Lead Up International – workshop and training at the Cavalier Centre

The High Sheriff’s Fund awarded £1,250 to The Cavalier Centre to host a day’s workshop for young people with charity Lead Up International, who use horses to promote improved self regulation in young people who are at risk of violence.  The young people involved were referred through the pupil referral unit and had a history of trauma, significant emotional regulation difficulties, mental health struggles, flipping between passivity and aggression and little, if any experience of feeling successful.  Rachel Lambert-Jones, Cavalier Centre Manager said “The outstanding achievement was to bring together 8 young people who had not met as a group previously, to engage fully for six hours (their usual is max 2 hours per day), to take part in a group activity, push themselves and risk failure in front of their peers. To see the young people uncurl from their self-conscious selves to begin to trust, be brave and achieve success was humbling. The mindfulness techniques they learned alongside the horses will be carried with them and used in other situations to help them lead with positivity and confidence.”

The second half of the project was a training day for six Cavalier Centre staff who learned how to use the methodologies of a specific mindfulness technique, breathing exercises and ‘Join Up’ (the act of asking a horse to freely take leadership from a human in an entirely peaceful, non-violent way).  These skills will be used regularly in the Centre’s ridden, therapeutic and skills development programmes.