IT'S THE WEEKEND: Equine therapy in Pontypool

For three years the pair have seen firsthand the therapeutic benefits horses can bring to children and adults who have a range of behavioural difficulties and learning disabilities.

While communicating with animals can seem to many something best left to the imagination, the results at the sisters’ Woodland Farm, in rural Pantygasseg, show otherwise.

Around 100 people have come through their doors, some pupils on the brink of exclusion or others with such high levels of anxiety they are unable to function in mainstream school.

Sometimes it takes just a series of weekly sessions or in other cases a full time placement, but the transformative benefits of spending time with the farm’s 21 horses are manifold.

One mother of a 15-year-old with severe anxiety said she had “got her son back” after he spent time at the farm.

“It’s absolutely excellent,” said Ms Pritchard, who has kept horses all of her adult life with sister Lisa.

“Horses very much mirror people so in order to change how the horses are behaving children need to learn how to change their behaviour.”

Lisa Owen agrees: “The fact is that many of these young people get into trouble is because they are not able to control their emotions.

“To build trust with a horse they need to adapt their emotions so they learn how to do that.”

Both Lisa and Cathy are former teachers who have worked in Torfaen and the Forest of Dean with experience of helping children with special needs.

They first thought about running sessions when they read about “natural horsemanship” - a technique of building trust with the horses by communication and using a mutual language.

Working with their first rescue horses, Mickey and Ginger, the sisters said then learnt how to understand horses and communicate with them on a new level.

Ms Pritchard said: “It occurred to me we had everything, with the teaching background and natural horsemanship, it really lends itself well.”

Since then, pupils aged from as young as six years old up to teenagers are referred to them via local councils, schools or pupil referral units.

They work with children with a range of disorders including learning difficulties, autism, Asperger’s syndrome, behavioural problems and attention deficit and hyper activity. They also work with adults with learning disabilities.

Equine therapy, they explain, is not just about riding the horse.

Ms Owen said: “We work with the horse on the ground. It’s all about emulating their behaviour.

“You watch them in the field, you see them nibbling each other’s side and we emulate that with a stick to build up trust.

“They play games with us with the ball, it helps build trust with the horse.”

Ms Pritchard said it also is about “assertive leadership” which is ideal for children with anger issues. It means learning to lead the horse assertively but while being polite and not aggressive.

She said: “A lot of it is through body language. It works really, really well with children who have all kinds of anger issues.

“It’s about the environment too, for a child who gets aggressive in the classroom to be in an open space.”

Ms Owen said the first time she really understood how powerful the effects were was with one girl who had trouble at home.

Ms Owen said: “It was her second session at the farm. She had came to us as they really didn’t know what to do with her.

“We had just rescued some Shetlands and we brought them here. One day she was very, very anxious, very fractious. She got to the door to see the horse and she said, ‘I have got to calm down now’. She let it all go.”

When children arrive at the farm they are often given the opportunity to choose which horse they want to work with. Ms Owen said it always amazes her how often young people choose horses with similar backgrounds to them, for example a child who has suffered abuse may choose an abused horse. She said: “It’s phenomenal”.

Up until now Woodland Farm has been run as a private business, but local council budget cuts has meant it is not financially viable for the pair to continue.

Ms Pritchard said the sisters were at a point where about half the work they were doing was unpaid, but have now been looking at become a charity to enable people who cannot afford the therapy to still have the opportunity.

Last month charitable organization Friends of Woodland Farm was set up to help fundraise the initial £5,000 needed before Woodland Farm itself could apply to become a charity.

Sonia Morgan is chairperson of the Friends and knows firsthand the benefits after working at a local council which referred pupils to Woodland Farm.

She said: The students who have been brought up here have all been at risk of exclusion.

“Some of the primary age students have not been able to function in mainstream setting. Or some have additional learning needs and have been bouncing off the classroom walls and not able to form relationships.

“At the farm I have seen some pupils really grow and flourish. Emotionally they have been more stable and more able to balance their emotions.

“Afterwards some people go back to mainstream and full time education.”

She said for many children, as well as adults with learning difficulties, being at the farm gives a sense of purpose and focus and they treat it like a job.

So far no pupils who have been referred to the farm have been permanently excluded.

And on top of this, the farm also provides educational qualifications to its visitors in either applied equine behaviour or yard duties.

But now Ms Morgan said the next obstacle is fundraising. The group has already raised £200 but has a long way to go.

They are currently looking for local businesses who may like to provide sponsorship or donations to the farm.

But as they edge closer to their goal, things continue to look up. And the longer they can continue, the more benefits to young people and adults the horses can bring.

For more information please visit the Friends of Woodland Farm page at https://www.facebook.com/Friendsofwoodlandfarmhorses.