Seoul Purpose
Seoul Purpose Her work as International Liaison for RDA has taken National Coaching Lead Sue Adams-Wheeler all over the world. We caught up with her after a recent trip to South Korea.
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aving heard a talk by Sue about Equine Assisted Learning, The Korea Racing Authority (KRA) asked for her help. The Authority, which, as well as running the hugely popular racing industry, also has a remit to improve social welfare, is starting a programme to support fire-service and military personnel with PTSD. “These are people who need to learn to trust again,” explains Sue. Korea has a progressive attitude to horses for therapy and well-being. Like RDA, the Korea Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship is a member of HETI (Horses in Equine Therapy International), and the Korean government even launched an initiative last year offering all citizens 10 subsidised riding lessons. “They want to encourage people to get fit and active, and to have more interactions with animals,” says Sue.
Groundwork 16
Sue was invited to work with staff and representatives from the fire service at KRA’s spectacular Race Park, in the Juam-Dong district of Seoul. Built as an equestrian park for the 1988 Summer
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Olympics, the facility was converted to the LetsRun Park a year later and is now one of three state of the art racecourses in the city. “There are about 1,500 horses on site and around 1000 members of staff,” says Sue. “They all have lunch in a vast canteen.” There is already plenty of RDA-style activity at the site, predominantly with children. Indeed, one of the delegates had trained with RDA at the Diamond Centre 20 years ago – and even had the certificate that Sue presented her with all those years ago! But working with PTSD sufferers would require a different approach. “Their coaches are great, but at the moment they don’t really have the skills to work with clients off the horse, which can be so beneficial for adults with trust issues,” says Sue.
Horsepower As with most of her international trips, Sue’s role was not to carry out sessions, but to train the horses and coaches so that they can deliver the programmes. There were two main elements to her work with the team. The first was working with the horses to ensure they were suitable and happy to do what was asked of them. “The horses are new to RDA and this kind of work,” explains Sue. Unlike their fellow stablemates on the racing yard, the team will be working with a Gypsy Cob and some a Connemaras, bought by KRA in Ireland as part of their visit to HETI in 2018. “They are lovely horses,” says Sue, “and ideally suited to the kind of trust building exercises that these clients will need.”
