00:00Bewitching Farm here in Monmouthshire is home to very special horses and ponies.
00:04This is an equine therapy centre where people who have suffered emotional trauma can come in search
00:10of healing. We work mainly on a one-to-one basis, on a therapeutic basis with our clients. We
00:18sometimes do group work and we even work with corporates here. The majority of our work I would
00:24say is one-to-one clinically based trauma type work. Equine therapy includes working in partnership
00:32with a horse and can help create calmness as it slows heart rate, assembles trust and helps people
00:37reunite. So one of the first things we'll look to do with the client is get them to choose a
00:44working
00:44partner. So the horse would that they choose with we would then go through a variety of different
00:52exercises. Exercises can include brushing the horse to bring calmness and cleaning hooves to strengthen
00:58trust and sustain connection. Its benefits have been felt by many. And it was just the freedom of just
01:07sitting there and feeling this horse just move underneath you. That really spurred me on to get
01:17myself out of the house and I started to feel that my depression was getting less and less. And I
01:26progressed to actually get my own horse, willing to go out places, to see other people. I would be
01:33housebound, not having a life whatsoever, physically getting worse because I'm not doing anything with
01:42my body to keep my body going. And it's very important to keep your body moving because it will
01:50deteriorate on its own if you don't. And the ponies help everyone who come into contact with them. So we
01:56had some therapy ponies here and they were like two little piebald cobs. So yeah, I think horses can
02:03change lives. So if we use that in the form of therapy, we can really help a lot of people.
02:09All of the horses
02:10have been carefully chosen so that even very nervous people will feel safe and welcome by them.
02:15Each bring their own personality, wisdom and gentle presence to help people recover and
02:20live healthier lives thanks to building a relationship with a horse.
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