Charlotte Monro explains the positive impact Wanstead Community Riding Stables is having on children with additional needs and why your support is needed for next month’s open day… and a larger horse
I am writing this in the cool of my garden, thinking of my day at the stables. It was busy! Over 60 primary school children, Year 5, were on a round of activities from riding and grooming horses to outdoor games in the paddock. I see groups of determined children balancing wheelbarrows to tip on the muck heap, an anxious face as a child first sits on a horse, changing to a confident smile as we walk out of the yard.
Watching the string of horses ahead with their riders and volunteer leaders making their way through our patch of green wildness, this is exactly what our little community riding stables are for: people from East London discovering the joy of horses in open spaces and growing in confidence as they learn to connect with these magnificent animals.
Aldersbrook’s riding stables, tucked away behind Wanstead Park, has been bringing people and horses together for over 50 years. Now, a new community riding stables is there, a social enterprise, and with it has come a new energy. Working together with other community groups, Wanstead Community Riding Stables (WCRS) has, over the last year and a half, enabled numerous children and adults with disabilities to ride and care for horses, providing over 600 group and individual sessions. Impacts have been beyond expectation.
The rhythmic movement of a horse, the way horses communicate with people. These are known to have special interactions with people’s disabilities, but seeing this for myself, hearing the feedback from parents and teachers, brought home the value: “Yesterday, she was able to hold herself up in the saddle without any assistance.” “We couldn’t believe how he sat calmly on the horse and listened to instructions.” Breakthroughs in communication, too; one child, for the first time ever in his two years at school, talked to his mother about his day after riding with his primary school SEND group – single words, but she could follow his story.
Grants have made all this possible with no charge to participants. NHS NE London ICB funds the project for people in Redbridge with autism and learning disabilities to connect with horses. The project was created by Aldersbrook Stables Community (ASCCIC), a small CIC some of us set up in 2023. Redbridge and the Postcode Society Trust have also given valuable support.
Now, this is where we need your support! In an exciting development, our local RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association), together with WCRS CIC are planning a big open day on 25 August. We are raising funds for the RDA and for a larger horse (see link below), so more adults and teens can ride. I do hope you can join us and support us.
For more information on the riding stables visit www.wcrscic.co.uk
To donate to the fundraiser for a larger horse, visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/community-horse-power
For more information about the Connecting with Horses project, or the larger horse, email aldersbrookcic@gmail.com
