I am the Founder and CEO of TheHorseCourse, an award-winning charity with a proven equine-assisted approach to mental health when talking isn't working. Our approach has been found effective by numerous academic studies and the programme is considered a world-leading action-based intervention (see www.thehorsecourse.org/evidence).

My Fellowship allowed me to travel to the USA and Australia to look at other equine-assisted methodologies, both in prison and in the community. I was struck by the lack of robust evaluation and research in this field and came back inspired to engage with academic scrutiny.

My area of interest was initially prisoner rehabilitation, but now I am involved with broader mental health and behaviour change interventions and the challenge of supporting people who do not respond to talk-based therapies or programmes. The learning I absorbed and synthesised has informed my practice and teaching ever since and I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity.