The British Horse Society Changing Lives Through Horses is an alternative education programme where children and young people can learn in a safe and nurturing environment alongside highly trained coaches at British Horse Society Approved Riding Centres. The BHS believes that horses and equine facilitated learning can have a remarkable role to play in impacting on a young person’s life.

When was the programme developed?

The Changing Lives Through Horses programme was developed and piloted in 2016 with excellent feedback from the twelve centres involved. Since then the programme has grown, with over of 155 trained centres nationwide and over 4500 young people  accessing the programme to date. Our coaches receive support to run the programme and regular training from our dedicated Changing Lives Through Horses team at the BHS.

Who is the Programme for?

The programme welcomes children and young people aged 5-25 years who have additional needs in the widest sense who would benefit from access to equine facilitated learning. Participants may include those with special educational needs, including social and emotional mental health needs, those who may be disengaged or excluded from education, those who are without a school place or are electively home educated and those who may have experienced trauma or adverse childhood experiences.

What does the programme involve?

The main aim of the programme is to develop and support 6 key life skills: Communication, Confidence, Teamwork, Building Relationships, Perseverance, and Responsibility. The programme is structured around two frameworks aimed at younger and older participants.  Both offer horse care and ridden modules (some centres only offer horse care) with structured awards and certificates that recognise and reward achievement. Activities contained in each award provide opportunities for the participant to develop in the six key life skills that are widely transferable back to school, further education opportunities or socially, practice learning skills linked to their school curriculum and build a portfolio of equine knowledge and experience that could lead to a pathway of further industry qualifications.