Meet the Positive Ponies
Our bespoke visits are created for your setting, bringing our team of Shetland Ponies & Hens, along with the fully trained staff. Equine Assisted Learning has been researched as a form of non-clinical therapy, which, when embraced and engaged with, can help improve mental health and well-being. We use Equine Assisted Learning to deliver a therapeutic outcome in groups or one-to-one sessions. Note: Due to current Avian Flu restrictions, the ponies are doing visits without the hens.
Our sessions are designed to offer students & staff at your setting an out-of-the-classroom experience focusing on mental well-being and mindfulness. Along with the animals, we have created supporting worksheets to enhance the experience. We also provide all risk assessments and access to our online Chicken Club, which is packed with additional resources.
Areas our activities cover
- Animal Encounters
- Mindfulness & Breathing
- Connection & Calmness
- Positive Coping strategies
- Exam & Test Stress Busting
Meet our Ponies
We will bring Tom & Harvey, the mini Shetland Ponies, on our visit. Though they may be tiny in stature, they make up for it with big personalities. They are brothers and have been part of the family for over 15 years.
Tom & Harvey have been trained using Natural Horsemanship methods and are used to being around small people, currently offering group and one-to-one support to visitors coming to sessions here at Hens HQ.
They are both very responsive to people they interact with and help humans to make a connection.
Meet our Hens
On our visit, we will bring a selection of hen breeds, including our lovely Bantam hens. All the hens are really well handled and used to visiting school settings. They come in many different sizes and colours and give excellent Hen Hugs.
Our sessions:
- Pony Encounters
- Wellbeing Sessions – One-off day visit
- Wellbeing Weekly Sessions
- Staff Wellbeing Sessions
- Care Home Visits
- Exam Stress Busters
We can visit for just an hour or half a day. We are fully insured, and DBS checked. For full details and costs of our visit to your setting, please get in touch.
Customer Testominials
We can’t thank you enough for bringing your ponies to Danemill. Our children loved meeting Harvey and Tom.The whole package of grooming, walking and learning calming strategies had a positive impact on everyone’s mental health. The children were so engaged, an experience that I’m sure will never be forgotten!Mrs Lee-Danemill Primary School
Sending an extra special thank you to you both for your patience and for keeping up with our demands!
I just wanted to say a big thank you for the positive pony day that we booked with you before Christmas
The children were buzzing from the experience and continued to talk about it for days.
The positive impact of handling the ponies and learning about them has been invaluable.
The children had great fun and even those with less confidence, or those children struggling with social and emotional difficulties found it very calming and beneficial to them.
The day was organised well and both of you were great with the children too.
I would and will indeed be recommending this experience to other schools.
Thank you once again and we look forward to doing this again with you again this year!
K Parker-Springfield Junior School
We have had the wonderful Positive Ponies in school twice now and each time the children and the staff have been absolutely delighted when working with Claire and her team.
The ponies are a delight. Sweet little gentlemen that are patient and forgiving of youngsters around them. Claire teaches the boys how to groom, about animal care in regard to the ponies and allows the boys to handle the ponies in a very positive way that makes them feel so important and empowered. I would unreservedly recommend the day for the impact it has particularly on SEND children and also students who lack engagement and focus. Having said that everyone loves Tom and Harvey and the boys had a soft spot for Tom’s naughtiness and overall strength of character. It is a wonderful way to enrich the curriculum, unusual and memorable-we will continue to book Tom, Harvey and Claire alongside the marvellous hatching scheme.
Mrs Diane Henson-Headteacher-Wheelers Lane Technology College
As an experienced and qualified Youth Worker and Early Years Educator I was contracted to support Claire and her Positive Ponies to deliver some Wellbeing sessions.
We had three days booked in an Inner city primary school for their Wellbeing week. During these three days we had groups of ten children come for half an hour at a time with two members of staff to spend time with Tom and Harvey, two Shetland ponies. The sessions were delivered to the whole school, all 120 students.
The sessions included a brief health and safety talk, an introduction to the ponies and managing our emotions through breath work. Each part was adapted to the age and abilities of the children. This was then followed by grooming the pony, 5 children on each pony. We talked about the texture of the hair, how stroking can calm both our emotions and that of the horse and how important it is to remain calm around animals. An important lesson to transfer into other areas of the children’s lives. The session then had the grand finale, leading the ponies through some cones! Each child had the opportunity to do this at least twice, on their own! How empowering is that!
In all my 30 years of working with children and young people this was the most effective piece of work which I have had the pleasure to be involved in. Observing the interactions of the children with the ponies, their attention, the overcoming of their fears, the pride in their faces as they led the ponies, the pure utter joy on their faces. Even the staff got so much out of the sessions not just for their children but for themselves too. There were many emotionally moving moments. The energy in the school for that week was of joy and excitement. It was so uplifting. And the best bit……there was 100% engagement…..every single child took part, now that is the amazing part, that is what has totally taken what these ponies bring to another level. Well done to Claire and the Positive Ponies. Truly wonderful work.
-Natasha Restrick
The children absolutely loved the Positive Pony visits and engaged well with your team, thank you.
The experience of being around the ponies, learning about them and being able to brush/ stroke and pet them had an amazing calming influence on the children.
For some of our children this would be the only experience of being so involved and close to animals and where some cannot normally engage in such activities , they found being with the ponies captivating.
The children will remember the sessions with fondness and we hope to be able to have the Positive Ponies again soon.
Many thanks
Kerry Parker- Inclusion Lead Springfield Junior School