07/09/2026
🐴 A charity that puts prisoners in a round pen with a loose horse reports that disciplinary adjudications inside HMP Portland fell by 74 per cent.
TheHorseCourse was founded in 2010 by Harriet Laurie, a lifelong horsewoman and former design and marketing consultant, with a pilot at HMP Portland in Dorset. It took eight prisoners in intensive two-week blocks, morning and afternoon, two men at a time so each could work and watch.
The horses are loose and trained in natural horsemanship. The participant has no rope, no whip and no force available - only body language, breathing, patience and self-control. No talking therapy is required, which is why it reaches people who do not engage with conventional programmes.
The charity's published evaluations, carried out with Bournemouth University, Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Southampton, report that 74 per cent drop in adjudications and a 72 per cent fall in negative behaviour entries. A 2015 prison study found young offenders reoffending at 36 per cent against a predicted 63. A 2022 study reported a 51 per cent decrease in domestic abuse flags at twelve months, against a 17 per cent rise in the comparison group.
TheHorseCourse now runs its ReStart programme from a south-west England centre with seven full-time staff and fifteen horses. Laurie was appointed MBE in 2024.
Do you think an animal can read a person more honestly than another person can?
