Developing, Enriching and Nurturing wellbeing through horses. All enquires: Val Atkin 07505351617 Our Centre is run by Val Atkin and our volunteers.
Jacob's Den is a new not-for-profit organisation that aims to Develop, Enhance and Nurture wellbeing through horses for children, young people and also those with additional needs or mental health challenges in our community. We follow HETI guidelines for the welfare of all our horses and most of our horses originally came to us from welfare organisations or have been donated to us from homes wher
e they could no longer be cared for. Val has been an SEND and also mainstream teacher for 30 years. Val has owned horses for over 40 years, has trained with the RDA and is a qualified UKCC Pony Club Coach. All our sessions are non-riding and no experience is necessary. We already run HAF activities for SEND children in the school holidays and we can now open our gates to others in our community. We offer bespoke family/group activities from £15 and also a Saturday morning club runs between 10:30 and 1pm every week which is £15.
Three more busy days at Jacob’s Den- new skills, new challenges, new friends- and lots of fun!!! Lots of learning about keeping ourselves and the ponies healthy, including a visit from our local vet, Barbara from Pegasus, to give the ponies a check over- helped by our visitors! 😊If you would like to book a place for your child, please visit our website- jacobsden.org- for further details. We have spaces currently on a Friday and a Saturday. Hope to see you soon 😊
Such a busy couple of days at Jacob’s Den, making sure both horse and human wellbeing was at the centre of all we did. The heat meant we kept to the cool woods for exercise, and we also made sure the ponies were kept cool with sponges, water and shade where needed. We thought about how we know when horses and humans are healthy and compared vital signs of each, including respiration rates and heartbeat. We also checked the ponies weight and height to make sure they are all in good shape. We still always have time to find the ponies favourite spots to be scratched though. One visitor today went around all the ponies, not just his, to compare those favourite scratching spots on each! 😊If you have a child between the age of 5 and 18 who you think would enjoy these sessions, please visit our website, jacobsden.org for further details 😊
As the Olympics came to a close this weekend, so our Olympic week came to an end at Jacob’s Den. So many sporting challenges were completed and much learned about how we can keep ourselves and the ponies in good shape for these challenges. Children learned about the best ways to warm up and exercise correctly for both humans and horses and also about types of food to keep humans and horses really healthy. Many thanks to all our visitors and staff again this week for giving the ponies such a brilliant time. Thank you also to Carol for the beautiful hand-made rosettes that many of the children were awarded this week. We still have lots left! 😊 We have a few spaces available on a Friday or Saturday for children aged 5 to 18 (under 7’s need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian). Please visit our website: jacobsden.org for further details. 😊
A sporting Olympic theme began this week with our own mini show jumping challenge this afternoon, once all the jobs had been finished and a healthy lunch prepared and eaten 😊
HAF Day 1: What a fantastic start to HAF. We began by mixing all the breakfasts, carefully making sure each pony had what they needed. All routine jobs were done and then children learnt how we work with the ponies including how to approach them, put on head collars and how to lead them correctly. A healthy lunch followed with all children preparing what they ate themselves. Some of the children tried fruit and vegetables that they had never tried before and found that they really liked them! Children then learnt about different equipment and methods needed to keep ponies clean and then used this to groom their pony. Some then went off to mark a track through the woods for everyone to follow. The children asked to make jumps out of logs, which we did. It was so cool in the woods for the ponies on such a hot day and they all enjoyed a walk to end the day 😊
Beautiful weather brought the dragonflies from dancing above the Lake to resting on the gates whilst we groomed the ponies this weekend. We also started some planting and some more undergrowth had been cleared in the woods to make extra paths for us to explore in the cooler shade 😊We still have a few spaces on a Friday during the holiday as well as our usual weekend club. Please visit our website- jacobsden.org - for further details 😊
Two more days of photos from our summer Jacob’s Den at Branston Booths! Lots of cleaning, washing and plaiting in pampering sessions. Groundwork sessions with the horses helped them use their mental and physical energy in a way that developed a bond and greater trust between horse and human. Two of our younger RSPCA ponies, Remy and Candi, were involved, and the calm and positive energy that came from our visitors helped their confidence enormously. Our older ponies in particular benefited from their stretching exercises at the end of the session, which our visitors soon became experts in using 😊 We still have a few spaces on a Friday during the holiday as well as our usual weekend sessions. Please check out our website jacobsden.org for more details 😊
Teamwork was the theme for the first two days of Jacob’s Den Summer Club. Lots of effective communication between humans and humans and also humans and horses. Routine jobs were all done together and challenges planned by all. Some of our visitors were also able to help others by teaching them plaiting skills to use on the ponies😊. Our holiday sessions run every day throughout the summer although we only have spaces on a Friday or the weekend. Please visit our website for details: jacobsden.org 😊
!!HOLIDAY SPACES STILL AVAILABLE!! Princess and Hero were pulling all sorts of funny faces this morning, showing they were loving their scratches. New obstacles in the woods were tackled successfully by humans and horses, including the new banks, cleared for the horses to use by APS Equine 😊Please check out our sessions on our website- jacobsden.org. or visit our page. Sessions begin this week on weekdays as well as our usual weekend sessions. Spaces are still available on a Friday (or Wednesday this week) 9:45 until 1:15- £20 per session. 😊
The coolest place to be today was in the woods, so after some pamper time, that’s where we headed. For details of sessions please visit jacobsden.org 😊
HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES AT JACOB’S DEN. We have sessions open to ALL children on every Friday in the holiday and also Monday 22nd and Wednesday 24th July. Times:9:45 until 1:15- £20 per day (hours can be extended with additional payment). All other weekdays in the holiday are for SEND children only and are fully booked. Weekend sessions will remain throughout the summer. Come and have fun, learn new skills and make lots of new friends- horse and human, in our beautiful setting at APS Equine, Branston Booths. Visit our page or our website: jacobsden.org to see photos from our previous days. Details for booking can also be found on our website
So many thanks to all the students and staff at St Francis Special School in Lincoln for making us feel so welcome today. Colours and Woody had an amazing time and behaved brilliantly on only their second ever outing. Thank you also to Adam for organising such a fabulous afternoon. Please visit our website- Jacob’s Den.org - for information on how to be a part of our sessions 😊
Football day today at Jacob’s Den- of course!! The ponies need a lot more practise but well done England!!!!
!!!HAF WAITING LIST UPDATE!!! WOW- We were fully booked within a couple of hours of opening on Tuesday and appreciate we have a long waiting list for those unable to secure a place. We are still clarifying SEND eligibility for all participants so will be hoping to accommodate some from our waiting list. Please bear with us as we are super excited to see as many of you as we can 😊
EVERYONE IS VERY EXCITED AT JACOB’S DEN AS IT’S NEARLY HAF TIME AGAIN!! Booking goes LIVE tomorrow - Tuesday 25th June - for all children and young people who receive HAF vouchers from their school. These places are funded by LCC and run for four weeks during the Summer holiday. At Jacob’s Den we can only accept bookings from SEND children and young people and the sessions are free with HAF vouchers. We are also running non- funded sessions for ALL children every Friday during the holiday and also Monday and Wednesday in the first and final week (£20) -news about these days soon. Weekend sessions will remain the same throughout the holiday. Please visit our website for more information and to see photos from previous sessions - Jacob’s Den.org. or visit our page- Jacob’s Den at APS Equine. We are all looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones!!! 😊
A beautiful day today but the high pollen count meant Princess and Bailey needed extra protection over their noses to help their allergies. Lots of fun was had with some liberty work with the Mini’s in their paddock. Colours’ team won but much was learnt about non- verbal communication between the team members and with the ponies. We didn’t take Hero out of his paddock today but he was in horse heaven when he had three people finding his favourite ‘scratchy’ spot whilst he was eating his hay under the trees. The wood was the coolest place to be today, so a quiet walk (except for a quick jump!) proved to be a welcome end to the session 😊
Another fabulous weekend at Jacob’s Den. The rain held off on both days until the end of each session. Woody needed lots of brushing as his Winter coat still isn’t all out- typical of little Shetlands! Our visitors chose what they wanted to do each day after the routine jobs were finished. On Saturday they chose to design an obstacle course which included a heart-shape. We were told that this had to be negotiated in a clockwise direction only! On Sunday we demonstrated lots of exercises to improve suppleness and muscular strength for the horses in response to a request from a visitor. Our participants developed their own skills in this by practicing these exercises firstly by themselves and then with the horses. We followed this with carrot stretches to help improve flexibility, core strength and balance, which would really help Jim and Princess, especially as they are our older horses. All horses had well deserved scratches on both days for being amazing. Horses prefer being scratched then patted and our visitors now know a lot of the horses favourite spots to scratch. They certainly pull some funny faces when their ‘scratchers’ hit the right spot! If you would like to join any of our sessions please visit our website for details: Jacob’s Den.org. 😊
Busy day again today. After all the jobs were finished we had some problem solving activities first without, then with
the ponies 😊
Spaces still left for tomorrow morning (Saturday). 9:45-12:15. £15. Jacob’s Den- Developing, Empowering and Nurturing wellbeing through horses and nature. Please visit our website for more details: Jacob’s Den. Org
Thank you so much to all our visitors this week. Holiday sessions will begin again after the schools finish in July but don’t forget our other weekly sessions including Saturday mornings. Please check out our website for further details: Jacob’s Den.org. Hope to see you all again soon 😊
Another amazing day at JD’s holiday club. We had a visit from Barbara, the vet from Pegasus, who checked over some of the ponies and gave them their yearly vaccinations. Some of our young visitors checked them over with Barbara, including listening to their heartbeat through a stethoscope. We then practised measuring each other (in horse ‘hands’ and well as cm’s) before measuring how high the ponies are at their withers. We also checked their weight using a weight- tape as we keep a check on this to make sure they are as healthy as possible. We then planned and made an obstacle course through the woods which was perfect for the ponies. Visiting us today were Harriet and her colleague from Alt.Ed who we are hoping to be working with soon. Please remember we have regular clubs on each week. Please see our website: Jacob’s Den.org for details of our sessions. We will be taking bookings soon for our summer holiday sessions as well. Please watch out for further details 😊
Another amazing day at JD’s holiday club. We had a visit from Barbara, the vet from Pegasus, who checked over some of the ponies and gave them their yearly vaccinations. Some of our young visitors checked them over with Barbara, including listening to their heartbeat through a stethoscope. We then practised measuring each other (in horse ‘hands’ and well as cm’s) before measuring how high the ponies are at their withers. We also checked their weight using a weight- tape as we keep a check on this to make sure they are as healthy as possible. We then planned and made an obstacle course through the woods which was perfect for the ponies. We finished the day by having lots of fun with our own obstacle course involving Chase-me-Charlie and limbo! Visiting us today as well were Harriet and her colleague from Alt.Ed who we are hoping to be working with soon. Please remember we have regular clubs on each week. Please see our website: Jacob’s Den.org for details of our sessions. We will be taking bookings soon for our summer holiday sessions as well. Please watch out for further details 😊
WOW!! What a busy first day at JD holiday club. The ponies will be exhausted tonight with so many new people to meet along with some regular visitors. The rain couldn’t spoil the fun. So many jobs to do with the ponies, and the obstacle course our young visitors worked together to plan and prepare was a hit for ponies and people alike. Brilliant communication was found to be the skill most needed- teamwork makes the dream work!! 😊
OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOLUNTEERING AT JACOB’S DEN-APS Equine Branston Booths. We are currently welcoming new volunteers due to our continued development. This could be either working with the horses (both our experienced ones or those still in training), working within the sessions, fund raising or administrative tasks, or general help for routine jobs and maintenance (including any gardeners out there!). So if you would like to spend more time being in the countryside or with horses, are looking to give something back to your local community, or are wanting work experience, we would love to hear from you. No experience is necessary as full training can be given. 15 years to no upper age limit- just need to be physically fit. Please check out our website (Jacob’s Den.org) and, if interested, email [email protected], saying a little bit about yourself and what area you would like to help in 😊
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES AT JACOB’S DEN. If you would enjoy spending time with horses and/ or outdoors (including gardening) then we are looking for volunteers. No experience with horses necessary but must be physically fit and 15+years (14 if a regular JD participant and no upper age limit). Please visit our page or website for more information on what we do (Jacob’s Den. Org). Please email [email protected] 😊
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