Young Offenders /ADHD and the Power of the Horse
A few years ago I was approached by the Gardai (Police) and two Social Workers about doing an 8 week course with a group of young offenders. The idea was to teach these students to ride and understand stable management (care and welfare of horses). I made a plan and schedule of how we could implement this and after a couple of meetings we proceeded. I had a riding school at the time and we specialized in kids and young adults so this was an easy task for us.
What always surprises me even today is the power of the horse ! and people .
I surmised that these young people would have high energy due to being in a big group and with no knowledge or experience of horses or what to expect . Horses are similar that way , when in a group there will be a pecking order and taken out of their normal environment the energy can be high. With this in mind I decided I would bring the whole group into a large barn where all the horses were loose. What I wanted to achieve was full attention from the young people and as we know with an Adhd brain , it will focus when out of its comfort zone. It was unlikely that any of these young people had a diagnosis but lets say they had similar traits.
What happened was astonishing , a very loud , high energy touching on aggressive group were silent !! I didn’t have to ask for attention to explain what the plan was, it just happened. I had two requirements from the group , respect /safety for the horse and respect/safety for my staff and I was able to say this quietly and calmly as you could hear a pin drop. What I offered in agreement to this, was the same for them, respect and safety.
We then went to work on grooming, understanding the horse , the young students were paired two to each horse so they had a buddy to work with, to help each other, give support and work as a team. We also did this in the riding where one rode the other led and vice versa. This was to build trust with the horse and each other. The first day a success . Everyone was surprised ,except the horses of course ! They were doing what they do best .
There were so many funny and surprising stories over the next 8 weeks !
My take from this , there were definitely Adhd / Neurodiverse brains in the group and I knew it ,even if nobody else did at the time. The course I did with these young people, had this in mind always and the results were surprising to say the least. It was a truly humbling incredible experience. How the horses and dogs ( I forgot to mention these) changed these peoples perspective on themselves , each other and us . Just a final note all the young people showed a natural affinity with the horse, for kids who had never been around horses they innately knew where they stood with each other.
