Taunton horse 'saved my life' after mental health struggle

Shelby Lunt, 25, met Maverick after several years as a patient on psychiatric wards

Shelby Lunt, 25, had spent most of her adult life being treated in psychiatric wards. But it was meeting a horse called Maverick which she says transformed her future.

"I can rant all my problems to a horse and he won't answer back, he won't give an opinion - he'll just listen," Ms Lunt said.

From the age of 16, Ms Lunt spent almost 10 years as a patient on psychiatric wards and secure units, being treated for complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder.

"I was quite ill, self-harming a lot, running away a lot, drinking everything," she said.

But while on Willow Ward in Bridgwater, Somerset, a support worker helped her rediscover her childhood passion for horses.

Ms Lunt said as well as Maverick, she also built up a bond with the riding school owner, Pat Fallance

She started making regular visits to a riding school near Taunton - and there she met Maverick, who finally helped her to see a future outside of hospital.

Every time she was going riding, she said she had something to look forward to - and she had not had something to look forward to for many years.

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"If I was having a bad day on a Monday, say, I'd be like 'I'm riding Maverick in two days, so I'm not going to mess it up'," she said.

Maverick is not an easy horse to ride, but it is his "sometimes grumpiness", which Ms Lunt said she loves about him.

The affection between the pair is palpable, with his ears perking up cheerily when Ms Lunt comes near.

"I'd often come up here and be in a bad mood or struggling - then after a couple of hours I'd be fine," Ms Lunt said.

"It kind of saved my life to be honest. It's what I want to do with my life now."

Pat Fallance runs Horse Chestnuts Riding School and used to work as a psychiatric nurse

Two months ago, Ms Lunt moved into her own home, and now lives 10 minutes away from her parents, the closest they have been since she was 16.

On her first visit back to the stables since leaving hospital, the emotion was clear to see from the riding school's owner, Pat Fallance.

She proudly watched over a gate as Ms Lunt and Maverick trotted around the yard.

"He's making me work for it," said Ms Lunt as Maverick was reluctant to pick up the pace from a walk.

Ms Fallance remarked that Ms Lunt's progress had been "a pleasure to see".

"We saw the journey from the girl that was looking at the floor and not doing very much, through to the confident lady we have now," Mrs Fallance said.

Ms Lunt's support worker said Shelby was "in her element" with the horses

One member of staff at the stables had even baked a heart-shaped cake to mark the occasion, which was shared in the tack room after Ms Lunt's ride.

Enjoying a slice of cake was Melissa Darling, a support worker at the shared house where Ms Lunt moved to two months ago, in Devon.

Describing Ms Lunt as a "very kind and patient girl", Ms Darling explained she had not seen her interact with horses before.

"It's lovely to see her come back here, she knows what she's doing [with the horses]... and seems in her element," she said.

Sarah Cox's team helps people who have spent a long time in mental health hospitals, find connections in their local community

Ms Lunt's experience was all made possible by Open Mental Health, which runs community rehabilitation services in Somerset.

Service manager Sarah Cox leads a team that works with individuals with complex mental health needs, helping them to make connections other than their support workers and hospital staff.

It was this team that discovered Ms Lunt had been riding since the age of four, and so introduced her to the riding school and Maverick.

Ms Cox said discovering a passion can be crucial for mental health patients who have spent a long time in hospital.

"Finding that thing, getting back out into the community again, it just helps to see a life beyond what's been before," she said.

"I think that's so important: being able to envisage a difference and a change and something so transformative."