Significant Surroundings

The environment in which riding therapy takes place constitutes one of the major differences over traditional therapies.

Nature, the outdoors, and the farm setting provide unique, salutary and refreshing opportunities for those who stand to benefit from horses. Notably outside of the walls of clinics and hospitals and often in the fresh air of open country spaces, the change of scenery alone aids the psychological improvements in clients as well as breaking the routine of physiotherapists and psychiatrists who similarly stand to benefit from the outdoors.

The Fortune Centre, where I'm staying now, is further privileged by being located in Hampshire's New Forest in the south of England. The more than 90,000 acres of heath, bog, deciduous & conifer forest, streams and estuaries is also home to some 3,000 New Forest ponies allowed to roam among packets of land owned by commoners. Maintained by the council of verderers and agisters, the ponies are bred annually by registered stallions and the colts & foals rounded up for sale in order to monitor the number of ponies.

While the ponies are not wild in the strictest sense of the word, they nonetheless roam their respective areas with little human intervention. The herds have their most natural herd instincts still intact in a natural setting as opposed to a paddock or riding arena. The students at the Fortune Centre are able to witness what is as close to "wild herd" behavior as possible in this part of the world these days - right in their back yard, literally. Herd behavior is compared to the students' own interactions and used to discuss how one member may be harming another.

As a herd is interdependent on one another to fulfill the basic needs and therefore survive in the Forest, so must the students in the program depend on one another. They must communicate clearly when a peer is within their personal space, as a horse may bare its teeth, flatten its ears, and kick out, as well as help and assist one another, as mares will form a circle around babies to protect them from weather or predators. The students must similarly learn teamwork in order to accomplish a task impossible on their own.

Stallions are released into the forest for a three-month period in the late Spring/early summer to ensure the species' survival for the next year. This provides parallels and opportunities to discuss sexuality with the teenagers who, at times, resemble stallions and mares in heat themselves.

Perhaps most importantly, the Forest is a tranquil setting. Drawing thousands of tourists annually, the quiet, relatively remote location makes it ideal for this type of therapy. Away from distractions and full of natural beauty, the forest begs for introspection. Opportunities abound for walks, bike and horse rides on the miles of track, and trips to hundred-year old pubs. Idyllic, isn't it?

If only that meant that the students were lovely and well-behaved all the time. It is encouraging that the Centre utilizes their most valuable resource to a great extent, allowing the students to hack a horse in the forest and, weather-permitting, weekly activities in the forest. I have used it to fill my time and guard my sanity with long walks on the weekends and evenings. The only dangers are the rare adder and the omnipresent Stinging Nettle - no bear spray here! And it's flat and therefore more inviting to people who can tolerate only moderate physical exertion.

It's amazing how such a simple thing like getting outside can be so good. I guess that's what this project is about, after all. So get out!