An equestrian college at Festina Lente in Bray, Co Wicklow, is training people with intellectual disabilities to work in the horse industry, reports Sylvia Thompson.

'You can hug, kiss and touch a horse to demonstrate your feelings. They don't give a damn whether you can read or write or if you have an intellectual disability." With these words, Helen Keogh, the manager of an unusual equestrian training college in Co Wicklow, sums up the philosophy of the place. Festina Lente, which means hasten slowly in Italian, offers hope to individuals who have been misunderstood, poorly treated or abysmally neglected.

Edward Smyth (35), from Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, has been training at Festina Lente in Bray for two and a half years. "I love what I do, working with horses and being in the open air. I couldn't ride when I came here first, but now I enjoy riding and I don't find it difficult. Before this, I did a training course to be a chef, but I found there was too much pressure working in kitchens," he says. Smyth is due to do work experience in a private livery yard soon.

Stephanie Keogh (24), from Arklow, Co Wicklow is on a two-week trial at Festina Lente. "I've had horseriding lessons since I was seven and I love it here. If I could, I'd camp out here 24 hours a day," she says.

Following spells of being bullied, Stephanie left school at 14. Later, she did computer training with the National Training and Development Institute and then returned to school to complete her Junior and Leaving Certs. She hopes to begin the three-year training course at Festina Lente in September and will stay in digs during the week with one of the landladies associated with the school.

The students there learn the usual skills associated with horsemanship: mucking out, tacking up, first aid for horses, and riding. They also have individualised programmes on personal development which cover communications, health and safety and food.

There are currently 16 students on the three-year course. The aim is that, on completion, they will obtain employment in the equestrian industry.

"There are eight horses of the 27 stabled here that are used exclusively for the students. These horses have got to be safe and have a good temperament so that they can accommodate a range of abilities in terms of riding. Equines as a species respond well to voice, touch and positive handling," says equestrian manager Helen Keogh.

"All the students are here because they love horses. Riding requires a certain amount of dexterity; you have to use both hands and legs. And some of the students might have difficulty with jobs such as picking out a horse's hoof [cleaning out mud and stones] or using the different brushes for different parts of the body in grooming - but it's all part of the training."

Jill Carey, the principal of Festina Lente's equestrian college, explains: "There is no therapeutic programme here, but the very fact that the students have responsibility to care for the horses is therapeutic in itself. Also we try to keep a person-centred approach, which means that you have to be mindful of the individual and how that individual learns things."

And how are such individual needs accommodated?

"Reading and writing is always an issue for people with intellectual disabilities, so we use a lot of real-life situations and graphics in our training," says Carey.

Negative experiences at home, school or other training establishments are discussed during the training, and individual action plans are drawn up which identify character strengths and weaknesses. That the emphasis is more on ability than disability seems to be the key to keeping students happy in their learning environment. Also, there is an understanding that the context in which you learn affects how you learn.

The equestrian college is partly funded by a riding-school at Festina Lente and partly by annual fundraising initiatives. Core funding for the training comes from FÁS.

The 32-acre grounds, which also include a two-acre walled garden built in 1807, are rented to the Festina Lente Foundation by businessman James Carroll. Although somewhat neglected now, the garden was once renowned for having the first cordyline plants in Ireland. The original owner of Festina Lente was William Conygham Plunkett.

If Carey gets her way, the walled garden will once again be full of fruits, flowers and vegetables. She has secured funding for a horticultural training programme and hopes to restore the gardens and open tea rooms for visitors. "I'd like to think that we will more open to the community in 18 months' time," she says.

• The Festina Lente Foundation, Old Connaught Avenue, Bray, Co. Wicklow. Tel: 01- 2720704