponies for girls who don’t have their own. Our Equestrian Centre is just 100 metres from the boarding houses and classrooms.
Our Equestrian Academy programme caters to riders of all levels and abilities, from beginners through to New Zealand representatives and National Champions. Our Equestrian Academy has qualified resident and outside/visiting coaches on-site daily to give students the best opportunity to succeed in their chosen discipline or recreational goals. Our coaching staff train and support our girls in horse care and management with the expectation that they are completely responsible for their horse’s wellbeing. This includes stable management, feeding programmes, tack fitting, health and soundness. Each of our riders has a personalised training programme that is constructed in consultation with their coach/mentor. This includes goal setting, fitness and strength, riding skills, offsite experiences and competitions.
Our horse truck travels throughout the North Island and is out each weekend of term time. We travel to shows, events, training days, beach and farm rides.
The Nga Tawa branch of the New Zealand Pony Club Association is based onsite at school and during the season our girls are able to attend fortnightly rallies.
We have an extensive list of excellent practitioners who support our Equestrian Academy and allow our girls and their horses to receive holistic, wrap-around support onsite. These include a dedicated equine vet, farrier, saddle fitting, nutritionist, physiotherapist, chiropractor, sports massage, contact care, communication, dentistry and clipping.
From Year 10, students can choose to take equine studies as a curriculum subject and students can gain unit standards towards NCEA. The Equestrian Centre has a dedicated equine studies classroom.
