Silverdale Farm seeking to unearth next generation of horse industry leaders in the Southern Highlands

 

The future leaders in the equine industry might be living in the Southern Highlands right now.

That's the hope of the Silverdale Academy at least who ran a series of workshops in the Highlands over the school holidays in July.

Run by the Avoca-based Silverdale Farm in conjunction with TAFE NSW, the programs seek to introduce students aged 16-25 to the opportunities of working on a horse breeding farm with the potential of a career in breeding, racing or in other sectors of the horse industry.

TAFE teacher Linda Molloy teaching students.

Silverdale Farm's Danielle Tiller said educating people from rural areas like the Highlands was critical to the ongoing viability of the horse industry.

"One of the critical factors affecting our industry is the ability, and particularly in the Southern Highlands region, to grow and retain staff," she said.

"We believe early exposure for students to have access to training and education programs will fill this employment gap in the future.

 "With a shortage of qualified staff in Australia, the industry needs to seek qualified staff from overseas. Creating education and early career pathways for our students means we are creating future employment opportunities for Australians, in particular in our regional areas."

The most recent program run was run in the Highlands over July 18-21, in partnership with Thoroughbred Breeders NSW. Ms Tiller said the region was particularly well suited to the program and thanked the community for their support.  "Silverdale Farm were thrilled to have been selected as the location for the Southern Highlands region," she continued.

"This is a great opportunity to support our Southern Highlands region in obtaining core competency skills in leadership and mentoring staff.

"Silverdale Farm are continuously advocating within the Southern Highlands region to build career pathways within the horse breeding industry.

"We have received overwhelming support for the education initiatives we are putting into place and feel it would be wonderful to share with the community.

Our next Intern program commences 12 September with on-farm component starting in October. Registrations close 26 August.

To Register, email: linda.molloy@tafensw.edu.au