LIVINGLIVING
started to work - things like that."
Over time, Coutts grew her business,
coaching people to ride horses well, and
to care for them well too. As part of her
career, she often spent time in America.
On one 18-month visit, she realised that,
"In the first month since my arrival, my
sugars were through the roof. I visited the
Mayo Clinic where the consultant himself
had Type I diabetes. I learnt more from
him in 45 minutes then in all the years
previously. I started to understand that
talking to other people who had diabetes
was very healthy. I also discovered I
had 'white coat syndrome' - my blood
pressure would be high as I simply
dreaded going to clinic as I knew I'd get
told off. But as I understood my diabetes
better, I started to trust myself a little bit
more and to have more of an opinion
about my care."
During this time, she'd had a client in
America who was a well-known model
that wanted to learn to horse-ride, "I had
a very safe horse, Pedro, who we called
Peds for short."
In all, at that stage, Coutts spent 18
months working with horses in the US,
returning to the same horseyard she'd
opened about a decade earlier in the UK.
New model army
While back in the UK, and after learning
a lot more about how to handle her
own condition and everything that
was involved, Coutts started to realise
that some conditions that her horses
displayed, were similar to diabetes. "I
had to get the horses fit. Some of the big
Shire horses were used to plough fields
during the week, can develop 'Monday
morning sickness'. The fact was that, at
the weekend, although not working, they
were being fed the same food, usually
sugar beets and oats. Unfortunately, it
meant that the horses' muscles could
get hard - like concrete - by Monday
morning because their muscles were full
of glucose.
"There's a phrase in the equestrian
world, 'no foot, no horse'. Another
common ailment in some horses is
laminitis, which can be caused by
incorrect feeding. Fundamentally, too
many sugars and carbs in the horses' diet
isn't good for them. In the natural world,
they'd eat on the move- it's called 'trickle
grazing'."
As a result of all her experiences,
Coutts started a charity for children with
diabetes in order to educate them and
their families about the reality of living with
it. Named after Pedro the very safe horse,
or 'Peds' as he was known, she admits,
"We struggled with making a sensible
name from that, ending up with 'Ponies
and Pets Education for Diabetics and their
Siblings. We say 'p-peds'"
As part of the PPEDS events, Coutts
and the team teach the children about
good diets for the horses, but also about
their own diet too, helping them to learn
what affect is has on their overall health
and their own blood glucose control.
"They learn about feeding a horse in
relation to its age, size and condition," she
says, "The children come to work with the
horses, but at the same time learn about
living with diabetes. It was interesting to
see that the children from what might be
considered a good background, didn't
actually cope that well - they tended to
get spoiled by parents who had feelings of
guilt or who were just over-vigilant. We've
realized over time that, if we got to talk to
a child 6- to 12-months after diagnosis,
the whole family turning up together, as a
result coped better as a unit."
Parents do attend but are not
necessarily with the children all the time.
continued over
The old pig hut converted
into a camping pod.