Horses help Buckingham students harness their inner calm and boost wellbeing

A group of University of Buckingham students enjoyed meeting and learning about horses as part of a session designed to help their wellbeing.

The event was organised by the Friends of the University of Buckingham who aim to help students enjoy and cope with the experience of being a student in the local area.

The 11 students visited Bryerley Springs Equestrian Centre, Great Brickhill, which provides lessons and activities for riders of all abilities, plus pony days and school holiday activities, for a session led by Gillian St Ledger Smith who runs activity and team days for groups and corporates.

Gillian is a British Horse Society instructor based part of the time in Buckingham and part of the time in Great Brickhill.

The participants included a mix of students from the local area and international students, including one from Sri Lanka.

Gillian introduced them to the horses, gave a brief outline of the behavioural psychology of horses and demonstrated key elements in grooming and handling them.

The students then each chose a horse and began to get to know them through grooming them.

Graham Barker, chair of the Friends of the University of Buckingham, said: "The Friends aim to provide the students with activities which include promoting wellbeing. Interaction with horses has been shown to be highly beneficial in this regard.

"The students said, although it was a new experience for them, they loved it and interacting with the horses made them feel calm. They enjoyed the rapport they built up with the animals.

"For the students from abroad, it was a new part of British culture, and for the home students it was something they enjoyed because they had never taken part in it.

"It was also an opportunity for the students to get to know each other. Isolation can be a problem at university and sessions like this help students not to feel lonely."

The Friends of the University are always looking for new members. In the course of their work helping students, members enjoy a lot of interaction with students from across the globe and a wide range of activities including, in some cases, even taking part in lectures.