Discover the amazing healing power of horses
Gillian Thornton meets Sally Bennetts, who is passionate about the healing power of horses.
HORSES have always played a huge part in my life, from those first longed-for riding lessons as a child through to teaching my own children on the family pony.
So when injury forced me to give up regular riding, I really missed the smell and feel of these beautiful animals.
The minute I meet New Forest resident Sally Bennetts, I know we are on the same wavelength. Sally runs a small business called the Horse Raft, offering wellbeing sessions for adults that involve both horses and nature.
“I think of my horses as a kind of life raft for people experiencing a whole range of issues from bereavement to anxiety, serious illness to terminal diagnosis,” Sally explains.
“And because both my horses have been rescued and retired from riding, RAFT also stands for Horse Retirement and Rescue Therapy.”
I’ve always taken for granted the wellbeing value of being close to horses and the countryside, but to most of Sally’s clients, horses are unpredictable creatures to be treated with the utmost caution. Many of them are nervous of such large animals, yet curious to experience the connection.
“When I moved to the New Forest twenty years ago, I had ridden a little but soon decided it was mad to live here and not explore on horseback,” Sally says. “So I arranged a loan of a thoroughbred-cross mare called Chloe who taught me everything I know.
“When Chloe was twentyfour, I moved to Devon for two years, taking her with me, and one day I met two ladies wandering round the stable yard, just wanting to meet a horse.
“They’d both been given a terminal diagnosis and as neither of them had ever been close to a horse, they’d put the experience on their bucket list.
“Chloe was such a gentle mare, and I helped them connect with her through touch and visualisation.
“The first time they met her, they couldn’t believe how lovely a horse could smell and how the texture of them changes from their hairy sides to their wiry manes and velvet muzzles.”
Sally has seen the same sort of reaction many times since from people who aren’t used to horses, an almost childlike wonder at interacting with these big animals.
People are often amazed how a horse will pick its foot up when you run your hand down its leg, and the way they snuffle at you or lick your hands.
“The two ladies loved Chloe immediately and were soon confident enough to groom her, which seemed to make them forget their problems,” Sally remembers.
“At weekends, they’d even lead her to the pub and give her cola, which she loved. And when one of them became too ill to visit, her friend would take pictures of Chloe to take back for her.
“It was hugely moving to see how the simple action of spending time with a docile horse could make them feel better and lift their mood.”
When Sally came back to live in the New Forest two years ago, she began to think about who else might benefit, not just from mixing with horses, but simply from being out in the New Forest and connecting with nature.
Now she offers two different options: a onehour individual session with a gentle, retired horse or a two-hour Forest Experience in a small group that promises mindful immersion in this unique environment.
I’ve heard a lot about mindfulness and living in the moment, but I’m never sure I know how to achieve it, so I join three charming ladies in an attempt to find out.
The experience begins within moments of leaving Sally’s minibus. There’s a spring shower passing over but Sally encourages us to stand still, feel the earth beneath our feet, and just connect with the ground – a process that’s designed to align our energies with the earth and achieve calm.
After a minute or two, she asks what we can see. I’ve been watching a wild New Forest pony standing in the trees, and I’m thrilled to see he’s walking closer to us with his companions, simply because we are still and non-threatening.
What can we hear? There are light spots of rain splattering on my hood and birdsong amongst the trees. And how about smell? I’m not aware of anything much until Sally asks, but suddenly I notice wet leaves and earth.
And, finally, what do we feel? There’s a light breeze on my face, but above all, I realise I feel relaxed. It’s a good way to start.
Over the next two hours, Sally leads us on a circular walk through the mosaic landscape of woods, open heathland and wetland.
Little has changed here since 1079 when William the Conqueror named the area “Nova Foresta”, his “new hunting forest”. Today it is still managed by an ancient system of Verderers, Agisters and Commoners.
We’ve turned off our phones but Sally’s happy for us to talk.
“Only not about Brexit or Donald Trump!” She laughs. “I want you to really connect with the landscape of the forest. Watch out for our birdlife, smell the aromas of the plants . . . there are lots of rare species to be found here.”
Every so often we stop and individually focus on something that takes our interest. A pale green patch of lichen. A buzzard wheeling overhead. A small group of donkeys or cattle grazing in the undergrowth.
It’s a memory I’ll take away with me simply because I stopped to concentrate. At last I feel I’m living in the moment and starting to understand the concept of mindfulness.
Walk over, Sally takes us to meet her two gentle horses, Eyes and Ears. Sadly she lost her beloved Chloe, but these two are poppets, too.
“They are wonderful with people who are nervous of big animals,” Sally says as I wrap my arms around Eyes to breathe in that delicious equine aroma.
“An old colleague of mine had been battling cancer for several years and was very weak from her treatment. She’s only small and was really daunted by the size of Eyes but we started by looking at how Eyes was put together from nose to tail.
“We listened to the noise when she licked her lips and when her stomach gurgled. Then we progressed to touching her and feeling the different textures. Soon my friend felt confident enough to approach her.”
Sally starts the same way with every client, but how far they progress is up to them. Some remain at a distance, whilst others will eventually groom or even walk a horse around the field.
Last summer she ran some group events for New Forest Carers to give carers some respite, and some of them have been back with their dementia and wheelchair patients.
“We gathered in the field doing mindfulness whilst the horses grazed peacefully around us, and finished with tea and cake under a gazebo,” Sally continues. “At the end of the afternoon, everyone left in a happy mood. Now I’d love to extend this to more dementia patients.”
Sally’s dream would be to see outdoor mindfulness and equine connection offered on the NHS instead of medication.
But in the meantime, Eyes and Ears will be helping her bring inner calm to clients with a whole range of problems, surrounded by the unique environment of Hampshire’s New Forest. n