Think Like A Pony: The Yorkshire riding school horsemanship programme changing lives of young people
Not many people with no experience of horses would reach their mid 30s, decide to purchase a pony and learn how to ride. But Lynn Henry did. For the past 16 years now, she’s been running Think Like A Pony, a Leeds-based horsemanship initiative, designed to equip children and families with the skills to train, ride, and connect with ponies.
The not-for-profit arm of the organisation, Think Like a Pony CIC, has recently been recognised for its transformative work, providing therapeutic benefits for children struggling with mental health and emotional challenges. Earlier this week, Lynn and her team were formally presented with their King’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest recognition for voluntary groups in the UK, equivalent to an MBE.
It was “a beautiful moment”, says Lynn, recognition not only for what she has built but for the staff too, who all volunteer at some point during their time at Think Like A Pony. “It feels like it was an award for the whole family...We’ve worked tirelessly to provide children with the tools they need to thrive in a challenging world, and this recognition speaks to the dedication of everyone involved.”
Former secondary school science teacher Lynn was a stay-at-home mum, raising her four children, when she first learnt to ride. The family had recently moved to Horsforth, to the farmhouse and smallholding which is now home to Think Like A Pony. They had chickens, cows and sheep on their land, but horses didn’t cross Lynn’s mind until a suggestion from a doctor about her eldest son, Thomas, now aged 40.
“He was needing some kind of therapy when he was about seven,” Lynn recalls. “His eyesight deteriorated very quickly from the age of three to five. It was traumatising for him because he couldn't navigate his world properly.
"He got teased because he had these really thick glasses and he couldn't do the normal things that children could do. He couldn't ride a bike. He would be terrified to get in the water.
"And when he was seven, he developed really bad asthma and a bad stutter. Our doctor at the time was Polish – and he said in Poland when children suffer any such life adversity, they're taught to ride. I didn't ride. We had no knowledge of horses in our family. I don't come from a horsey background. I grew up in the middle of Seacroft – where the only thing you might see was a rag and bone cart.”
The family bought a pony and Lynn set off on a quest to understand the psychology of a horse and learn to ride “with respect and understanding”. She encouraged her four children to do the same.
“It really helped Thomas to understand how to get over something that he found really scary,” Lynn says. “He found riding very scary because he didn't have great balance or coordination and he wanted to give in. One of our mantras for our family life was you can't give anything up until you know you actually can do it. When you know you can do it, you can say actually I don't like it. So he had a little go…”
From then on, Lynn began to voice a vision for a child-centric centre teaching young people how to ride and be with a horse. She never lost sight of that dream and once her children left home, she began work in earnest to make it a reality. Already she had turned a field next to their garden into an arena for riding and she set about converting an old barn next to their house to become the first site of Think Like A Pony.
The programme ran from there until 2022, when a purpose-built centre was created on the other side of their land. What started small with Lynn, two volunteers and a training instructor has now grown into a business and social enterprise with 13 horses and nearly 40 staff and volunteers.
Today, around 140 people pass through the doors of Think Like A Pony each week. The organisation aims to foster resilience, boost emotional wellbeing and empower young people through the relationships they are taught to build with ponies.
Its approach creates an environment where children and ponies can grow together with compassion, Lynn says, and the wellbeing of both animals and humans is at the core. There are several strands to Think Like A Pony, all based around an ethos of learning to respect self, respect others and take responsibility for one’s own actions.
The offering encompasses a holistic mainstream riding school, an online nationwide horsemanship club with virtual video lessons and resources, and a family development programme helping to provide strategies to respond to emotional and physical challenges. There’s also a youth development programme for children with social, emotional or mental health difficulties, who are referred through local authorities, schools and the NHS.
For many, the latter, in particular, is life-changing. One student, for example, talks of how it provided something positive to focus on. “Before, my life was chaos. I didn't go to school,” they say. “Mum wanted to put me into care and I was on the street committing crimes. (Now), I am calmer and I have taken control of my own future...I am back in education and family life is back on track."
Developments like this, which Lynn witnesses day-in, day-out, are what keeps her motivated. Now 69, she’s still heavily involved in Think Like A Pony’s provision – and rightly proud of what the organisation has achieved.
As for what it means to her to be able to help so many children? “People ask me that question a lot,” she says, mulling it over. “I think in my heart I'm just so passionate.”
- Visit thinklikeapony.co.uk