Our Courses and Workshops
At New Spring Vista CIC, we offer thoughtfully designed equine-facilitated learning programmes and nature-based wellbeing experiences for children, young people and adults.
Our sessions are experiential, relationship-led and responsive to the individual. We create opportunities for each person to develop confidence, emotional awareness, communication, resilience and self-belief at a pace that feels safe and achievable.
Our programmes are guided by two complementary frameworks personally developed by New Spring Vista’s founder, Miranda Fildes: the Seven Zones™ Experiential Learning Framework and the Seven Skills™ Assessment Framework.
The Seven Zones™ help us understand how each learner engages with the ponies, the environment and the experiences offered. The Seven Skills™ help us recognise meaningful development and progression across important areas of learning, wellbeing and personal growth.
Together, they provide a structured yet flexible approach through which each person’s individual strengths, needs and progress can be recognised and supported.
Programmes & Workshops
The Seven Zones™ Experiential Learning Framework
Different pathways into learning
The Seven Zones™ Experiential Learning Framework is New Spring Vista CIC’s distinctive approach to supporting learning, wellbeing and personal development through carefully facilitated experiences with ponies and nature.
Personally developed by New Spring Vista’s founder, Miranda Fildes, the framework provides a structured yet flexible pathway through which children and young people can explore communication, confidence, emotional regulation, physical awareness, resilience and creative problem-solving.
How does the framework work?
The Seven Zones™ offer different ways for a learner to engage with the ponies, their environment and the experiences provided during a session.
Each Zone creates opportunities to develop particular areas of learning and personal growth. Depending on their individual needs, confidence and emotional readiness, a learner may work within one or several Zones during a programme.
There is no expectation that every learner will participate in the same way or move through the Zones in a fixed order. Activities are carefully selected and adapted so that each person can experience an appropriate balance of emotional safety, achievable challenge and meaningful progression.
Learning through experience
Working alongside ponies provides immediate, honest and non-judgemental feedback. Learners can explore how their communication, movement, emotional state and choices affect their interactions and experiences.
Within the Seven Zones™, learners may be supported to develop:
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Emotional awareness and self-regulation
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Confidence and self-belief
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Communication and social interaction
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Focus, patience and perseverance
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Safety awareness and decision-making
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Personal boundaries and assertiveness
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Physical literacy and body awareness
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Empathy and understanding of others
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Resilience, creativity and problem-solving
Progress may be seen through small but meaningful changes: communicating a boundary, remaining engaged for longer, recovering after uncertainty, approaching a new experience or recognising the effect of their actions on another living being.
“Miranda allowed the learner space to experiment and explore, to make mistakes and overcome them. Their step-by-step growth developed almost invisibly between sessions, but by the end, the changes were significant and clearly noticeable.”
— Parent of a New Spring Vista client
A responsive and individual approach
Our sessions are experiential, relationship-led and responsive to the learner. The Seven Zones™ allow us to meet each person where they are while gently creating opportunities for development.
The framework can support children and young people experiencing anxiety, low confidence, emotional dysregulation, SEND or SEMH needs, ADHD, ASD, difficulties with communication or challenges accessing traditional learning environments.
The purpose is not simply to complete activities with ponies. Every experience is thoughtfully facilitated to support meaningful learning, reflection and personal growth.
Recognising progress
The Seven Zones™ help us understand how a learner engages with and applies their developing skills within the learning environment.
They work alongside our complementary Seven Skills™ Assessment Framework, which helps us recognise developmental progression across seven core areas.
Together, the two frameworks provide a holistic picture of each learner’s strengths, engagement and progress
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The Seven Skills™ Assessment Framework
Recognising meaningful progress
The Seven Skills™ Assessment Framework is New Spring Vista CIC’s developmental approach to recognising the learning, wellbeing and personal growth that take place through equine-facilitated and nature-based experiences.
Personally developed by New Spring Vista’s founder, Miranda Fildes, the framework helps us identify each learner’s existing strengths, recognise emerging skills and plan appropriate opportunities for further development.
The Seven Skills™
The framework considers development across seven interconnected areas:
I can be safe
Developing safety awareness, thoughtful decision-making and an understanding of how our choices can affect ourselves, other people, animals and the environment.
I can communicate
Developing verbal and non-verbal communication, listening, social interaction and the ability to recognise and respond to others.
I can focus and persevere
Developing attention, motivation and the ability to remain engaged, work towards a goal and continue when something feels challenging.
I can self-regulate
Developing emotional awareness, self-control and strategies for managing feelings, behaviour and responses with increasing independence.
I can express empathy towards others
Developing an awareness of other perspectives, emotions and experiences, alongside care and consideration for people, animals and the wider world.
I can control my body
Developing physical literacy, coordination, balance, spatial awareness and increasingly confident, purposeful movement.
I can be creative
Developing curiosity, resilience, imagination, collaboration and the confidence to experiment, solve problems and learn from mistakes.
How progress is recognised
The Seven Skills™ are observed naturally through meaningful experiences rather than through formal tests.
Working alongside ponies gives learners opportunities to make decisions, communicate, regulate their emotions, coordinate their movement, solve problems and respond to another living being. These experiences allow important strengths and developmental changes to be recognised in ways that may not always be visible within a traditional learning environment.
Progress is individual and may appear through small but significant changes, such as:
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Remaining focused for longer
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Communicating a need or boundary
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Pausing before making a decision
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Trying a different approach when something does not work
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Recovering after frustration or uncertainty
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Showing awareness of another’s feelings
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Moving with greater confidence and control
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Transferring a skill into home, school or everyday life
A strengths-based approach
The Seven Skills™ Framework is not used to compare learners or define them by their difficulties. It allows us to recognise where a learner is currently secure, where a skill is beginning to emerge and where carefully supported opportunities may help them progress.
Assessment is responsive to the learner’s individual needs, communication style and developmental journey. Progress does not need to be linear, and the support required may vary depending on the environment, activity and learner’s emotional state.
How the two frameworks work together
The Seven Zones™ Experiential Learning Framework helps us understand how a learner engages with and applies their skills within the learning environment.
The Seven Skills™ Assessment Framework helps us recognise developmental progression across seven important areas of learning, wellbeing and personal growth.
Together, they provide a holistic picture of each learner’s strengths, engagement and progress, helping us plan experiences that are purposeful, achievable and meaningful.
© 2026 New Spring Vista CIC. The Seven Skills™ Assessment Framework, including its developmental stages, assessment criteria, descriptors, resources and associated methodology, was developed by Miranda Fildes for New Spring Vista CIC. All rights reserved.