Horse Power

Can horses really help troubled children? Alison Stodolnic went to Hartford to find out. Every now and then you meet an ordinary person doing extraordinary things. Chantal Cleland and her horses help people struggling with confidence, stress, learning difficulties, behavioural issues or just plain unhappiness. Most of her clients are children, teenagers and war veterans for whom fear and negativity are getting in the way.

In jeans, a rugby shirt and very short hair, Chantal confesses to being a bit of a tomboy and loving old cowboy movies as much as Chris, her husband of 25 years, does. She welcomed me with openness and generosity into the home they share with sons Luke (15) and Joe (10). It feels like a peaceful place in soft colours, bedecked with art, artefacts and pictures of Audrey Hepburn.

Five years ago Chantal set up the Epona Partnership Ltd - a company dedicated to inspiring people to overcome difficulties and achieve their full potential. The story began with Harvey - a grey horse who, when she found him, had been badly treated and feared people. Chantal rode him for 10 years before buying him, and had to work hard to gain his trust: "I made it up as I went along. I allowed him to just be, and I started to learn how to read him and learn how to read his body language, his signals, and what things mean". Chantal then studied what is known as ‘horse whispering', or allowing a horse to express itself and gently communicating with it through body language. Nell - her chestnut horse - had also been mistreated but Chantal bought her, got to know her and loved her back to health.

Through her workshops, Chantal, a qualified life coach, teaches people her methods and helps them get in touch with their feelings through the horse's response: "Harvey will mirror what you're putting out and what's inside of you. If you pretend everything is okay - but inside you feel really rotten - he will mirror what's inside. He will expect you to be true to yourself." People learn to understand why they behave in certain ways, and to challenge assumptions they have that might not be true - for example that they are under attack, or that nobody likes them.

Her ‘Born to Try' one-to-one workshops are for young people aged 8 to 18. The idea evolved from the success she had with a group of troubled teenagers with ADHD. The kids who come might have learning difficulties like dyslexia, or perhaps they "can't relax, have no confidence or self esteem, or feel like they're being bullied".

A ‘Born to Try' workshop begins at Chantal's house, where she has a talk with the child about what is wrong and what they want to work on. They then drive in an ex-army Landrover to the stables, where therapy continues. They interact with the horses in different ways - grooming, talking, leading them around and playing games. Watching a horse laugh can do wonders for a child who hasn't laughed for a long time, so they look for Nell's ticklish spot: "she's ticklish all over, the lips are going, the neck is stretching, she loves it". She encourages the child to express him or herself by talking, drawing or filming the horses on a camcorder. They then try what Chantal calls ‘simple join up' - using body language to communicate: "Letting the horse come to them, saying ‘lets get to know each other' ".

So can horses really help troubled children? Apparently so. Although it takes someone rather extraordinary like Chantal to make it happen.

For more information call 01606 872405 or go to theeponapartnerhsip.com