This June, Birchington’s Sarah Catterall received the British Horse Society (BHS) Annual Award for her unwavering commitment to her clients and devotion to the horses in her care.
Sarah Catterall, who coaches out of Nelson Park Riding Centre, has helped support adults and young people to achieve their goals through the COVID-19 lockdown and we caught up with her to find out more about her love of horses, difficulty working throughout the pandemic and future goals…
Can you inform readers of your own background in horse riding and accomplishments? When did it all start for you?
My riding started as a birthday treat with my friend Sally at 8-years-old, it then became weekly and at the age of 13, my parents bought me my first horse. It was actually bought by my father using his redundancy money, my father had ridden a bit when working abroad in Africa.
We then rented stables before my parents re-mortgaged their house to buy Nelson Park and so it all began.
Once I left school, I started my equine qualifications and started to build the business up.
I competed at local level and then went eventing with my horse Lord Nelson (Sam) competing in Dressage competitions, in hand showing, showing and show jumping, we began to breed horses and ponies during the following years.
Was it difficult to support young people and adults with their horse-riding goals throughout such an unprecedented time, what would you say were the toughest moments and the most rewarding?
We have always had young people here over the years going back to the YTS courses and even taking on adults who probably wouldn’t get employment.
The Changing Lives Through Horses is a fairly new scheme, as some of the schools in Thanet are at the bottom of the league tables we were identified as being in an area where they wanted to pilot the scheme so initially, we were one of 12 centres around the country to start the scheme.
It’s taken a while for schools and educational providers to understand its benefits and get on board but now we get calls from all different sources, small independent schools, special educational needs schools, home schooled and from mainstream schools. The programme is a fantastic and rewarding one to be involved in both as an instructor and for the children who attend.
I found that a lot of children have suffered with anxiety and mental challenges throughout lockdown but once they were back out in the open with the horse they just thrived.
I think they realised the benefit of the scheme that we have children who just want to be here full time. It’s not so much about the horses themselves but how they can change the person, their understanding of life, their welfare and the welfare of the horse they are looking after. We have children who have settled back down at school and suffer less anxiety and concentrate more, some have left the programme to enter back into mainstream and onto college and wanting to try harder and sit their GCSES, those change and evolve and the hope that this could change their whole lives without them maybe realising it. The path they end up on to the one they were maybe heading down.
We have a lot of children from within the care system who have had not good starts to life and to see them grow and smile is for us the biggest reward, a happy child, enjoying life and looking forward to the next visit.
Along with the Changing Lives, I have also been delivering training to adults who just wanted to further their knowledge, and doing British horse society assessments for their own learning and goals. We had some great achievements and they all passed so, so far, we have 100% success rate. With some of them still working up the ladder of assessments today.
Receiving the annual award from the BHS, how did this make you feel and is it fair to say it has enhanced your reputation and helped grow your clientele?
Well, I was very surprised as I received a call congratulating me and I asked for what? They asked if I had received a letter to which I hadn’t so they explained what was happening and then re-sent me the letter.
It was a lovely surprise, after nearly 35 years in the business to be recognised in this way makes what you do just that bit more special along with children, young adults and adults achieving their aims no matter how big or small those aims may be. I have to thank my family; my husband Graham, children Olivia and Finnlee who all work in the business and the next generation my grandson Quinn, who has also started on his equine path.
I receive my award from the Chairman of the British Horse Society, Martin Clunes MBE in November.
Whilst regulations are now seemingly back to normal, do you have a 5–10-year goal that you want to achieve through your coaching?
Well, I’m heading for late 50s and 60 is not far around the corner so I guess carry on but slowly passing the mantle to the next generation to keep it going. To try to deliver and produce children and adults to the highest level we can so there is achievement at all and every level, whether it’s serious training to come into the industry or for fun or to help those that need it.
I must add that while I’m getting the award, I wouldn’t be able to do it without the team behind me and those that support and also deliver the CLTH programme, they know who they are so thank you all to your hard work and dedication to Nelson Park and the awards we run.
The other thanks must go the horses who can sense and know when a person is sad, stressed and in need of affection without ever judging. Many a time I have heard of someone talking to the horse who is now their therapist, who of course never asks a question or answers back, all their woe, fears and worries. Plus, they never ever tell anyone else. It’s amazing how it can change and help a person and sometimes those who are in a very dark place.
What do you enjoy most about living in Birchington?
I’ve lived in Thanet all my life but Birchington since 1987. While I live out more to the edges of the village, I’ve spent a lot of time in Birchington itself. The village is now getting much bigger and with a much younger demographic than when I first started going there, but you get to know a lot of the shopkeepers who know you and not like the big corporates. They know your name and you try to support each other; we get a fair bit of our yard supplies from the village.
But what I like more than anything is living on the coast and all the beautiful beaches and coast line it has to offer, there’s nothing like a wild sea, to blow the cobwebs away.