An Eden-based riding centre has been given extra horsepower thanks to broadband provider Fibrus.
Happy Hooves Riding Centre, near Penrith, has had two new show jumps funded by a £1,800 grant from the firm.
The centre, owned and run by Alison Noble, supports children and young people who struggle in mainstream education.
Happy Hooves uses horses to help children and young people build confidence, resilience and skills for life through practical, hands-on learning.
The centre is part of the British Horse Society’s national Changing Lives programme, supporting children who may have ADHD, autism, learning difficulties, education and care plans, or those excluded from school.
Alison said: “I’ve been involved with horses all my life. I sold a large trekking centre in 2014, and while examining for the British Horse Society I saw a riding school working with children who were in care, had been abused or were out of education.
“They gained confidence through the horses and went on to employment. I thought, ‘That’s what I want to do’.”
Happy Hooves now supports up to 26 young people a week. Sessions at the centre are hands-on and practical, with learning woven naturally into daily tasks. It also has a horse simulator and mechanical horse for those youngsters who are nervous around the real thing.
“They do morning stables, weigh feed – so they are learning maths – check horses for health, groom them, learn about land management, and then they might have a riding lesson or a hack,” Alison said.
“The outcomes we work towards are communication, confidence, teamwork, responsibility, building relationships and perseverance.
“The horses don’t judge them. They build a bond, and it’s amazing how the confidence they gain around horses carries back into the classroom.”
The grant, from the Hyperfast Cumbria Connections Fund, delivered by Fibrus, funded the new jumps, but far from being a one-trick pony, the new equipment is used in a variety of ways.
Alison said: “We use the poles for grid work and pole work as well, so they’re really beneficial for lots of different exercises. They’re multi-use, not just static jumps.
“They’re brilliant. They’re bright and colourful, and the kids think, ‘The horse isn’t going to jump that’, but the horses don’t bother at all. It makes the kids think about how they ride and how they set the horse up.”
Alison has seen how the programme can indeed change lives.
She said: “We had two lads who came straight out of primary school during the COVID-19 pandemic and couldn’t cope with secondary school because of anxiety. They’re now both 17, have tractor licences, part-time farm jobs, and are more confident and social than they ever were before.
“We’re so proud of them – they’re role models for the younger ones.”
She estimates Happy Hooves has supported at least 45 to 50 young people to date and has ambitions to expand further into care farming and agricultural skills.
Alison added: “We just want to give them more opportunities otherwise they would be in bed or on the Xbox; they wouldn’t be going to school.
“When they come to us, they’re getting fresh air, they’re making friends, and learning to work as a team.”
