Lynn’s Story
The idea for Ridings Farm first began over 20 years ago. My son was a child and had recently began working with his first pony, Bobby. At the time he was struggling with his academic work and appeared to be showing signs of dyslexia. Much preferring to be out in the open space than behind a desk, he would head down to our local yard for riding lessons. Very early on I noticed how masterful Bobby was at understanding how my son was feeling, often before he knew himself. Horses have a fantastic way of naturally mirroring behaviour and because of this, my son was able to connect with Bobby and work with him to develop his co-ordination skills and spacial awareness. It was clear that this sense of companionship between them both gave my son the confidence to overcome challenges linked to his dyslexia. From here, I began my research into how horses could further support children. Through working with internationally acclaimed trainer of Equine Guided Learning Dave Harris and with Gerhard Jes Krebs in Germany, I became a qualified NLP Master Practitioner and Horse Dream Practitioner.
Ridings Farm was born out of initial curiosity into the connection made between horses and humans and has now become a successful organisation dedicated to supporting and enabling people to reach their full potential. My mission has always been for Ridings Farm to be a place for opportunity; a place for everyone to discover new things about themselves and a place to connect with horses and the natural environment. Along with our young people’s programme, we have also facilitated leadership and employability sessions, workshops for parents and INSET days for teachers. Most recently, we have developed a programme dedicated to drama and play for young people. Our aim is to build and expand on the successful programmes we have already created and become an organisation offering a range of therapies and activities for all ages.
Lynn Kirby, Ridings Farm