The Princess Royal paid a visit to the racehorse rescue centre Greatwood, near Marlborough, on Monday.

In her capacity as patron of The Wooden Spoon children's charity, the princess opened a cloakroom and other facilities at Greatwood, which runs a programme for children with special needs.

The new facilities were named The Wooden Spoon Unsaddling Enclosure in honour of the £33,000 grant received from the charity towards the development.

School children, including those with autism and Down's syndrome, visit Greatwood for its Horse Power programme, which teaches life skills and emotional literacy, through interaction with rescued former racehorses.

Greatwood, a registered charity, has been at the forefront of rescuing former racehorses for 16 years and developed Horse Power three years ago.

Such has been the success of this unique scheme that other organisations have learned how to run their own courses, including Millfield School in Somerset. The programme is now expanding to include several other schools in the area and beyond.

In fact, Greatwood co-founder, Michael Yeadon, says it could help thousands of children nationwide and help find homes and a "job" for many ex-racehorses.

Mr Yeadon explained that independent schools were ideally placed to take on Horse Power since working with special needs schools in the community helped the schools meet their charitable status criteria.

He added: "If over the next few years half of the independent schools were to take part in Horse Power, it would be possible for more than 150,000 children to benefit from the programme and the Open College Network awards associated with it every year.

"Not least, those of our horses which are not sound enough to be ridden, but which have a good quality of life, can be offered homes for life in proximity to participating schools.

"This could provide a role for hundreds of former racehorses that cannot be ridden."

On arrival at Greatwood, the Princess was introduced to Michael and Helen Yeadon before meeting some of the horses, children on the Horse Power programme and the staff, trustees and patrons.

Princess Anne then unveiled a commemorative plaque in front of 140 invited guests and declared the facilities officially open.

As she prepared to leave, one of the retired racehorses, Transpique, bowed farewell, ending an enjoyable and memorable day for all at Greatwood.

Greatwood this week as, shortly before her visit, five-time champion jockey and racing commentator Willie Carson presented certificates to 22 children with special needs.

The children had successfully completed an Open College Network accredited course that was written and developed by Greatwood's head of special needs, Laura Jones, and is the first of its kind in the UK. Called Developing Confidence Through Working With Animals, the course is run as part of the centre's Horse Power programme.

Greatwood is caring for more than 60 former racehorses at the moment and needs to rehome as many as possible so it can help more thoroughbreds in need.

If you are thinking of giving a home to a former racehorse, you can go along to Greatwood's open morning on Saturday from 11am to 1pm.

To find out more, visit racehorsesgreatwood.org or call 01672 514535.