‘i found a moment of peace’
Fran Thompson reveals how mindfulness with horses helped her through her depression, thanks to National Lottery funding from The People’s Projects
As a young girl, Fran Thompson* gave every spare moment to caring for horses at her local stables. But back then, she would never have imagined that almost 50 years later, the creatures she loved so much would help her in her darkest hour.
“As a child and teenager I spent most of my weekends and holidays being what they call a ‘stable rat’,” laughs the 63-year-old from Bletchley, remembering the long summers and cold winters spent mucking out and riding. “But after I married and had children, I had less time for that sort of thing.” Then, in 2012, at the age of 52, Fran began to struggle with her mental health. The trigger was the menopause, with fluctuating hormones having a detrimental effect on her mood.
“I don’t think you realise how tough it is until you come out the other side and look back,” says Fran. “Those 10 years were absolute hell for me and my family. I was waking up not wanting to get out of bed, just doing the bare minimum, absolutely no self care,” she says. “I’d become a carer to my partner, so it was difficult to get out and see people. I had to retire from my job as a PA because I was so overwhelmed and depressed.”
Fran realised something needed to change. “In 2015 I started to think about how much I’d loved spending time with horses as a child, so I looked into therapeutic horsemanship. That is when Fran found Debbie La-Haye and Horses Helping People in Mentmore, Buckinghamshire.
Debbie explains: “Horses can help us be mindful because, as prey animals, they’re evolved to live in the moment.” “But when you’re calm in a horse’s presence, the horse relaxes too, creating a circle of mindfulness.” Fran says the sessions “helped me realise nothing bad is happening in this moment, so I can enjoy this moment of peace.” Running Mindfulness with Horses courses was just one way that Horses Helping People used the funding it received from The National Lottery’s People’s Projects in 2019. It provides therapeutic horsemanship for the whole community, but particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The People’s Projects is back and looking for winners. Have your say in how £4m of National Lottery funding is put to use by brilliant community projects. You can vote for good causes in your local area at
thepeoplesprojects.org.uk.
Fran believes her life could have been very different if she hadn’t joined the course. “At one point, my time at Horses Helping People was the only thing I looked forward to in my week.
“It changed everything.”
*surname has been changed