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Grint agrees although she says she'd like to build on the work already done with

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Grint agrees, although she says she'd like to build on the work already done with those with special educational needs to see it offered more generally to all pupils. There is already a second group of 11 students from Paignton Community and Sports College studying for BHS Level 1 in Kingsbridge, Devon, and Linington-Payne says she hopes further links with BHS-approved riding schools and other local authority schools will follow."It introduces people to working with horses and gives them a hobby that can be for life or even for a career," she says. "They know they won't be allowed to ride otherwise," says Grint.The scheme is paid for by local authority funds and the Cripplegate Foundation, a trust that has been set up to improve the quality of life for Islington residents. I'm going to do the NVQ Level 1 because I want to go to college and take up animal care." Her colleague Joanna Williamson, 15, likes Lee Valley so much she will continue the NVQ after she leaves school next year.Even uniform, when worn on the job, isn't as bad as school uniform, it seems.

The girls wear the standard, smart riding kit, with hair kept back in snoods and proper riding boots. "They love doing the stables and grooming the horses or taking them to the fields. It's very satisfying - making the horse look good, the bed look good, taking care of the animal."According to Letisha Hunte, 14, from Elizabeth Garret Anderson, the stables are still sometimes smelly But she doesn't mind. "I had been to a stables before," she says, "but this is different because they train you and you can learn. Riding is a good discipline because you need masses of patience and determination. It's not always summer and the fields aren't always green; sometimes it's cold and muddy, and you have to have staying power.

You need to be outgoing and sociable, too, with the others who are riding or learning."And the mucking out? Not a problem now, apparently. "They know that they're a potential risk to take out of school so they have to follow rules. It's made them grow up a bit and has really benefited them."Irena Grint, the manager at Lee Valley, could spot changes in the children after only a month. "When they arrived they often didn't say much, or if they did they just said they didn't like what they were doing, or it was a bit smelly, or they weren't keen," she explains "But now they enjoy it.

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