An EHCP is a legal document for children or young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

It details any academic, health and social care requirements as well as the support needed to achieve these outcomes.   

The number of children and young people with EHCPs in England increased to 576,000, in January 2024, up by 11.4% from 2023, according to the latest data from GOV.UK. 

In fact, the number of EHCPs have risen each year since their introduction in 2014.

Emma Hammonds, also an EHCP consultant, has noticed the rise in requests.  

“I've been doing EHCPs for a long time - writing the legal documents for them - and there's been a huge increase in diagnosis of children with autism, which is good, and we're seeing more need for alternative education provision,” she said. 

“There's no specification for equine assisted learning in these plans but I specify it and suggest it to a lot of families.  

“We're actually seeing more alternative education provided via forest schools.”

Emma explained that forest school activities include learning outdoors, visiting farms and meeting animals that way.

But what gives horse therapy an edge?

“Equine facilitated learning is all about promoting interaction and developing a relationship,” Emma said. 

“It's that aspect of social communication and interaction which is missing from other alternative education provisions like forests school,” she added.  

As someone with autism herself, Sarah - who founded Empowering Equine six years ago - listed five reasons why ponies like Minnie work well with young people who have social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs. 

1. Clear communication

“Horses communicate clearly. Once you understand their body language, they can't mask things,” Sarah said. 

“This ability is an absolute blessing for the kids that struggle when people aren't communicating clearly.

“Our language has a lot of hidden meanings, and we can rely on body language to convey meaning which can be hard to understand - you don't have any of that with a horse.”

2. Non-judgemental

“Horses respond to how you're behaving with them at the time - they don't hold grudges, and they don't judge your previous behaviour.  

“They will treat you how you treat them, and I think that's a real blessing for a lot of the kids that maybe don't always get that opportunity,” she said.

3. Confidence building

“There’s a real confidence boost for the kids by having a 500-kilo animal running around after them, without a lead rope,” the Empowering Equine founder said.  

“The kids teach the ponies little tricks and can say they’ve managed to get a horse, that doesn't speak their language, to bow or stretch for them.” 

4. Managing emotions

“If you're struggling with frustration or your energy is too high, for example, the horse will respond to that - they may not move or do what you wanted them to do,” she said.  

“This gives the kids a real motivation to recognise that their energy is really high and assess how to manage their emotions and lower their energy to work with the horse.”

5. Building relationships

“I find a lot of kids can build trust with the horses and then can build trust in me more easily. Over time, the kids build a great relationship with the ponies,” Sarah explained.

Ez has developed a special connection with Minnie after visiting her every Monday since Easter.

A typical session includes Ez grooming and walking Minnie, with the lead rope.

“My favourite thing to do with Minnie is take her on walks,” they said.

“I don't like sitting still, so it's nice to be moving and outside. It's really relaxing as you're in control, but Minnie can also do her own thing.  

“Minnie is really patient and I just feel safe with her.”

“I just love Minnie - she's my favourite.”

And then Ez handed Minnie's reins back to Sarah - until next Monday.