Happiness Comes With A Bucket And Shovel
How fresh air, volunteering and even the most menial tasks, are key to rebuilding mental health
Last weekend (before it got too hot) was spent in a tiny village in Gloucestershire which should be really datelined The Happiest Place In Britain. I was working as a steward at the Riding For the Disabled National Championships at Hartpury and my heart is overflowing with joy at the combination of good-hearted ponies; their riders, drivers and vaulters of all ages who have overcome setbacks most of us would be hard-put to imagine - plus a veritable army of unpaid volunteers, of which I count myself privileged to be one.
A few years back, recovering from my major breakdown - and it’s only recently I have been able to call it that - I found myself, with nothing better to do, helping out at my local branch of Riding for the Disabled (RDA). Despite having run a multi-million pound media business and been presented with a gong for my myriad achievements, it turned out I was unqualified to do anything more than pick up the poo deposited by the ponies as they go about about their important work. It was a far cry from my professional life which only a few months previously had been a round of board meetings, executive hospitality suites at Wimbledon and luxury foreign travel. Now I was issued with a bucket and a shovel and told to keep my fleece zipped up (so it didn’t flap) and not to run near the horses.
From my vantage point, waiting with my bucket and shovel, I developed a new appreciation of the miracle of connection that exists between horses and humans. Horses have been in our lives for at least 17,000 years. Until the development of the railways they were our fastest form of land transport. Cities were built on horse power, trade established, food production relied on their ploughing strength and as recently as the 20th Century, wars were fought on horseback. Now, they are being recognised as more than just beasts of burden or vehicles for exhilarating (and expensive) sporting activities. The special relationship that exists between equine and human is being put to good use in not only physical but, now, mental therapy. Riding for the Disabled have been pioneering this important work for more than 50 years - and now it’s going even more mainstream. Listening to Radio 4’s The Archers on the drive down here, I discover that Shula is getting into Equine Therapy, too. Well, good for her!
I credit volunteering as much a part of my own recovery as the therapy and the anti-depressants I was prescribed. Maybe more? Fresh air, exercise, a feeling of making a difference have worked their magic. I even have my own horse now – a childhood dream come true at this late stage in life. And at my local branch of RDA, I am no longer the bucket carrier (not actually true, I am now not just the bucket carrier) I am training as a coach. Last week, I got a “high-five” from a lad I have been working with. He has severe physical and learning impairments, sensory disorder (autism) and is non-verbal - so it can be hard to know how best to support him….But that “high-five” . I am not ashamed to say I had to disappear into one of the stables and bury my face in the pony’s mane until I could compose myself! To say it was one of the proudest moments of my life is no exaggeration. I just hope that in The Archers, Shula, who has had more than her fair share of loss being (like me) widowed and divorced, discovers the benefits that equine therapy can bring - not just to the riders but even to those of us who simply stand by with a bucket.
How beautiful, Lindsay. Fond memories of my own son riding in this program as a little fellow - he is 37 now and I hope to return him to some equine therapy soon. Thanks for this excellent post. Very best wishes, Genevieve