Inspired Equine Assisted Learning CIC

Over the last few weeks, we have been carefully reintroducing Toffee to grass turnout(even though it’s mostly weeds & camomile). Toffee’s journey has been a tricky one with laminitis flare-ups, made more likely with his EMS and Cushings diagnosis’.
But with a lot of patience and care, we think we’re heading in a positive direction!
Here’s Toffee, trying to hide from us when his time limit is up! 🐴🌱

There’s a persistent misconception that EAL organisations get plenty of funding because it’s therapy. It sounds believable, horses, wellbeing, community impact, surely funders are queuing up?

In reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth. EAL isn’t classified as clinical therapy, which means it doesn’t qualify for NHS or statutory mental‑health funding. Most EAL providers are small CICs competing for the same overstretched community grants as hundreds of other organisations. Demand is rising, but long‑term funding is inconsistent, highly competitive and often restricted to short projects.

The truth is that EAL is a specialist, community‑based intervention that relies on targeted, hard‑won funding. It delivers measurable outcomes but rarely receives stable financial backing.

An EAL programme may help a young person reduce anxiety, re‑engage with school and rebuild confidence, all outcomes that save public services thousands. Yet the CIC delivering that impact may still struggle to secure multi‑year funding, forcing them to reapply annually or reduce capacity despite clear need.

So, if you own or work for a company that values corporate responsibility and can appreciate the benefits of EAL, please consider supporting IdEAL, for example you could nominate us as a beneficiary, help promote our work or join one of our corporate training days to see the impact first-hand.