FREE VOCATIONAL HORSEMANSHIP EDUCATION FOR AMERICAN VETERANS

Written by Yvette d’Unienville

Veterans on California’s central coast have welcomed a new non-profit vocational training initiative that is working to decrease rates of homelessness in the population. Elite Vocations, based in Nipomo, SLO county, provides a ten-week certified horsemanship training program for American Veterans to equip them with the necessary tools and certification they need to enter the equine industry as professional grooms and assistant trainers (where prior experience allows). The program is provided at no cost to qualifying Veterans on California’s central coast, with plans to expand out further in due course.

With the ongoing housing crisis facing California’s Veterans, Elite Vocation’s mission is to provide employable skills in an industry which commonly provides housing benefits. Additionally, working regularly with horses provides therapeutic benefit – enabling the Veterans in the program to reconnect with themselves and others, reignite their sense of purpose, and improve selfefficacy. The program is provided fiscal sponsorship (Model B) by ECHO Group, Inc, a California Veteran-run 501(c) (3) founded in 2017 (EIN 36-4870618). “One of the reasons that I have chosen to do work/study programs at horse ranches is because housing is usually available,” said one Veteran participant. “The jobs also provide a community of hard-working people that most Veterans are seeking. We miss being on a team. Ranch work provides for that team atmosphere and shared common goals.”

The Elite Vocations curriculum is based, under license, on the internationallyrecognized Groom Elite horsemanship education program which has been training grooms at racetracks, breeding facilities, community colleges, and correctional facilities since 2001. “While the Groom Elite training will prepare

Veteran participants to enter a career working in the racing and commercial breeding industries (and other intensive fields), our focus area of employment will be with individual horse owners, boarding stables and show barns, smaller breeding operations, and similar equestrian businesses on California’s central coast that embrace the natural horsemanship approach and would love to offer a qualified Veteran a live-in position on their ranch,” said program co-founder Simon d’Unienville.

With this focus in mind, the Elite Vocations program combines the Groom Elite program with additional natural horsemanship training techniques to further enhance participants’ skills and knowledge, enabling them to take on assistant training roles in certain fields.

“In the five years that I’ve been facilitating equine-assisted therapy/learning programs for American Veterans I’ve seen how drastically even a few days spent working with horses can positively impact them – mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically,” said d’Unienville.

“Many Veterans I’ve worked with in the therapy programs have expressed a desire to get involved with horses on a more regular basis and showed a lot of talent working with horses, but I was unable to recommend them for [volunteer or paid] positions without knowing they had completed further training. When I was approached by the ECHO Group to start a non-profit horsemanship program for Veterans, I immediately knew I wanted to start a vocational training program to bridge the gap between Veterans who show the talent and desire to work in the equine industry, and their prospective employers who would be happy to take them on if they knew the Veteran was safe and confident around horses, understands the basics of feeding, handling and care, and knows when to ask for help,” he added.

The Elite Vocations program is currently working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to be registered as a vocational trade school to allow Veterans who qualify for the “Veteran Readiness and Employment” benefit to have their education paid for by the V.A. In the interim, the program is funded by private donors who see the benefit in providing employable skills (with mental and physical health benefits) to Veterans with service-connected disabilities.

The ground-based training program utilizes retired racehorses that have ended their racing career due to injury or lack of performance. In addition to providing training for the Veterans, the Elite Vocations program provides re-training for these horses, all of which are adopted out to suitable homes (through Win Place Home, a 501(c)(3) Thoroughbred rehabilitation and rehoming non-profit) at the end of each three-month program. “The use of these horses in the program gives them a second chance at a career, and we see many parallels between these horses and the Veterans we work with,” said d’Unienville.

Learn more about the Elite Vocations program at www.elitevocations.org. Please consider Helping our Heroes Heal through Horsemanship with a tax-deductible donation. You can lend these Veterans, and the retired racehorses in the program, a helping hand with a donation of $10 or more. Text HORSE to 53555 to donate today.