Centred Horseplay

23/12/2025

💛 Thank You & Happy Christmas from Centred Horseplay 🎄

We’d love to say a huge thank you to everyone who continues to support us at Centred Horseplay. Your kindness, encouragement and belief in what we do means we’re able to support young people and their families across Gloucestershire when they need it most.

As we head into Christmas, it feels like a lovely time to pause and look back on some of the special moments from this year. Apologies that Betty has featured a lot in these but she's made a lot of people very happy this year! ❤️

25/09/2025

Because everyone wants to take a Betty into the office! There is a reason, step one of making Betty happy enough to wear donkey ears in front of the log burner for our Christmas card this year - but as you can see Alfie did a great job at making her feel very relaxed and pleased with herself!

17/06/2025

🌼 Say hello to Savanna! 🌼
We’re so excited to introduce our newest horse, Savanna, who has just joined the team. She’s already settling in well, and we’re incredibly lucky to have Peter—one of our regulars who brings such calm and patience—helping her begin her learning journey with us.

This is just the beginning, and we’ll be sharing lots more photos and updates as Savanna grows in confidence and finds her place here. 🐴💛

13/05/2025

Chilled vibes @ Centred Horseplay today 💜

28/04/2025

Please all vote for Centred Horseplay in this Movement for Good Award. With this money we can fund more young people and at risk adults to take part in our ReStart programme ❤️

I just nominated a charity to win £5,000..

20/01/2025

The best day for Alfie & Betty! First time for her on the pedal-stool ( he’s been soo patient teaching her this for weeks!) then we went to Stroud Farm services where they took so much time to make sure his new helmet fitted for his time at Wickselm and then we met Princess Anne’s Police outside! They were so nice to Alfie and he smiled all the way back!

08/01/2025

Toasty little minus 3 at the farm this morning! 🥶

01/01/2025

A massive thank you post!

To everyone who makes Centred Horseplay the special place it is—this is for you.

To those who trust us with their beautiful horses, who help fund their care, help us to look after them and help young people learn with them - thank you.

To the mums, grandmothers, brothers, sisters and girlfriends who show up to support our participants, to those who choose to celebrate birthdays with us, and to the supporters who believe in our mission and empower us to make a difference—we are deeply grateful.

To the BBC for recognising the profound impact our horses have and most of all, to the incredible young people who’ve joined us this year: thank you for stepping outside of your comfort zones, discovering calmness, and sharing your smiles—so many smiles!

Thank you ❤️

30/12/2024

Lovely little Betty joined us in 2023, and to say she was a bit timid would be an understatement. We gave her the time and space to settle in, and this year, she became a part of the charity’s work. It’s been nothing short of incredible to witness young people helping Betty as she, in turn, helps them.

She’s quickly become a firm favourite with everyone, but she’s formed an especially strong bond with one remarkable young person who joined us over the summer. Alfie had faced significant challenges after being told that specialist SEN schools could not meet his needs, and he wasn’t making progress in other therapies or alternative provisions.

With the help of Betty and a carefully paced approach to stretch his comfort zone—just as he did with her—Alfie made incredible progress. By November, he was accepted at the wonderful Wickselm, and we couldn’t be prouder. While he’s still visiting us as he settles in, the best news came when he shared his excitement about tackling Maths again. Moments like this remind us why we do what we do!

28/12/2024

A Centred Horseplay drumroll into 2025!

2024 has been an extraordinary year of helping those who have been the hardest to reach at Centred Horseplay. We’ve been privileged to help so many young people and their families take meaningful steps forward— finding calm, building confidence and strengthening their relationships through our ReStart programme.

As we step closer to 2025, we want to take a moment to celebrate the incredible journey we've shared this year. Starting today, we’ll be showcasing some of our favourite moments from 2024—highlighting the progress, joy, and resilience of our participants and their families. These snapshots capture the triumphs of those who’ve overcome challenges and learned to manage severe anxieties in our uniquely supportive environment.

Stay tuned for a heartfelt look back at a truly transformative year.💛🐴

07/09/2024

A day to feel proud.

I am lucky. Most days I get the opportunity to feel proud about the work we do with some wonderful animals and some very special young people. Today, one of these inspiring young individuals helped showcase the incredible story of our amazing unicorn Merlin, who was honourably shortlisted for a BBC Make a Difference Award.
I don’t think there wasn’t a dry eye in the room during the presentations and it doesn’t matter that he didn’t win because just being recognised was enough ( and if they had let me bring him I know we would have won anyway!)
I can’t say he will be treated more like a king now because he is every day already but it's a day to say thank you to Jackie for entrusting us with him, to all the young people whose lives he’s touched, and to the dedicated professionals whose referrals enable him to change so many lives. A massive thank you to all of you! ###

18/08/2024

August has been a celebratory month of many great first’s.
Merci’s built up an amazing relationship with our big handsome Dude. She has been so patient with him and helped him to understand that getting up on the pedal stool is ok and he gets even more attention for doing so!
Brilliant Sam ( best known for his BBC nomination of the unicorn) was the first person to work with our newest horse Kato at liberty. Kato is such a sensitive lovely soul and Sam gives him so much confidence. So proud to be apart of both of these firsts!
And then we hosted our first 18th birthday surprise! Daisy came to see us first back in 2023 and has done so well. When shes not busy working she has been a great help to us Centred Horseplay and was the one to find us the lovely Kato 💜