Personal Development through horsemanship
HorseBack UK inspires positive change, encourages confidence and self-esteem, and promotes recovery in an individual. Using horsemanship and outdoor activities, we deliver nationally accredited personal development and wellbeing programmes which offer our participants new coping strategies, life skills and the tools to build resilience.
HorseBack UK is a charity set up to empower service personnel and veterans suffering from life-changing injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and to aid them on their road to recovery.
The success of the first five years of courses for military personnel has allowed HorseBack UK to extend its remit and is now able to focus on the wider community.
Teenagers participate in a 15-day SQA Level 4 Certificate in Personal Development Through Horsemanship.
Over the past three years HorseBack UK has established a unique leadership and team building experience.
In the late summer of 2020 whilst chaos and fear reigned due to the COVID 19 pandemic Jock wanted to help those who had specifically been affected by it within the NHS and Care Home Systems.
We deliver the Team Programme, a twelve week course for young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five.
Our Patron
"I am delighted to be Patron of HorseBack UK, whose work clearly demonstrates the extraordinary physical, emotional and mental support that horses can offer to us all."
Our Supporting Partners
👀 📰 Horseback UK are in the Telegraph (Online) today…
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The British cowboy using tough love to help despondent teenagers
www.telegraph.co.uk
Jock Hutchison is building on his work with fellow veterans to get youngsters off their phones, onto horses – and back into the real world0 CommentsComment on Facebook
📚 🐎 🇬🇧 🏴 FREE REIN – THE POWERFUL AND HEART-WARMING STORY OF HOW HORSES AND HUMANS CAN FIND HAPPINESS
We are incredibly excited to share some very special news from HorseBack UK.
Our co-founder Jock Hutchison has written a book.
FREE REIN, published by Bloomsbury, will be released on 27th August 2026 and is available to pre-order now from Bloomsbury, Amazon and all good bookshops.
It will be available in hard copy and as an audiobook, narrated by the extremely talented Scottish actor David Rintoul, known for his roles in Dr Finlay’s Casebook, Hornblower, The Crown and Game of Thrones.
🎥️ In this short interview, our Course Director Jason Hare catches up with Jock to talk about the book, the story behind it and the extraordinary journey that led to HorseBack UK.
“The powerful and heart-warming story of how horses and humans can find happiness.”
On a remote Scottish farm, something remarkable happens.
People who have been wounded by war, young people struggling to find their place in the world, and those searching for happiness, confidence or wellbeing begin to feel whole again.
At the heart of it all is a man in a cowboy hat and a herd of remarkable horses.
Jock’s own relationship with horses began as a child, when his first pony provided an escape from a difficult home life. His journey would later take him from Royal Marines officer to helicopter pilot and successful businessman, before his life took a very different turn.
Following his own struggles, failures and mental health challenges, the horses called him back.
In 2009, Jock co-founded HorseBack UK, initially supporting veterans recovering from physical and psychological injuries. What began with the Armed Forces community has grown into something much bigger, helping people from many different backgrounds find confidence, connection and a way forward.
In Free Rein, Jock takes readers onto the farm and follows a group of struggling teenagers as they learn to work with horses – and, in doing so, learn more about themselves and each other.
Phones are put away. Anxieties begin to quieten. Trust is built. Mistakes are made. Lessons are learned.
And the horses are there every step of the way. 🐎 ❤️
For anyone who has ever wondered why we do what we do at HorseBack UK, where it all began, or just what it is about horses that can have such a profound effect on people – this is a book for you.
📖 FREE REIN by Jock Hutchison
📅 Published 27th August 2026
🎧 Audiobook narrated by David Rintoul
🛒 Available to pre-order now from Bloomsbury, Amazon and all good bookshops.
amzn.eu/d/09kuOdAv
Please share and help us spread the word.
#FreeRein #JockHutchison #HorseBackUK #Bloomsbury #EquineAssistedServices #Horses #MentalHealth #Wellbeing #Veterans #YoungPeople #Resilience #ThePowerOfHorses ... See MoreSee Less
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🌟🐴 THIS SUMMER… LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN! 🌿🔥
Looking for something your child will actually remember this summer? Give them five action packed days of adventure, confidence building, and outdoor fun at HorseBack UK’s Wild Horses Summer Camp!
🐎 Ride horses
🏹 Hit the bullseye with archery
🔥 Learn bushcraft skills
🌲 Explore the outdoors
🤝 Make amazing new friends
💚 Grow in confidence every single day
Whether they’re a complete beginner or already love the outdoors, every young person is welcomed into a fun, friendly, and supportive environment where they can challenge themselves, laugh, learn, and create memories that will last long after summer ends.
📅 10th–14th August
🕙 10:00am – 3:30pm
👧🧒 Ages 11–15 | All abilities welcome
⚡ Spaces are filling fast so don’t let them miss out on the adventure of the summer!
📍 Book now at www.horseback.org.uk
📧 info@horseback.org.uk or Messenger DM
📞 Call 01339 880487
Tag a parent who needs to see this! 👇
#HorseBackUK #WildHorsesSummerCamp #SummerAdventure #HorseRiding #Bushcraft #Archery #OutdoorFun #SchoolHolidays #Confidence #Friendship #AdventureStartsHere #MemoriesMade #GetOutside #Summer2026 ... See MoreSee Less
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