Mahlervous and The Cashel Man, two of Greatwood’s stable of retired racehorses paid a visit this morning (Friday 25 August) to the residents of Coombe End Court on the London Road in Marlborough. And the residents, enthralled and excited to meet two beautifully turned out, very friendly and interactive horses turned out in force, such that the Coombe End team were having to ferry out ever more chairs. Popular? An understatement.
And the sunny weather played a helpful role as well for this second visit from the Greatwood stable in a series of six weekly visits. This programme was made possible by a grant from the Marlborough Area Board, without which this would have been unlikely to have gone ahead.
Residents were able to feed ‘Cash’ and ‘Mahv’ who were very happy to take pieces of apple and the odd polo mint as a real treat. They also took advantage of the lush lawn in front of Coombe End Court, which was avidly nibbled. Who needs a mower?
Before retiring to the pastures around Greatwood, both of these horses showed form on the tracks around the country. Mahlervous, now eleven, had twenty trips winning four before arriving at Greatwood last year. The Cashel Man, now ten years old had thirty two outings on racecourses and a further five on point-to-points, winning six.
As well as looking after racehorses in comfort and almost luxury following their competitive phase of life, Greatwood is there for the community. Greatwood focuses on educating disadvantaged children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI), using the retired racehorses.
Greatwood horses have been visiting the elderly residents of Care Homes on the Marlborough area for some while. The association with Coombe End court isn’t new. Even a couple of years back marlborough.news covered a vist by (the late) Ouzbeck to the residents of Coombe End as a trial. This proved very sucecssful, both Ouzbeck and the residents loved it, and although Ouzbeck passed away recently Mahlervous and The Cashel Man have stepped into his shoes. The programe of visits to Care Homes is being expanded. Initially to the Aldbourne Care Home, and possibly other beyond as well.
Ouzbeck’s visits certainly helped people who suffered from anxiety and depression. Alison Andre, Lay Chaplain and Carer at Coombe End Court noted “I can’t name them, but several people who interacted with him suffered from anxiety and were noticeably calmer and felt more positive after the interaction. They had something to think about and talk about. Some had loved and associated with horses in their past, and it brought back positive memories and feelings, while for others it was a completely new thing and they were proud of what they were able to achieve. Several of them went on to talk about their long term memories and things that happened with their own horses or the horses they worked with. One person who does not often socialise, will now come into the lounge to talk about this part of his life to staff and other residents.”
Many residents spent years in the equestrian and racing world so for them, the visit of Greatwood’s horses rekindled memories and the interactions with the animals of their past lives.
The Ouzbeck visits certainly improved the quality of life and emotional well-being of the residents. For this series of visits the Greatwood and Coombe End teams will be looking at the effects on a sample group of residents to get a more ‘scientific’ understanding of how these visits help. They will be looking at six residents in particular and monitoring their progress.
More next week, another visit for both the Greatwood staff and horses and the residents of Coombe End Court to savour.
The Parade Cinema awning – letter from Maralyn Patterson
