Teaching is Susan Hopkins' life - when she's not teaching people as an associate lecturer at the University of Queensland, she is teaching horses.
Recent wins in the Palomino/Arab under saddle sections of the Logan, Greenbank and Rosewood shows have qualified her to compete on her Palomino/Arab horse, Mirabbe, in the Palomino under saddle section of the upcoming Royal Brisbane Show on August 9.
Ms Hopkins, who is currently helping to prepare the curriculum for the University's new bachelor of social science to be offered at UQ Ipswich from February 1999, has been training horses for 10 years after learning to ride when she was 10.
She said horse-training involved teaching horses "manners" - to be obedient and respond to commands such as to trot, canter or gallop and perform manoeuvres such as a figure of eight.
She trains her two horses, Mirabbe and thoroughbred To Dare Debonair, at her 20-hectare property at Rosewood. She and partner Tim Boxall moved to the area two years ago when Mr Boxall was transferred to a communications/signalling position at the RAAF's Amberley base.
On August 9, the couple will have slept overnight at the showgrounds in preparation for the day's competition. Up early, they will get Mirabbe ready for his appearance by painting his hooves black and plaiting his mane and tail. The six-year-old will have been well-fed his regular diet of carrots, oats, barley and a cup of sunflower oil (to maintain a shiny coat).
However, Ms Hopkins said horse-training was very much a hobby, coming second to her role preparing for the new bachelor of social science course at the University of Queensland Ipswich. She said she was very enthusiastic about the new degree as it offered a general education as well as a strong vocational emphasis.
She said the degree's definite vocational dimension was contained in its field study element, work experience opportunities and workplace links. "We get students out into the community, helping real people," she said.
Ms Hopkins has a bachelor of education and a master of education from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and is currently completing a PhD with QUT's School of Social Science.
Social and Behavioural Sciences Executive Dean Professor Linda Rosenman said the three-year undergraduate course was concerned with how people lived and worked together, focusing on people, social and cultural changes in local, national and international communities.
She said it offered two career concentrations unique to Ipswich - applied communication and development studies.
"Applied communication explores the significance and role of communication within community organisations, firms and agencies while in development studies, students will be looking at working with communities at local and international levels to create positive, sustainable futures," Professor Rosenman said.
Ms Hopkins is one of four staff members recently appointed to administer and teach the new degree. Other staff are lecturer Dr Ingrid Burkett and associate lecturers Mindy Thorpe and Giorel Curran.
For more information, contact Ms Hopkins (telephone 07 3365 3024 at work, 041 749 3699 mobile or 07 5464 6172 at home).
