News from the Sirona herd

Sirona Therapeutic Horsemanship is a local charity based on the Dartington Hall Estate providing equine and animal-assisted therapy and educational opportunities to disadvantaged young people. A number of the horses at Sirona are rescue animals and so provide an opportunity for young people who have experienced adverse childhood experiences to help the horses overcome their own challenges and heal.

Sirona supports around 100 vulnerable and disabled young people and adults each year through a number of different session types, ranging from 1-1 equine-assisted therapy sessions with a qualified counsellor, to the Level 1 OCNL animal care course where young people who struggle in school or are out of education can gain an accredited qualification. The charity also offers a weekly ‘supported volunteering’ morning where adults over 18 years with a range of support needs, such as mental health challenges, isolation or disabilities can come along and help with the many tasks involved in caring for all the animals. This small group is offered on a donation basis and supported by national lottery funding.

We have noticed a sharp increase over the past few years in young people being referred to Sirona with high levels of anxiety and being unable to attend school, often referred to as Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA). Currently half of the young people attending Sirona have been referred with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), are not attending school or are educated other than at school (EOTAS). Many of these young people have been traumatised by the education system, and are given further labels such as oppositional defiance disorder (ODD). One of the things we struggle with at Sirona is the widespread use of these terms and acronyms which we feel can lead to dehumanising, stigmatising and labelling of young people, and as a result is in contradiction to our child-led, relational approach. This is where horses provide the perfect antidote as horses and other animals are not interested in labels and acronyms, what clothes the child is wearing or whether they speak or not. In fact animals much prefer people who relate to them as they would like to be treated themselves, with respect, kindness and consideration of their individual strengths and needs – our ethos at Sirona. Providing an environment that meets the needs of both horse and human set against stressed social services and education systems together with over stretched funding streams can be very challenging at times. It is therefore heartening to witness powerful instances of connection and relationship between young people and our horses and other animals providing confirmation of all the hard work behind the scenes by our wonderfully passionate team at Sirona, with some feedback from young people;

“Animals make me feel happy and the horses are amazing and I love them.”

“I feel calmer – I got taught that the horses feel calmer if you take a big breath – I’ve realised that if I do that myself it works that same for me”.

“Making relationships with horses feels a lot easier than making relationships with people.”

Improving the biodiversity of our site is linked to our wider environmental commitment, which is woven into our belief that we are all part of a wider ecosystem. Over the past few years we have seen the huge impact just small changes on our site can have to both the soil, nature and wildlife. Each year we have been resting, mulching and reseeding different areas with native meadow grass seed and herbs, then leaving this to seed into late summer so providing habitat for butterflies and insects before allowing the horses on to graze the longer and less rich grass over the autumn. This has improved both our land’s soil health together with our horses’ health, and attracted more insects and wildlife as a result. We now have barn and tawny owls, stoats, hedgehogs, bats, lots of different butterflies, dragonflies, newts and toads in our pond, and lots of different birds including both green and greater spotted woodpeckers across our site.

The charity’s patron, environmental journalist George Monbiot says; “I challenge anyone to visit Sirona and not be deeply inspired. It epitomises everything we should be proud of in this country: care and empathy for the most vulnerable among us (in this case both people and horses); brilliant staff achieving wonders on a very limited budget, constant learning and improvement. I’m proud to be associated with it”. George Monbiot, Environmentalist, author, journalist and a Patron of Sirona

For those who would like to learn more about Sirona we have the following events coming up.

16th May: Introduction to Equine-Assisted Interactions – the Sirona approach. A 1 day course for those interested in learning more about equine and animal-assisted therapy and learning and what is involved in working in this field. £165. Booking – diane@sironaequine.org.uk

Sirona Summer Community Open Day on 25th July. The days runs between 11-3pm and entry is by donation. This is the opportunity to meet the horses and other animals together with lots of fun activities for all the family including horse-shoe painting and games, bric a brac and plant stalls and refreshments available on the day.

Lucy Rees Ethology Day on 19th September: Screening of her new documentary flim ‘Notes About Horses’ and a guided observation with the Sirona herd. £125. Booking – diane@sironaequine.org.uk

29th October: Autumn Community Open Morning, 10am – 1pm. Meet the horses and team. Art activities, refreshments and merchandise for Christmas presents on sale. Entry by donation.

To find out more and for booking see our website www.sironaequine.org.uk.