Equestrian Young Leaders Europe

ended

We live in a fast and ever-changing world which demands flexibility, solution orientation and self-reliance of its citizens. The interaction with horses from a young age onward can help children develop these skills. Millions of children enjoy horse riding in Europe every day, but the impact of their interaction with horses could be much stronger if their experience would be structurally enriched with teamwork, communication skills, self-evaluation and possibilities to grow. These are skills and qualities needed in future life both either a normal citizen or as a leader at any social level. All these skills can be taught around the animal they love so much: the horse. The Equestrian Young Leaders Europe (EYLE) Program aims to do just that. It stimulates and structurally develops decisiveness, self-reliance, operational and communicative skills. Young adults trained by this youth program can truly enrich societies in general and equestrianism and its governmental bodies specifically. In Sweden and the Netherlands, where the program has run for many years, that process has started on every organisational level. Last year the first two young adults, raised within the Dutch Young Leaders Program, were even officially appointed to the Board of the Dutch National Federation, the KNHS. Children in the program will participate in many activities in riding schools and while doing so, learn the joy and value of volunteering at a young age and embrace that important social concept for the rest of their lives. The program is completely gender, culture, and colour neutral as horses have no prejudices and will act exactly the same to any friendly human soul that will encounter them. Over the next three years we strive to unroll the Equestrian Young Leaders initiative in Bulgaria, Hungary and Norway. During the Erasmus subsidy period we aim to interest more European equestrian federations to embrace the program, our ambition is to spread EYLE all over Europe.