The Duchess of Cornwall wrapped up her two-day visit to Northern Ireland with a visit to an equine therapy charity.
At Horses for People, Camilla met its founder, June Burgess, and senior staff and horses, and those currently taking workshops.
According to Clarence House, Horses for People has been running workshops since 2013 to help people with stress, to team build at their workplaces, and to increase resiliency.
Participants learn about themselves and others and how to process their feelings, behaviours and patterns,” per Clarence House.
“We work with people so that they can experience the power within themselves and apply that to their career and life,” reads the description on the charity’s official website.
June was inspired to start the charity after she “discovered that many others had recognised the mental and physical benefits of this combination, with horses as faciliators and that particularly in USA, Horse Assisted Coaching and Equine Assisted Learning was widely recognised as an effective approach for corporate leadership training and life skills.”
Horses for Peoples’s equine therapy workshop works to introduce activities that will require participants to exercise certain skills including non-verbal communication, creative thinking, problem solving, trust-building, and assertiveness. The workshops aim to teach participants more about themselves, “their behaviours and their reactions and discovering how they can stand in their own power and thrive regardless of challenges or circumstances.”
The charity’s website notes that many of its equine therapy clients are veterans who need support in re-adjusting to civilian society, and, since the coronavirus pandemic began, care workers.
The horses are mostly former competitors who’ve travelled throughout the UK and Europe, and “are now taking life easier but enjoy the workshops almost as much as their competitive days.”
Before leaving, Camilla viewed a demonstration at the lunging pen and saw a horse being shod.
