We are a volunteer led childrens educational charity which allows children who would not normally be able to interact with horses and ponies the chance to do so. We have 24 horses and ponies at our farm who are loved and cared for by 180 children aged 8 -18 who spend 3-8 hours each Saturday or Sunday at our farm. We only close between Christmas and New year so the children can attend for 50 weekends of the year  The children are taught from a syllabus which gets more in depth as they progress through Rangers.  They learn how to get the horses ready to ride, how to clean up after them and every aspect of how to look after a horse.  They work towards achievement badges throughout their time at Rangers and are given ranks and promotions to give them more responsibility as they prove themselves.  We have had several children with 'challenging' behaviour attending Rangers over the years and have seen them change for the better as they are accepted and given responsibilities within the structure of Rangers.  We have several statemented children with autism, Asperger’s and anxiety who also benefit from the activities we provide.  Several of our children come from one parent families or low income families who could not afford to pay riding school prices.      Once the senior Rangers reach a certain level of competence, they are invited to stay on all day to help with the younger children who attend in the afternoons.  We encourage them to use these volunteering hours towards schemes such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. These Rangers gain more experience in responsibility, leadership and teamwork as they all work together to run the yard during the afternoon sessions. Over the years hundreds of local children have been members of Windsor Horse Rangers and many have gone on to further education and careers with horses.  As well as learning about riding and horse care, rangers learn leadership, teamwork, respect for people and animals, self-esteem, responsibility, self-belief and many other important life skills.  We have ex-rangers who now work on or own stud farms, livery and racing yards (including one who groomed for the Queen). We also have ex-rangers who work as vets, vet nurses, an equine physiotherapist, horse behaviourist and as a writer for Horse and Hound magazine. Many rangers have completed equine related degrees at university and gained a direction in life which they did not have before joining us.  We have a waiting list of 720 children which shows what a need there is for the services we provide.