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Therapy
The Silver Hour
General Manager, is also seeing the positive effect of unmounted sensory sessions: “What a difference it made, and not just for the participants. One family member reduced me to tears as she told me this was the first day out she had had since her husband went into the home. And that she felt safe and they could enjoy doing something together.” Claire explains the sessions came about all because of Mister Dibbles. “We were given a pony called Mister Dibbles, and he’s 20 and couldn’t do a full schedule of riding,” says Claire “Now, I’m a big believer in spreadsheets and I was thinking well, if he can’t cover his costs, then we’re not having him. They’re not pets! As well as a charity we are also a business. Then I
met him, and he was just so friendly and then we got to thinking how we could do something for people with dementia. And 'Afternoon Tea with Mister Dibbles' just sounded perfect.” Claire adds that Mister Dibbles developed Cushing’s Disease and went back to his owners, so now it’s ‘Afternoon tea with Mister B,’ another adorable pony. Jerry Porter, Vice Chairman at Cotswolds picks up the tale: “We were looking for people to trial the Afternoon Tea concept, and as I’m in contact with a local care home that has an entire floor dedicated to people with dementia, we asked if they wanted to do the pilot – and they were delighted. And we then had a request from another care home. So we’ve had two similar but somewhat different experiences. It certainly seems to be something there’s a great enthusiasm and demand for.” Claire says: “There was this woman, she’d just turned 100 years old and was with her daughter. And she said it was one of the most lucid moments she’s seen her mother have in several years. We gave her the saddle, and she remembered the tack room, and then she went back to a memory where her mother had one of the first Hoovers, and coming home to find her brothers vacuuming the ponies. What made that even more special was the shared experience and memories with a family member. It’s fantastic, and it does go up a level with the family members. Claire adds that the first one was done as a trial: “so we only charged £5.” Jerry comments: “It’s blown us away. We’re not unused to the emotion, but this is intense somehow. You see the
curtain pulled aside for a second or two when these memories are triggered. The smell of horses, and the leather tack, the evocative smell of hay. Smells seem to short-circuit memory in a way that sight and sound doesn’t do as quickly. And the opportunity to join in, even just to push the wheel chair while the person is leading the horse, so they’re really participating together in the experience.” He mentions another participant whose father and grandfather had both ridden as jockeys at Cheltenham: “And that’s where we’re based, so Annie was literally on the ground where they were, and that was special. She used to be a superb botanical artist with exhibitions in London. She still paints although she no longer has the same motor skills, and she went back to the home and painted a picture of Bobby, the pony. That she wanted to do that and give it to us was really special.” THE SILVER HOUR Over at Kesteven Rideability, Lincolnshire, Karen Thompson has launched a Thursday afternoon equine therapy for adults programme, The Silver Hour, to run through the summer months. “Our group is to capacity at riding, so we were looking to get new people involved in the group, more footfall without increasing the workload on the horses,” she says. The programme was designed as an opportunity for seniors to rekindle their love of equines or experience a connection with a horse for the first time, in a safe and supported environment. Activities include
HOW CAN WE DO IT? Jerry Porter comments: “It’s not that difficult in terms of resources.” He adds: “Ideally for year round you’d have an indoor school, but could do it without. The activity can be done in parallel with normal lessons in the indoor school, and participants can have tea in the gallery
rda.org.uk
and watch the lesson going on, so it doesn’t get in the way of the lesson at all. And they’re usually there before the lesson starts and we bring one or two of the ponies to the rail so they can meet them while they’re having their tea. And then we just need one pony and helper who are not needed
in the lessons to walk in the sensory gardens, and that’s about it really.” As Claire comments: “It’s the head/heart thing constantly with RDA. We have annual running costs of more than £200,000 and only invoice £70,000, so how can we make a difference and also generate a new
revenue stream without taxing our resources? So, the ‘head’ thinking was: actually, we could do this straighforwardly, tea and cakes, which is something RDA does very well, watching a lesson would be good stimulation, and there’s no extra resources. And then we could bolt-