TheHorseCourse

22/05/2025

ANNOUNCEMENT MAY 2025

HAPPY NEWS: At our volunteer closing party we were able to make a last minute announcement to introduce HorseWorks! Emma Letchford, our service manager, is setting up a new charity to continue delivering TheHorseCourse programmes at our Weymouth site on a smaller scale. WE ARE NOT CLOSING OUR DOORS: from May 24th until at least mid September 2025 TheHorseCourse will subcontract service delivery to HorseWorks - giving it time to gain charity status and to sign a longer term lease for premises.

We would like to thank Dorset Council Childrens Services for extraordinary support to make this a seamless transition. Supported volunteering, alternative education and equine-assisted services will be continuing with the minimum of disruption.

During this transition period referrers can continue to contact Emma on the usual TheHorseCourse email address, and all work will sit under TheHorseCourse policies, commissioning frameworks and compliance.

Four ponies, Colin the Cat and some hens will stay onsite - we have already re-homed a number of ponies and hens to our other hubs, or back to World Horse Welfare for a well-earned rest.

TheHorseCourse will step back from running its own centre and instead concentrate on supporting the 10 existing UK hubs and those overseas, and on training more. Also, to focus on mass-scale innovation projects such as the VR/Robotics versions of TheHorseCourse ReStart which have been in experimental development with Bristol and Bournemouth Universities for the past couple of years.

The whole staff team and our trustees want to thank our wonderful participants, volunteers, professional colleagues and community for all the kind wishes and amazing offers of help. It has really helped us all to stay positive whilst working through a tricky time and it is cheering to have such a happy outcome.

01/05/2025

Could you help? This year has seen a large increase in demand for Deerview's services and we’re looking for an additional place to work from. We’re not looking for a handout, and can pay rent at the current market value.
What are we looking for?
• 3-6 acres of well drained land (woodland considered if there is a cleared area), but would consider more or less land. We can tidy/clear/fence the land if necessary
• An existing barn/building (approx 6mx6m or bigger) or the opportunity to put up a covered area (this would be a temporary structure), a bonus would be an additional building for storage, tearoom, office space or the opportunity to put one in (this would be a temporary structure)
• Within around ½ hour of the Bournemouth/Poole area
• Easy access by car
What can we offer as a tenant?
• Reliable and responsible
• References available
• Rental payment in advance on time and happy to pay a deposit
• Tidy and organised
• Able to carry out our own repairs and maintenance if required
• A professional organisation (Both BCP and Dorset Councils use our services)
• Environmentally responsible
• Respectful of the land
We work mostly 1:1 and occasionally with small groups. All visitors are always accompanied by a member of staff.
If you have something that may be suitable and are interested in supporting a local charity and those within your community who need support to be successful in their lives, please do get in touch with Jo - [email protected] or 07341 041045

21/03/2025

SAD NEWS: we have taken the difficult decision to close our Weymouth TheHorseCourse Centre. The centre has become unsustainable in the face of rising costs and diminishing funding streams (both charitable and statutory), due to the economic climate.

We plan to close to the public at the end of May. We will then be rehoming the ponies, hens and Colin the cat and clearing the site. We already have homes pledged, mainly with other TheHorseCourse centres across the UK.

As a charity, we will continue to train and support others to run hubs around the UK and abroad. We are actively working with stakeholders to find appropriate places for our trained staff facilitators to deliver our programmes in and around Weymouth. We will also keep going on our mass-scale innovation projects such as the VR/Robotics versions of TheHorseCourse ReStart which are in progress with Bournemouth and Bristol Universities.

The whole staff team and our trustees want to thank our wonderful participants, volunteers, professional colleagues and community for all the joyful time we have spent together, with our incredible animals, making beautiful memories. 🥲

11/02/2025

We're a little late posting about Mental Health Week, which ended on Sunday, due to a busy period, but we still want to take a moment to recognise its importance and encourage everyone to prioritise their well-being.

The theme Know Yourself, Grow Yourself focused on youngsters being self aware and building skills to be more resilient to life’s challenges.
We can’t say we are surprised that a quarter of all Childline’s counselling sessions dealt with young people’s anxiety - stemming from bullying, negative body image, world issues like climate change and global conflict.

We see so much of it here TheHorseCourse. We have evidence to prove that what we do here really works to teach the skill of calmness, to build in self awareness so that our participants recognise for themselves when their anxiety is building and know what to do to reduce it.
The feedback from one recent participant sums it up: “I learnt how to be calm.”
Please help us to keep helping youngsters (and adults) overcome their anxieties and live a life free from fear. 💙

05/02/2025

It's been a tough few weeks for us here at TheHorseCourse.

Endless rain turning our horses grazing to mud and making everything more difficult for horses and humans. On top of that lots of winter bugs have hit pretty much all of our staff leaving us a bit short-handed.

Luckily we have a super flexible team who can't be held back by the winter blues! Kirsty is usually in charge of our Volunteers and Gardens but she's been mucking in (and out!) with horse care and is busy this morning giving the ponies a spa day because we want them to feel fabulous despite the wet and mud. Michelle is usually in charge of admin but has been looking after the chickens, taking care of volunteers and filling up endless haynets, while our remaining facilitators have been very busy still delivering a full service and covering extra sessions for those who are poorly. What wonderful team!

Our ponies need a lot of extra hay, bedding and care to keep them comfy, warm and dry at the moment. If you would like to help us to cover these additional costs please use the donate button or donate via our website www.thehorsecourse.org.

Thank you 🙂

30/01/2025

We are a proud HETI member - and very pleased that we were able to contribute to this international effort by helping to set out the legal and best practice requirements for UK Equine Assisted Service practitioners.

We are delighted to list the National Standards for EAS for 4 different countries on our website - Brazil, France, New Zealand and the UK. We think this is a vital resource for EAS providers globally, not only to ensure they are following the National Standard for their country, but to also understand the standards from other countries.

If you're interested in adding information about the National Standards for your country, please email the HETI office.

To see the National standards listing, visit: https://hetifederation.org/national-standards-for-eas/

15/01/2025

We love to work with other local organisations to improve the lives of young people and adults in Weymouth. Here's a wonderful success story for one of our service users,Tameka, who originally came to us to do a ReStart and has been a regular volunteer since.

If you'd like to find out more about our volunteering programme contact [email protected]

25/12/2024

That's a wrap!

Our staff and ponies started their holidays last Friday and will be back in action after New Year. Thank you to all our followers and supporters we hope you all have a wonderful time however you choose to spend this holiday.

See you in 2025!!

24/12/2024

An urgent plea.

We almost never send out requests for donations, and please respond only if you really can afford to. TheHorseCourse provides life-changing equine assisted interventions when all else has failed. Often we are told that we have literally saved our participants' lives. But we need to raise £30,000 to carry on this vital work.

We help young people referred by Social Care, NHS Mental Health Services and Education when talking isn't working. Through the magic of beautiful, relationship-based horsemanship we teach the youngsters to self-calm, to communicate with the ponies in a kind yet assertive way to do achieve tasks like kicking giant balls, running and jumping over obstacles or circling at liberty.

It is amazing to see troubled, anxious children unfurl during the programme to become playful and confident, with a new set of resilience skills to cope with life, relationships and school.

We help over 700 people each year, and they stay with us for as long as they need – learning through horsemanship, animal care, horticulture, cooking and teamwork - at our wonderful 20 acre centre, safe and supported along with the rescue ponies and hens, and the veggie garden.

Our intensive equine-assisted ReStart programme is one of the most researched action-based interventions in the world, with a new study from Bournemouth University in the press only this week, and lots more on our website www.thehorsecourse.org/evidence.

To donate, please follow this link https://donate.justgiving.com/charity/thehorsecourse/donation-amount or click the Donate button on our website. Every penny helps, even if you aren't able to donate please share this post to help spread the word.

Thank you so much!

23/12/2024

All our ponies have free access to turnout and plenty of stimulation but it never hurts to add a bit of enrichment to their indoor environment. The hanging swede challenge went down a lot better with some than with others. Plum got stuck in right away which was no surprise to us. He has a playful inquisitive nature and loves his food!

19/12/2024

Exciting news—our ReStart program has been evaluated by Bournemouth University , and the results published in the Mental Health and Wellbeing journal.

It highlights the incredible impact of equine-assisted interventions on improving mental health outcomes for at-risk youth. By working with horses, participants develop confidence, emotional regulation, and coping skills in a supportive and therapeutic environment. 💙

Read more about it here

Learning to communicate with horses through body language helps reduce anxiety and improve social skills in vulnerable youngsters.

18/12/2024

Introducing Pumpkin!
Pumpkin came to earlier this year. Like many of our equine colleagues she is a rescue pony from Horse Welfare. She is super cute and sure to be a firm favourite with participants.
She is still quite young despite already being a mum herself but is very kind and curious. She gets worried and easily distracted, especially in the outdoor school when she is on her own, so participants will need to help her by keeping calm and redirecting her focus.
Pumpkin is gaining in confidence quickly and when she feels more settled we're sure she is likely to have lots of her own ideas which will provide some additional challenge.

You can help us to help Pumpkin and the young people and adults she works with by donating using the button below!