When Sophie Met Darcy Day

When Sophie Met Darcy Day
Helen Yeadon

A heartwarming collection of stories from a woman who brings together disadvantaged children and abandoned racehorses, with remarkable results.Thirteen-year-old Sophie hadn’t uttered a word to anyone for over two years when she got out of her parents car at a remote farm in Devon. Her parents were beside themselves with worry, and at the end of their tether, but try as they might, nothing seemed to make a difference. They’d heard about a place called Greatwood through friends - where owners Helen and Michael Yeadon looked after retired racehorses - and decided to take Sophie along for a visit.Helen asked Sophie to help her change the dressings on the infected cuts on the legs of Darcy Day, one of their more troubled horses, and it was instantly clear that these two had some kind of special connection. Darcy Day would normally back away from people, but this time she lowered her head and stepped forward, to let Sophie stroke her nose. It was the start of an incredible relationship that would transform both horse and child, and it gave Michael and Helen an idea.They registered as a charity, moved to bigger premises, and began inviting children with a wide range of learning disabilities to volunteer to help with the animals. The results were amazing - traumatised horses and anxious or disturbed children bonded with each other, and every week little miracles were happening before their eyes.Boys with diagnoses such as Asperger’s Syndrome or Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or those who’d been excluded from school for unruly behaviour, flourished through the discipline of working on the farm. Girls made timid and anxious by abusive backgrounds or school bullies came out of the shells. In this book are twenty of the most incredible tales of children who were given back their futures by the unique and extraordinary institution of Greatwood.

HELEN YEADON

WITH GILL PAUL

When Sophie MetDarcy Day

To Michael

Contents

Cover (#uf0836af2-df36-5492-aa55-1cdec11c55a5)

Title Page (#uca7b8edf-7ae3-5dbd-b0b1-85954d47a62d)

Foreword

Chapter 1 - A New Life in Devon

Chapter 2 - Moving to Greatwood Farm

Chapter 3 - Flat Broke

Chapter 4 - Lucy and Freddy

Chapter 5 - Sophie and Darcy Day

Chapter 6 - Moving to Wiltshire

Chapter 7 - Edward Joins the Team

Chapter 8 - Bobby and Bob

Chapter 9 - Henry and Potentate

Chapter 10 - Mark and Toyboy

Chapter 11 - Zoe and Sunny

Chapter 12 - Different Ways of Communicating

Chapter 13 - The Baptism of Fire

Chapter 14 - A Fear of Men

Chapter 15 - Ben and Leguard Express

Chapter 16 - Mary and Tim

Chapter 17 - The Importance of Food

Chapter 18 - School Phobia

Chapter 19 - Dealing with Bullies

Chapter 20 - Paul and Just Jim

Chapter 21 - Further along the Autism Spectrum …

Chapter 22 - Different Kinds of Challenges

Chapter 23 - Greatwood Expands

Chapter 24 - Amy and Monty

Find out more about Greatwood

Acknowledgements

Copyright

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Foreword

Sophie was a puzzle. At first glance she was a slightly dumpy girl in her early teens who wore baggy, unflattering clothes and wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone. Her posture was slumped, as if she were trying to make herself as small as possible to avoid being noticed. That was unremarkable in a girl of her age, but the most unusual thing about Sophie was that she hadn’t spoken for over two years. Not to anyone.

And no one could work out why. Her school work was suffering, she had no social life and her parents were at a loss to know what to do.

One day they brought her to Greatwood, the Devon farm where my husband Michael and I looked after retired racehorses.

‘I hear you let local children help out with the animals,’ her mother said. ‘I don’t suppose we could leave Sophie with you for a couple of hours to see how she gets on? She’s always liked horses.’

‘Of course,’ I said. There was so much to be done that we were always grateful for another pair of hands.

I was just on my way to change the dressings on a horse called Darcy Day, who’d arrived a few days earlier in a very poorly condition. She had painfully swollen, infected legs, diarrhoea, and she was drastically underweight, with her bones sticking out through a dull, matted coat. We spoke kindly to her, trying to get some kind of response, but her eyes were glazed, her head hanging. She was depressed and withdrawn. She’d lost interest in everything and everybody. We put her in a stable and she slunk to the back of it, not moving when I carefully arranged a rug over her, and not even attempting to sniff the fresh hay I placed nearby.

As we walked to the stable that morning, I explained to Sophie what was wrong with Darcy, and said that she needed very special care and attention while we tried to get her on the road to recovery. Her feed and medication needed constant monitoring and the bandages on her legs had to be changed regularly. Michael joined us in case I needed an extra pair of hands to hold her while I positioned the dressings. The three of us opened the stable door and walked in, and something quite remarkable happened. Darcy pricked up her ears, looked straight at Sophie, then turned and walked over towards her. As she got close, she lowered her head.

Michael and I looked at each other in astonishment. ‘That’s amazing,’ I exclaimed. ‘Look, Sophie – she’s come to say hello to you. She wants you to stroke her nose.’

Sophie stretched out a tentative hand to touch her.

‘It’s extraordinary,’ I remarked. ‘I bring her feed to her but she completely ignores me. You’re the first person she’s shown any interest in.’

A smile was twitching at the corners of Sophie’s mouth. She gently stroked Darcy’s nose.