OUR STORY
Littleriver equestrian is run by mother and daughter duo, Katana and Tayla Hutchison, based on their family farm in Wainuiomata.
Our aim is in creating kind, persevering and positive riders with solid foundations and a well rounded education.
With the skills to be able to understand horses, help them and support them ridden and on the ground. We teach riders how horses think and communicate, how to care for them, how our body affects our horse when riding, riding with confidence and clear communication.
Good foundations are important to keep riders safe. Meaning they have the correct balance, skills and confidence for the next step.
Our philosophy with our horses is based on the idea that using patience, consistency and understanding of how horses think, communicate and learn will produce horses with willing attitudes and good work ethics. Each horse needs an individual training program to suit their needs. Our training stems from equitation science and positive reinforcement.
OUR TEAM
Katana - Owner/coach
Katana has always had a passion for horses which she passed down to her eldest daughter Tayla. They are both qualified instructors and enjoy coaching riders of all levels. They both believe in creating kind riders and happy horses.
Katana loves dressage and is a full time coach. She has her D/D+ Pony club coaching certificate. Although she enjoys teaching all disciplines her heart lies in dressage, which she spent a lot of her riding career competing in.
Tayla - Manager/Coach
Tayla began riding at a young age and now spends almost all her time with the horses. She coaches full time and is also a wedding photographer. (We are super lucky she photographs our camps and outings too!)
She has her D/D+ NZPCA coaching certificate, studied equine at school, attended ride with your mind coaching clinic with Mary Wanless and has been a working student for Kelly Wilson.
Tayla competes in show jumping when she has the time and owns seven horses.
Elliette- Yard staff
Elliette's an invaluable member of our team.
She's always positive and hard working as she goes about her duties feeding the horses and ensuring the yard is clean and tidy. She also owns a horse called Pumpkin, who lives at Littleriver.
Arabella - Junior coach
Arabella joined us two years ago as a volunteer. She quickly became a solid member of the team, helping out multiple times a week and you'll often see her at our inhouse events. She is fabulous with our young riders, often taking pony rides during the day and helping at our holiday programs!
Gwen - Junior coach
Gwen has been with us for over 8 years, starting with us as a beginner when she was young. She is a kind, solid rider who is now studying to be a coach and teaches regularly on Saturdays. We feel so lucky to have her as part of our team and love watching her continue to grow in the equestrian world.
About Littleriver
An american barn is one of the first things you see when you arrive at Littleriver equestrian. Our 20x40 arena is where some of the riding takes place and our riders love taking the horses through the river for adventures. We also have multiple paddocks we use for riding plus X country jumps scattered around. We are also lucky enough to have access to adventures over next door's farm and if its a warm day we head down to the swimming hole to take the ponies for a swim.
The farm was brought as a bare block in 2002 and we have slowly made it what it is today.
