Rescued and recovered horse, Paddy, now has an important therapy role
Posted on 24/06/2022

Handsome 12-year-old horse, Paddy, was totally shut down to human interaction when he was rescued but now, four years later, he is helping troubled humans regain their confidence and rebuild their lives, and is the star of a video recently released by World Horse Welfare on therapy horses.
Paddy has joined two other World Horse Welfare rescue horses at Tower House Horses, an equine therapy charity based in Winchester, Hampshire.
Paddy was awarded into the care of World Horse Welfare when his owner was found guilty of neglect under an offence of the Animal Welfare Act. He was cared for at Glenda Spooner Farm, the charity’s Rescue and Rehoming Centre in Somerset, for almost a year before he was fit and healthy enough to be rehomed.
“We are really beginning to recognise that there are many more jobs that horses can do, not just the traditional ridden, driven or companion roles. Using horses in a therapy environment is becoming more and more popular because people are recognizing what kind of valuable input the horse can have on human lives. It’s about looking after the partnership and that special relationship that horses can have with humans.”
Penny Baker, the World Horse Welfare Field Officer who was involved in the initial assessment and rescue of Paddy
“The great thing about horses is that they are incredibly healing and empathetic to be around. We work with them to help our clients rebuild their confidence and self-esteem, to gain emotional resilience, improve their ability to communicate and just generally go away feeling uplifted by having spent time with these wonderful creatures.”
Susie Little, founder of Tower House Horses
Paddy joined two other horses at the centre who had also been rehomed from World Horse Welfare: Blackie and Exmoor pony, Tommy, who has been with Susie for twenty years.
“We work with victims of domestic abuse, previous offenders, people with alcohol and substance misuse issues, young people with anxiety and depression. The wonderful thing about horses is that what we do with them works with a whole variety of people because it gets right down to the core, the lack of self-esteem, the lack of confidence that people come with.
“Paddy, Blackie and Tommy show the great power of horses to heal people. It’s beautiful to see the horses interact with people, they don’t judge you. All three of these horses come from traumatic backgrounds themselves. They bring a lot to the therapeutic process because they’ve got the lived experience, they’ve been there, got the t shirt.”
Susie Little
Topics
Related News

Largest horse rescue and rehoming charity in Britain announces collaboration with Retraining of Racehorses
World Horse Welfare and British Horseracing’s official charity, Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), have agreed to collaborate on a pilot scheme.

Try before you buy – a sobering tale of buying horses unseen
The pandemic has changed shopping habits for many, but the tale of Laddie and Angel shows that some things are best bought the old fashioned way.
Recommended Blog Posts

Our London Marathon runners 2025
We catch up with the six runners taking on this epic event for our charity to find out how their training is going.

Reflections on our relationship with the Balmoral Estate
Centre Manager Eileen reflects on Belwade Farm’s connection with Balmoral Estate – the Scottish residence of our late monarch Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – over the years.

The Trafficked 20 – life in our care
Our Hall Farm Manager fills us in on how the horses rescued from illegal smuggling have settled into our care and continue to recover.
Enjoy reading stories like this?
Join over 65,000 other horse lovers and sign up for our email newsletter

Join over 65,000 other horse lovers and sign up for our email newsletter
Sign me up now