Sam Ski Area Management - Index

Sam Ski Area Management - stable_management - Index

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Consider the big picture, too.
Aside from the immediate reward of
having additional help on the farm,
you’re also setting yourself up with
valuable international contacts and
opening yourself up to a different culture.
“Instead of the day-to-day grind
and seeing the same people every day,
the apprentices add an extra spark,”
Cunningham says.
“I think it’s great for the industry
as a whole when people come here,”
McKeever says. “Your students will
take the practical experience they
gain at your farm and carry it over to
their future careers.”
“I feel we can all learn from being
around people from other cultures.
Learning tolerance and acceptance for
those who are different from us is an
important life lesson, not just a lesson
for the horse world,” says international
dressage rider Dr. Cesar Parra
of Performance Farms in Whitehouse
Station, N.J.
How to Make It Work
With all of the international travel
restrictions imposed today, many foreign
exchange hosts turn to exchange
organizations for assistance in setting
up their own exchange program.
Communicating for Agriculture (CA),
which has an equine exchange office
based in Lexington, Ky., is one such
organization.
For a nominal fee, groups like CA
offer structure and support for equine
professionals exploring the possibility
of hosting exchange students.
They take care of the visa requirements,
are the central contact for
issues that arise with a student, and
can assist in finding and screening
applicants.
Repeat hosts will say you can’t
know enough about a person before
they show up at your door: “It’s not
really worth going into unless you’ve
found someone who’s going to stay
with you the whole time,” Cunningham
says. Hosts who organize their
own exchange program utilize
video—which is becoming much easier
via the Internet—interviews, and
thorough reference checks.
Working students, says Dawson,
usually “have to come and spend two
days to interview normally, but…for
overseas students I will waive that
and do it by telephone.” Dawson usually
has four or five working students
at a time.
Character issues are paramount.
“I look more for the individual than
I do for where they came from,” Foth
says. Parra agrees: “My most important
prerequisites for the exchange
students are that they have a positive
attitude and a desire to learn. With
those qualities, I am able to teach the
riders a lot.”
On the flip side of that coin, CA
screens hosts to determine compatibility
with the program and work-
19 / October 2008