Our Programs
Do you want to learn how to deliver safe, meaningful therapeutic riding or equine assisted learning sessions? Are you already an equine assisted practitioner looking for creative session planning resources and fresh ideas?
Our range of Equine Assisted Learning and Therapeutic Riding programs offer a simple, cost-effective way to begin providing one of our award-winning services, so that you can start to work alongside horses to help people in your own setting. Each of our programs is tried and tested over years of practice with real clients. They are peer-reviewed and independently evaluated to ensure high levels of quality, consistency and safety. You will receive an A4, spiral-bound, printed curriculum full of session plans, equipment lists and safety information as well as an on-demand online practitioner training course to help you learn how to use it. Purchase one today to kick-start your program!
The Alpha Mare Course
Equine Assisted Mental Health Peer Support for Women
The Marsh Christian award-winning Alpha Mare Course is a peer support program for women with a unique selling point: horses! Developed with Women Side by Side funding from the mental health charity Mind and Agenda, the alliance for women and girls, it is now available to buy so that you can deliver this step by step women's mental health peer support course to your own clients.
The Alpha Mare in a herd is an assertive leader and fierce protector who has strong and connected relationships with the others in her herd. Like the lead mare, women are often nurturers. They are programmed by society to take care of others and prone to make personal sacrifices. Due to putting their own needs last, they don't always access help for mental health.
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The Alpha Mare Course helps women to reconnect with themselves and one another as they gather together to practice self care and peer support, learning to cultivate their own Alpha Mare qualities.
The Penytrip Project
Equine Assisted Social Skills Curriculum
The Penytrip Project is an equine assisted learning intervention for children and young people who need help with their behaviour, communication or self esteem. It involves individual young people or small groups working on the ground with horses to learn kind, ethical horsemanship techniques. During the process, the horses acts as a mirror, helping a young person who might struggle socially to see how their voice, body language and even breathing can influence another living creature.
Horses making the perfect learning partner when it comes to social skills. As herd animals, they are wired for connection. Horses don't judge, they don't lie and they have no hidden agenda. Even a child who has learned to trust no-one can trust a horse, forming a relationship based on clear communication and mutual respect.
The Life Hack Curriculum
Life and Work Skills for NEET Young People
The Life Hack Curriculum is designed to help young people aged 15- 25 to develop essential skills through caring for and training horses. It can be adapted to deliver academic, life or employability skills. It is ideal for NEET young people, care-experienced young people, younger children who are gifted or home schooled, adults with a learning difficulty, young people in alternative provision, young people with autism, ADHD and other neurodivergences, teens who are disengaged from education, students who struggle in the traditional classroom environment and young people who have lost their love of or confidence in learning.
The program takes place over 12 weekly sessions lasting 90 mins- 2 hours and incorporates both horsemanship and horse care tasks. Each week has a theme and these include:
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·Staying safe
·Being healthy
·Responsibility
·Respect
·Communication
·Motivation
·Adaptability
·Positive attitude
·Managing emotions
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Designed to be used in both traditional and non-traditional equine environments, this is a great entry-level curriculum for riding instructors, equine assisted professionals, rescue centre workers, care farming practitioners and alternative/outdoor education providers who want to add a new dimension to their work.
The Overcoming Obstacles Curriculum
Therapeutic Riding for Survivors of Domestic Violence
Overcoming Obstacles is a therapeutic riding program designed for women and girls who have experienced domestic violence, abuse and coercion. As they learn to literally overcome obstacles, through Competitive Western Trail Riding and Horse Agility, the project empowers women to develop essential life skills, build confidence, improve mental and physical health, create social networks and gain leadership skills.​
First developed with funding from Comic Relief and delivered in partnership with Gorwel as part of the Levelling the Field (LtF) initiative. LtF projects use sport to inspire women and girls to reach their full potential. Overcoming Obstacles was designed to promote gender equality, reduce gender stereotypes, increase social inclusion, improve leadership skills, increase opportunities to access education training and employment and tackle violence against women and girls. Outcomes for women and girls accessing the project included increased confidence and self-esteem, development of new skills and opportunities to use these skills, development of new positive social networks and increased physical activity linked to improved mental health and wellbeing. We shared these findings at international conferences including the PATH International Annual Conference in Florida and the HETI Conference in Dublin. A full report on this groundbreaking partnership approach can be found here:
The Equine Assisted Practitioner's Handbook
This manual is intended to provide a comprehensive resource for people who are learning to or are already practising in the fields of Therapeutic Horsemanship or Equine Assisted Learning. It is also for anyone wanting to find out more about the art, science and skill that underpins these forms of equine-human interaction.
For the purposes of this book, it is assumed that you are already trained and credentialed to provide equine assisted activities at least at assistant level (i.e. under the supervision of another practitioner) and that, if you are not, you will complete the appropriate training before attempting to offer services.