A UNIQUE scheme started by a west Dorset woman to tackle prisoner behaviour using horses can continue for at least another two years thanks to a funding boost.

Harriet Laurie started The Horse Course charity in 2010 at the Portland Young Offender Institution where she offered prisoners the chance to learn how to change their behaviour using highly trained horses.

The results – reviewed by a Ministry of Justice panel and studied by academics – showed a 27 percentage point reduction in reoffending rates, way above the average.

Since then The Horse Course has widened its focus and now works with children and young people who are excluded or at risk of educational exclusion.

Ms Laurie, of Askerswell, said: “Having proven our work in prisons, we have now established a busy community-based HQ near Weymouth.

“Employing three facilitators and eight horses, we work primarily with young people aged eight to 24 and families.”

Following a successful trial course over the summer, The Lloyds Bank Foundation has given its backing towards a partnership project between The Horse Course and EDP Drug and Alcohol Services, called ReStart.

EDP, a charity in the South West, delivers substance misuse services in communities and prisons and will now provide 12 people with a five day programme designed to kick start recovery.

Participants learn and repeat key resilience skills with specially trained horses and are offered one-to-one support.

The pilot Restart course, funded by BIG Lottery Awards for All, concluded that the group engaged far better than was expected and made significant progress.

Development of these key thinking and emotional skills has led to participants re-engaging with their treatment and support at EDP.

The partnership will be monitoring real-life outcomes including substance misuse, work and relationships over the coming months and years.

Ms Laurie said: “Working with drug and alcohol clients builds on our success; many of the offenders we worked with have drug and alcohol problems, so we were confident we could help EDP’s clients too.

“The pilot was a great start to our partnership and together we will monitor outcomes closely.”

The West Dorset horse charity has also been praised by actor Martin Clunes for its success in helping young offenders to turn their lives around.

Theresa Oliveira Meneses, Team Leader for EDP in Dorset, said: “All course clients showed increased confidence and motivation, a calmer demeanour and were less likely to react impulsively.

“We’re really excited to continue this work in partnership with the Horse Course and hope that real positive change can be achieved.”

The funding from Lloyds Bank Foundation will support the project for two years with a conditional commitment for a further two years, reaching at least 40 more clients.

Paul Streets, chief executive of the foundation, said: "It’s unusual for us to support work involved with animals. The application was one of the highest rated at panel assessment and this speaks volumes for the importance of what The Horse Course does.”

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