How riding therapy changes lives

At Viska Horses, children in vulnerable positions don't just learn to ride – they learn to find calm, courage and self-esteem.

The offer, run by Helene Danielsen in collaboration with Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, provides children with a safe space where they can practice social skills, experience small victories and take valuable strategies with them into their lives.

From childhood

Helene Danielsen grows up with a mother who works with children and young people with autism – and Helene becomes a natural part of the work environment at an early age.

"My mother was always at work. She either took us to the institution or took the children home," says Helene.

The insight was only seriously put into practice many years later, when Helene, together with Pia Marie Larsen and Marie Louise Frederiksen, founded Viska Horses – a place created specifically with riding therapy in mind.

An offer is made

After five years of focused work and planning, Viska Horses will open its doors in 2020. What began as a vision to create an alternative to traditional leisure activities is quickly developing into a place where children can find peace, courage and self-esteem in interacting with horses.

- The most important thing for us was to create a place that was inclusive for everyone – and especially for those who needed it most, explains Helene Danielsen.

Today, five years later, Helene stands with a feeling of both pride and humility. Around 100 children have already been through the riding therapy courses, and many of them have taken big steps that neither they, their parents nor their teachers had thought possible.

- That's where I really feel that all the work makes sense, says Helene.

Collaboration with the municipality gives riding therapy a boost

In the summer of 2025, Helene is contacted by Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, who want to expand their collaboration with Viska Horses and want to invest more in the area. For Helene, the contact feels like a milestone.

"I was completely blown away when the municipality reached out. It was a huge pat on the back and a sign that what we are doing really makes a difference," says Helene Danielsen.

In mid-August, the collaboration between the intervention area and Viska Horses begins in earnest. The municipality quickly selects 12 children, aged 7-17, for a municipally supported riding therapy course with Helene.

- The children have different relational behavioral challenges, but what they have in common is that they are either on the verge of dropping out of school – or have already dropped out, for very different reasons, explains Helene.

The equestrian therapy becomes a much-needed breath of fresh air in the children's everyday lives – a completely different space than the many psychological consultations they are otherwise used to. Here they encounter a different kind of calm, responsibility and relationship that many of them have not experienced before. The children come once or twice a week, and Helene adapts the time with the horses to each individual child.

- Some children get the most out of just walking with me and doing practical things – for example, feeding the horses. Others could ride from morning to night. And then there are those who would rather groom and pet the horses to get physical closeness, but without any demands being made in return, says Helene.

The courses last three months, after which the municipality will assess whether they should be extended by a further three months, so that the riding therapy can last for a total of six months. Fortunately, the collaboration between Helene and the municipality is working extremely well, and everything indicates that all 12 children currently enrolled will have their courses extended – not least because of the clear impact measurement, which the municipality attaches great importance to.

- When the courses are extended, it is not only about time, but about the children's experience of self-esteem and mastery. These are small but decisive victories - like being able to do something they otherwise didn't think they could. For children who don't often experience that feeling of success, these are enormous moments that give them courage and the desire to try more, Helene explains.

From a municipal perspective, it is about ensuring that the children not only enjoy riding therapy here and now, but also take self-esteem, a sense of mastery and courage with them into their lives.

Horses as therapists

Helene usually says that it is the horses that are the therapists, not her, and therefore there is a big task in pairing each child with the right one of the eight Icelandic horses.

- For example, one of the children has been paired with the horse Gunna. She is an experienced horse who reads body language and energies in a very special way and adapts to the child.

"The child here needs small challenges during the ride to get the most out of it, and every time he learns something new - while Gunna remains gentle and calm," Helene says with a smile.

Helene is neither a psychologist nor a therapist – she works as a hairdresser when she is not facilitating equestrian therapy.

- As a hairdresser, I am used to reading people, having conversations and meeting people – and I love that. My upbringing has of course also given me a special insight into the target group, but in reality it is the horses and the children who do the real work. My role is just to support them, and I really enjoy doing that, says Helene with a laugh.

Helene works closely with the intervention area in the municipality. After each session, she carefully notes her observations so that they can be included in the evaluation of the intervention and used to document how the riding therapy affects the children.

The children at the center

Among the 12 children who go to riding therapy with Helene is a boy who always comes with his mother. For the sake of his son's future, they wish to remain anonymous, but the mother would still like to share her experience of how much of a difference riding therapy makes in her son's life.

- The first time I took my son, I was both nervous and scared, and so was he. We knew nothing about the big animals, but we slowly started to brush the horses and get to know them. After a short time, I could feel how much my son was looking forward to coming out here – and it was a joy that rubbed off on me, she says.

In this way, equestrian therapy becomes not just an offer for children, but a space where both children and parents experience new sides of themselves and find peace, unity and self-esteem together with the horses.

- We feel completely safe with Helene and the way she works. She has taught my son to breathe calmly – because when he is calm, the horse also becomes calm and obedient. We have been able to take that home with us in our everyday lives: If he gets angry or has a fit at home, I remind him to breathe like the horses – and it works and is very fascinating, she says with a clear calmness in her voice.

In this way, equestrian therapy becomes not only a place where children learn about horses, but also a space where they develop strategies for dealing with emotions and finding peace in their everyday lives.

- Even though it's only an hour once a week, it's incredibly calming to witness my son's development – and at the same time experience my own learning as a parent, she says.

Most children who attend Helene's school participate in a one-to-one program, where the focus is on their individual needs and development. Some children are also gradually put together in small groups so that they can practice social skills in a safe environment. However, for this family, it is important that the time with Helene is only about her, her son and the horse.

- The peace he gets when he is just with the horse and Helene is absolutely incredible – it means the world to us. I am so glad that this offer exists. My son has previously been associated with the youth center, but after that, we have been missing something that could really reach him. This is where the therapeutic and the physical are combined in a way that gives him both joy and development, she says with warmth in her voice.

The mother hopes that after the course, her son can continue riding and take with him the valuable qualities – calmness, self-esteem and presence – that he has learned together with the horses.

From vision to reality

Five years ago, Helene and her colleagues started a dream: to create a place where equestrian therapy could make a real difference for children who need a special offer. Today, the dream has become a reality – and even in a way that exceeds her own expectations.

- This was the dream from the start, so I'm really grateful for how it has developed. And this is the first time I've actually gotten paid to be out here, because I'm now a project employee in the municipality - otherwise the place has always been run together with a lot of other volunteers who work with their hearts in the right place. It's great, says Helene with a smile.

It is precisely this combination of commitment, structure and professional support that makes equestrian therapy not only a place for personal development, but also a space where children practice social skills and rediscover the joy of community – aspects that can also strengthen their opportunities in school and leisure time from a municipal perspective. As a project employee in the municipality, Helene also has access to resources and professional colleagues who act as sparring partners, ensuring that each course gives the children the most possible. What began as an idea borne of commitment and a desire to help has today become a place where children encounter understanding, challenge and support – a place that makes a real difference in their lives.