Meet The Family
A passionate undertaking for this incredible duo, Green Apple has been carefully built up by Iliza Ikhbal and Dr Ali Azman. They have striven to bring hippotherapy to Malaysia as a medical treatment for individuals with special needs, and are purveyors of TRUE hippotherapy, staying close to the scientific and medical basis of this form of therapy.
Iliza Ikhbal
“Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.”
Iliza is the passion that drives Green Apple at its helm. Her love of horses, cultivated by years of riding and handling them combined with her mother's heart for children with special needs conceived the idea of Green Apple.
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A mother of four with a special needs child herself, Iliza understands the need to enhance each child’s life in order to better their quality of life.
Further Studies
Noticing that equine therapy was not at all as simple as riding a horse, Iliza took the initiative to further understand hippotherapy by attending a workshop in Hunter Valley Sydney Australia (May 2014) and a workshop conducted by EATSA in Cape Town, South Africa 2014.
In 2015, Iliza felt that nothing would stop her from bringing Hippotherapy to its highest level; so she then pursued a higher level course in hippotherapy specialising in the Hippo Kinesio Educational Rehabilitation (Hi.K.E.R) approach from Greek Scientific Association of Therapeutic Riding And Hippotherapy (G.S.A.T.R.H) in Athens, Greece.
Iliza was a certified professional trainer in character building, leadership, marketing and team building prior to Green Apple and for two years, was actively involved as a character building trainer for the National Service. She has also been trained in Neuro Linguistic Programming and Hypnotherapy with the American Board of NLP and Hypnotherapy.
Iliza is currently still actively riding, training and competing with her horses in dressage and endurance. She has completed a course in Basic Horse Management – the ‘O’ levels conducted by the Majlis Ekuin Malaysia and is now in the process of completing the ‘Introduction to Coaching’ course.
Dr Ali Azman Minhaj
And you ask "What if I fall?
Oh but my darling, what if you fly?”
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Dr Ali Azman is a pediatric consultant with more than 40 years of experience in the field.
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He received his early education at the Royal Military College in the year 1962 to 1965. He then began his journey into the medical field at University Malaya from 1965 to 1972. In 1975, he furthered his education in the United Kingdom and obtained a Paediatric Specialist Degree (MRCP Paeds UK).
He returned to Malaysia in 1978 to take up a post as Medical Lecturer, in the Medical Faculty of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Five years later, he was promoted to Associate Professor in Paediatrics at the same university. In that same year, he also became the Head of Pediatric Department.
A Lifetime Of Medical Service
In 1984, he was conferred Johan Setia Diraja by the Yang Dipertuan Agong. A year later, he resigned from the university to start a private practice as a Pediatric Consultant in Subang Jaya Medical Centre and continues practising there until today.
Dr Ali is also an avid horserider having taken up the hobby in 2013. He continues to expand his scientific knowledge in the field of hippotherapy, having read and studied hundreds of scientific journals, books and articles on the subject to date. Dr Ali is a firm believer that hippotherapy, done right, is an extremely beneficial form of therapy and is an important part of the overall treatment programme for children with special needs.