Therapy Centre

Another quarter has passed and the new viewing room is in regular use by parents, teachers and carers as well as the staff and volunteers. The straw barn, beside the gallery on the ground floor, is in the completion stage so that the straw for overwintering can be stored there instead of the old straw barn with its asbestos roof. This will be completed soon.

The Therapy Centre will be another huge effort and will allow many others to be helped, particularly those with PTSD and with life-changing issues that prevent them from enjoying life as they have done before. Riding is incredibly therapeutic for trauma sufferers as well as the conditions mentioned above. One of the horses, Rowan, was bought in part by Four Marks and Medstead Rotary some years ago and is now proving a very remarkable therapy horse. Yard Manager Jacky Nuth, thanks to generous donations, has been on training courses to be able to help those in need of this type of therapy and is already using those skills with Rowan as her primary therapy horse.

One of Jacky's first beneficiaries is Caroline whom I met first at the Broadlands RDA open day in July. Amidst the greenery of her stall, she told me about her stroke and its frustrations. I asked her about Rowan, with whom she has been working and is turning out to be a star therapy horse. Caroline loves Rowan, pictured above with Jacky. Caroline told me how wonderfully calming and soothing Rowan is, allowing her to lean against him. He nuzzles up to her and really makes her feel relaxed and happy. She says that Rowan is the best comfort she could have.

Once I have enough information to update the full project, I will be outlining, on the Global Giving site, what the steps will be to progress the construction of a new building dedicated to adult as well as child therapies.