FAQ
• How much will it cost?
We work out a price for each session based on how long each rider can ride for, how much support and how many staff are needed to run each session, prices start from £15.
• What happens in a session?
This is 100% tailored to the individual, we work with the rider, their family, schools, or medical professionals to provide a plan that will help them achieve their goals, not just within riding, but also physically and emotionally. We can work on stretching, hand eye co-ordination, speech, and language, all through riding exercises and games.
• How long is each session?
Again, this is tailored to each rider, we may start with a 30-minute session which includes some grooming and a short ride until we have built up confidence and stamina.
• My child sometimes has challenging behaviours, is this a problem?
Many of our staff have personal experience with additional needs, through our own children or previous work /training. We understand that sometimes situations can be overwhelming, and we understand that this can show in a range of ways. Our horses are used to loud ‘stimming’ and shouting, the only time we would pause a session would be if we felt our equines were in danger, or the rider was displaying self-injurious behaviour and needed assistance.
• When do the sessions run?
We have various availability throughout the week and depending on the needs of each rider we will match you with the most suitable instructor. Most of our sessions run on a Thursday and Friday afternoon.
• My child attends school, is this an issue?
We already work with several schools to provide sessions during the school day for pupils, this is either arranged directly with the school, or by parents and the rider is ‘released’ from school for the session time. If you would like us to liaise with your child’s school to provide any documents, risk assessments, DBS checks etc we are happy to do so
• I have / my child has mobility issues; will this stop me riding?
Riders will be expected to mount from a mounting block, at the moment this means climbing 4 steps, We can offer some support for this but we cannot assist with lifting clients, for health and safety reasons. If as a parent / carer you are happy to lift a smaller child onto one of our ponies, we are happy for this to happen.
• What will I / my child have to wear?
The key is comfort so there is no need for jodhpurs or special clothing, leggings or jogging bottoms are great alternatives. Footwear where possible should be a boot with a small heel, like a wellington. If you or your child needs to wear any medical devices like leg splints and need to wear specialist footwear, we can allow for this. We can provide riding hats to our riders, if there is a medical or religious reason why you or your child requires an alternative to a traditional riding hat, we have a waiver for this.
• Are your instructors trained / experienced?
All of our staff are first aid and safeguarding trained, and have up to date DBS checks, many of our staff have personal experience with additional need through our own children, or through previous work and training. We have staff who can sign Makaton and has been through additional training in mental health, coaching children in sport and in supporting those with additional needs. We also receive regular training updates direct from the RDA.
• Do you have any specialist equipment?
We currently have a range of equipment that we can use to help riders in our sessions, we have various types of reins, a special supportive saddle (suitable for children to small teenagers) and various sensory toys. We are always looking for new ideas and will be adding to our equipment as new ideas are developed, we also encourage input from our riders and their professionals , if you have something that will help you in your session , you can bring it along and we can incorporate it if we can do it safely.