“Are horses made of ivory?” The day 57 pupils came to visit

Most people who know us are aware of our work with Riding for the Disabled, but we also do outreach within the local community, visiting schools, care homes and hospitals. And sometimes we host visits.

This week we welcomed 57 pupils from Richmond upon Thames secondary school in Twickenham. This was an enrichment activity, the inspired choice of Deputy Head Teacher Pippa Wright. The aim was to learn something new but definitely have fun too.

We chose The Horse’s Voice as the theme because it summed up everything we wanted to explain about the wonderful connection between horse and human. That it’s not a one-way street.

Our visitors were visibly nervous. Most had never seen a horse in real life and some were trembling with apprehension. It was down to us to show them the magic of horses. As the children gained confidence and relaxed, their comments and questions reminded us why we do this. “Are horses made of ivory, like elephants?”, “I feel like a warrior!”, “Riding a horse feels like having a massage”. We loved their reactions! If just one or two of our young visitors are inspired to spend time around horses in the future, it will make us very proud.

It was a full day. With such a large group it required military precision and attention to time-keeping to make sure everyone got to do all of the 8 activities. The children learned the basics of horse care and welfare, took part in grooming and mucking out, and everyone got a 30 minute ride of their own. There was even a disability awareness activity where the children were encouraged to think about what it would be like to have a physical disability. How hard did it suddenly become to walk across the yard, let alone negotiate a mounting block, when blindfolded?

Our volunteers had turned out in force and were just brilliant, keeping us all to time, and making sure that all the children were happy and safe. But then, they’re all fully signed up warriors.

Pippa Wright said afterwards: “It was great to reward the students after such a tough 18 months and their beaming smiles at the end of the day were proof of how much they enjoyed the whole experience. Several have already come up to me today saying they want to go back. Thank you to Nat and all the team for making their day so special.”