A TV report in New Zealand has reported on a New Zealand man and how his mission in teaching local children polocrosse has help reduce trouble in the town and made the town a better place. Rob Pink realised that there was lack of facilities for children in his town of Rawene in the far North of New Zealand and so he provided the horses and taught the local children to ride and play polocrosse and since doing so the number of petty crimes such as graffiti in the town have reduced considerably as the local children are occupied.

Rob himself puts it down to the fact that the children are busy and have something to focus on and a horse to care for and so don’t have time to cause trouble and also have something to do aside from cause trouble for entertainment and this is actually born out by other studies around the world. It is becoming more and more common all over the world to use horses in behavioural therapy, particularly with troubled children or children with a criminal background.

To see the full TV report click here (editor’s note: just be prepared to swear at the screen a lot as the reporters constantly refer to the sport as “polo”.)