The Horse Rug Whisperer
Roz Pengilly, owner of The Horse Rug Whisperer and a Mill House GRIST graduate, has taken her passion for all things equine and developed a social enterprise to support teens. The program, Thrive, gives them an environment to realise their potential and the support to develop pathways to live a successful life.
We began the program formally in 2021, but informally it’s been running longer. We’ve had eight kids work with us so far, all between the ages of 15 and 18 years. Typically, they’re from the local area, but some are from ACT.
The teenagers we take into the program might not be a good fit with the style of learning offered in the school system. Some have health issues so they missed a lot of school, or suffer from issues like anxiety.
Essentially, we provide them with paid work around the farm and in the store, teaching them both life and business skills. We help them get the training they need to secure a career. Not all want to work in the equine industry. We also help them get a driver’s license, first aid certificate and importantly, give them a safe and encouraging environment to gain confidence in their own abilities.
We want to buy more land so we can help more kids, provide short- and long-term accommodation when it’s needed and get more staff to provide counselling services and so on.
There is so much information provided, it’s like taking a drink from a fire hydrant! It provided me with the skills I need to move the business forward to help more young people realise their potential.