100 Children, No Bookings—and Nobody Turned Away | Helen Picha | EAW 60

✨ "It's not about the job or the wages. You have to love it with absolute passion." – Helen Picha

Helen Picha manages Liskennett Farm, a groundbreaking equine-assisted therapy center for children and adults with autism and intellectual disabilities in Granagh, County Limerick, Ireland, on the border of Limerick and Cork. She took over as manager two years ago after eleven years working alongside founder David Doyle, and now runs the 80-acre center — home to 23 horses across residential, day, and equine programs — that Rupert calls the cutting edge of best practice in equine-assisted therapy.

What sets Liskennett apart is scale paired with radical openness. Every Saturday, the farm runs a booking-free, fee-free open day that draws between 80 and 100 children, no appointment required, no family turned away. Its indoor arena, originally built for riding, has been repurposed entirely into a music, movement, and play space, because the horses and children preferred being outdoors. And many of Liskennett's horses are retired Thoroughbred racehorses, some placed at Cheltenham, brought down from the racing circuit through a careful, months-long retraining process before ever carrying a child.

In this conversation, Helen and Rupert trace Liskennett's origin story — from a 2012 Horse Boy demo, a young woman's tragic death, and a €3 million donation to a modern therapy campus — and dig into how the farm actually runs day to day: horse selection and retraining, staff burnout prevention, community integration through an inclusive fox hunt and horse show, and Liskennett's expansion into new satellite centers backed by €6 million in Irish government funding.

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🔍 What You'll Learn in This Episode

How Liskennett Farm evolved from an 80-acre burned-out stud farm into a state-of-the-art residential, day, and equine therapy hub serving hundreds of children and adults with autism and intellectual disabilitiesWhy founder David Doyle built a "step in, step down, step out" model, letting families in crisis access residential support without being permanently separatedWhat Liskennett's booking-free Saturday open days look like, welcoming 80 to 100 children with no appointment, no fee, and no rushHow the farm's Christmas open day scaled to 300 children in a single day, all riding and meeting Santa, with zero bookings and zero meltdownsWhy Liskennett retired the original purpose of its indoor arena entirely, turning it into a music, movement, and play space insteadHow retired racehorses, many connected to the McManus racing family, are systematically retrained over six to twelve months before ever carrying a childWhat the "MMM Room" (Movement Method to Music) is, and how a chance visit from founder David Doyle's daughter Caroline inspired its creationHow Liskennett integrates families into local community life through an inclusive fox hunt, agricultural show classes, and an annual fundraising concertWhy Helen believes horsemanship fundamentals — temperament, soundness, and long, slow conditioning work — are the foundation of safe therapeutic ridingHow the farm is expanding with new satellite hubs in Charleville and Kanturk, backed by €6 million in HSE fundingWhat Helen learned from an early personal loss that quietly shaped her approach to working with families years before she ever set foot in LiskennettHow Helen and her team plan for staff burnout with rotating schedules, an open culture around asking for help, and regular team celebrations🎤 Memorable Moments from the Episode

[00:04:50] Rupert traces how Liskennett came to exist: a 2012 Horse Boy demo organized by Shelley Murtagh, who died of a brain tumor three months later — and three years after that, an email from David Doyle leading to €3 million raised for the center

[00:09:02] Helen shares that at age 20 she had a daughter, Danielle, born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, who lived 11 months — an