Sirona Therapeutic Horsemanship CIO

Sirona Therapeutic Horsemanship CIO Sirona provides equine-assisted therapeutic and educational activities to disadvantaged young people and adults.

We are excited to welcome our patron, Lucy Rees for an ethology day and screening of her latest documentary; ‘Notes Abou...
18/06/2026

We are excited to welcome our patron, Lucy Rees for an ethology day and screening of her latest documentary; ‘Notes About Horses: The affiliative behaviour that eliminates the concept of dominance in equine social life.’

This will be followed by an observation session with Sirona's herd of horses where Lucy will provide narration and Q&A.

Writer, ethologist and horse trainer, Lucy has travelled and worked in many countries and equestrian disciplines discovering the easiest, most universally applicable and successful ways of understanding and working with horses.

Date: Saturday 19th September 10am to 4pm

Investment: £125

Location: Sirona Therapeutic Horsemanship, Buckhams Stables, Dartington Estate, Totnes, TQ9 6EB

Booking: Please email [email protected]

Can you help Molly?Molly is busy organising her plant stall for our open day on Saturday 25th July 11am to 3pm but she d...
14/06/2026

Can you help Molly?
Molly is busy organising her plant stall for our open day on Saturday 25th July 11am to 3pm but she doesn't have many plants to sell at the moment. Do you have any surplus plants that you would like to donate? Perhaps you've grown some plants in manure that you bought from Sirona and would like to share your success.
If you can help Molly please email her assistant, [email protected] or telephone 01803 868779.

The planning meetings are underway. Come and see us on Saturday 25th July 11am to 3pm for our summer open day and join i...
09/06/2026

The planning meetings are underway. Come and see us on Saturday 25th July 11am to 3pm for our summer open day and join in with all the fun activities our team have planned for you.

Thank you to Richard Frost and the team from Tor Equine Veterinary Practice for a really informative evening talk at Red...
29/05/2026

Thank you to Richard Frost and the team from Tor Equine Veterinary Practice for a really informative evening talk at Redpost Equestrian lat night. Some really useful information on Strangles, Equine Flu, EHV and other emerging infectious diseases. Thanks also for the delicious cake 😋and goody bag which included a digital thermometer.

We had a lovely group of people attend our 'Introduction to Equine-Assisted Interactions: the Sirona Approach' course on...
21/05/2026

We had a lovely group of people attend our 'Introduction to Equine-Assisted Interactions: the Sirona Approach' course on Saturday and were lucky with the weather for our 'Which Horse are you Drawn to' outdoor mindfulness exercise. Thank you to the participants for thoughtful and engaging questions and to H for delicious pastries! Some feedback included;
"Impressed with what you have built. The place (Sirona) feels safe, ethical and responsible. The focus on the welfare of the horses is obvious once explained, but wasn't something I realised before attending the course."
"Make it a 2-day course! I would love to tap into more of your approach."
“My experience at Sirona on Saturday was wonderful. It was well organised, informative and nourishing for the soul”.
Our next public course is with our patron, the renowned equine ethologist and author of 'The Horses' Mind' Lucy Rees in September. Places are limited and are already selling fast so do book early if you want to attend with [email protected] 🙂

A big thank you to the University of Plymouth Peninsula Medical School 3rd year students who have been involved in a pro...
18/05/2026

A big thank you to the University of Plymouth Peninsula Medical School 3rd year students who have been involved in a project at Sirona as part of one of their degree modules over the past 6 months. The CAW study unit (Creative Approaches to Advocacy for Wellbeing) is centred on giving medical students the opportunity to gain "understanding of health and wellbeing needs in their local communities and awareness of the complementary roles doctors, health and social care professionals, voluntary sector organisations and others can play in advocacy".
Working as an advocate with the students has been a joy and they really 'got' the work of Sirona and how horses, other animals and being outside in nature can offer an alternative or complementary option to young people or adults with mental health or other health support needs. The eight students worked really hard to produce some resources to support our work at Sirona and presented these at an end of year presentation at Plymouth University last week. We are especially impressed with the story book they produced aimed at younger children giving Chapas' story of how he arrived at Sirona sad and in poor condition, but with love and support was nursed to health and now lives a happy, contented life with the herd at Sirona helping young people to overcome their difficulties. Taking part in the project was a reminder of the long history of healing horses have in our culture with doctors today still taking the Hippocratic Oath when they graduate. We hope this project will go someway towards supporting the doctors of tomorrow to understand and promote equine-assisted and nature-based interventions within their chosen fields and so broaden our wider fields within the medical profession.😊🐎🙏

Spring NewsWith the sun shining and the horses now losing their winter coats it feels that spring has finally sprung! It...
01/05/2026

Spring News
With the sun shining and the horses now losing their winter coats it feels that spring has finally sprung! It was certainly a challenging winter with the relentless wind and rain testing the spirits of both the horse and human herd members at times. But, as ever, the horses provided guidance in resilience through demonstrating how to ‘weather the storm’ by finding shelter behind the hedges or in the barn and waiting patiently for the weather to pass. Then, once the sun came out they showed us how to ‘shake off’ the cobwebs by having a good gallop around the fields to get rid of any pent up energy.
So it has been lovely to have been able to get out and about on foraging walks with young people on sessions now the weather has improved. Our work is centred on the welfare of our horses and ensuring they have regular exercise alongside a varied diet is built into our sessions through foraging walks and other enrichment activities.
In other news we recently passed our annual Quality Assurance inspections for Alternative Providers with Devon County Council, and are also now an approved Alternative Provider for Cornwall Council. These rigorous inspections cover all aspects of our work from safeguarding to insurance, health and safety and policies and procedures. In addition we undertake a local authority animal licence inspection each year with South Hams Council for which we hold the highest 5 star rating, and the British Horse Society approved centre inspection. These inspections provide assurance of the quality and safety of our provision to organisations and parents referring children and young people to Sirona.
We cover all these considerations (and lots more!) on our Introduction to Equine-Assisted Interactions: the Sirona Approach course on 16th May this year. We have 2 places left so do pass on to anyone who you think may be interested. 🙏😊

This one-day CPD course provides an overview ofSirona’s approach to providing Equine & Animal-AssistedActivitiesWhat it ...
20/04/2026

This one-day CPD course provides an overview of
Sirona’s approach to providing Equine & Animal-Assisted
Activities
What it will cover
• How Equine & Animal-Assisted Activities can help people
• Models / Session Types / Client Groups
• Safe Practice – including safeguarding & staffing
• Equine welfare & facility considerations
• Policies & Procedures / Insurance / Licencing etc
Who it is for
• Those wishing to start or develop an Equine-Assisted practice
• People wanting to learn more about Equine-Assisted Interactions
• CPD certificate of attendance will be provided

Date & Time: Saturday 16th May 2026: 10am - 4pm
Cost: £165
Booking: [email protected]
Location: Sirona, Buckhams Stables, Old School Farm, Dartington, Totnes, TQ9 6EB
Booking & Further info - email [email protected]

Sorry but no dogs are permitted on Sirona grounds

Address

Visitors By Appointment Only, Buckhams Stables, Old School Farm, Dartington Hall
Totnes
TQ96EB

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

01803 868 779

Website

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