A collaboration between national homelessness charity Alabaré and Power of Polo, a UK charity whose mission is to develop programmes utilising the sport of polo, gave eight participants the opportunity to partake in a residential course at Offchurch Bury Polo Club last month.
The four-day course was designed to deliver a range of experiences, foster resilience and develop teamwork skills in the participants, who are aged between 18 and 24 and have all experienced homelessness. Most of the participants had minimal riding experience with several of them having never been near a horse before.
During the week they were taught to groom, muck out and tack up as well as learning the rules of polo and taking part in a mini tournament. There was also a veterinary talk by Avon Vale Equine’s Carys Morgan, a visit from the Knights of Middle England and the opportunity to attend a first aid course with a trainee paramedic.
‘A positive impact’
“Coming out here to be able to slow down and breathe and spend time with animals has helped me massively. Horses are just amazing,” said one of the course participants.
“Being able to meet new people has also helped my anxiety; if you wake up in the morning and you’re feeling low you literally come out here and by the end of the day, you’re feeling incredible.
“There is something about these animals that calms the nervous system. This is something that I think everyone should do, or at least everyone should have the opportunity to do it at least once in their life, because it makes such a positive impact and at the end of it, you feel free.”
Power of Polo’s next course will take place at Cool Hooves Polo at The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club in partnership with South Central Youth, a Lambeth-based charity dedicated to improving the life chances of young people in some of London’s most underserved communities, from Monday 26 – Friday 30 May.
Image © Power of Polo.
