Sirona Therapeutic Horsemanship CIO

04/11/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who came along to our Autumn Open event last week. The weather was kind to us and we had a lovely day with 145 people through the gates and raising a whopping £894.16 from sales of cakes and refreshments, bric and brac and donations. Young people enjoyed arts and crafts and horsey themed educational games as well as meeting all the horses and other animals, and learning more about our work. Your generosity will help pay towards our horses hay and feed bills this winter. A big thank you also to our fabulous team, trustees and other volunteers who came along to help on the day - we couldn't do it without you all! Sacred Commerce Jan O'Highway Edaj BadgerKirsty Bowles Diane Cleave Shaun Dérioz 🙏🙂

28/10/2026

The weather is looking good and all are welcome at our Autumn Open Day tomorrow between 10am - 1pm. The day is suitable for anyone interested in learning more about what we do, or making a referral, or if you just want to come along to meet the horses and other animals. Drop in at anytime between 10am - 1pm and grab yourself a horsey bargain from our bric and brac stall, together with Christmas cards and small gifts. There will also be children's arts and craft activities and refreshments and delicious home made cakes available. Entry and activities are all on a donation basis.
There is some parking at Sirona, but you can also park at Foxhole car park with a 5 minute walk up the track to our centre. Unfortunately no dogs are allowed on site.
We look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

21/10/2026

Sirona Autumn Newsletter -

The autumn term is in full swing and the cooler autumn weather has been welcomed by our human and animal team members. The horses, especially, are happy that the grass has finally been growing again!

20/10/2026

We have been donated some really good quality and as new horsey items for our Autumn Open Morning bric and brac stall on Thursday 29th. Lots of Rambo rugs and other items, travel boots, good quality tack, Kara and Kingsland as new women's and showing jackets and lots more. Come along early to grab yourself a bargain!

09/10/2026

It was lovely to visit Chaos Farm in Cornwall this week to attend a 'farm buddies' meeting organised by Social Farms and Gardens https://www.facebook.com/groups/104113613595 The work both of these organisations do is inspiring and we look forward to more collaborations. 🙂

09/10/2026

🍂 Autumn is getting ready for our Autumn Open Morning at Sirona! 🍂

Our lovely pony Autumn is looking rather pleased with her stable makeover, ready to welcome our visitors.

Why not come along and join us during half-term to meet Autumn, the rest of our horses and animals, and the team at Sirona?

📅 Thursday 29th October 2026
⏰ 10am–1pm
📍 Buckhams Stables, Old School Farm, Dartington Hall, TQ9 6EB

There’ll be plenty to enjoy, including:
🎨 Art activities
🐴 Meet the ponies and other animals
🍰 Cakes, tea and coffee
🎁 Bric-a-brac, gifts and Sirona merchandise for sale

You can also find out more about our Sponsor a Pony Scheme, a lovely way to support Sirona and give someone a special gift this Christmas.

Entry is by donation, and cash is welcome. Please note that we are unable to accommodate dogs.

We look forward to welcoming you for a morning of autumn fun, meeting our wonderful animals and finding out more about the work we do at Sirona Therapeutic Horsemanship.

Please share and help spread the word!

05/10/2026

Our patron, the incredible horse trainer, ethologist and author Lucy Rees came over from Spain to Sirona recently to give a narrated showing of her latest film 'Notes About Horses: The affiliative behaviour that eliminates the concept of dominance in equine social life.’ This was followed by a guided observation of the Sirona herd in two areas of our land, one of our fields and our small woodland copse. This highlighted the huge importance of different environments for horses both in terms of providing a varied diet from browsing on different plants and trees, and for physical movement. It was striking for many of the course attendees how watching the horses in the copse, which is rocky, hilly and has various banks and narrow paths, really opened their eyes to how important it is for horses to use their bodies in more challenging environments to gain balance, use their muscles and give them psychological problem solving as well as physical challenges. Lucy is passionate about how rather than talking about enrichment as an optional add on we need to be thinking about how so many horses' environments are really deprived and that creating a better environment is absolutely crucial for both their mental and physical wellbeing, and can prevent so many negative behaviours and ill health.
Attendees gave some of the following feedback;
"so inspiring - I loved observing the herd in the field and then comparing this with their behaviour in the copse - I will be rewatching Notes on Horse on repeat - thank you!"
"Equine-Assisted Services really needs input from ethologists like Lucy to better learn and understand and learn more about what helps provide the best welfare environment for our horses, humans and other animals".
"Lucy has so much knowledge, I could have listened to her for hours. 2 days please!".
"Lucy was able to put into words things that I have felt my whole life then explain the why behind it".
Lucy's book 'Horses in Company' is available on amazon and https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/horses-in-company-book-lucy-rees-9781908809568
and The film is available to watch on utube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ms_zwQMe7Y

29/09/2026

In October 2024 The Pets Foundation very kindly awarded Sirona a grant of £27,252 which we have been using over the past two years. Now we are coming to the end of the grant we are delighted to report that the funding has helped support 84 disadvantaged young people access equine and animal-assisted sessions at Sirona. Individual benefits reported by young people include increased self-confidence and improved mental health, improved communication skills and relationships, increased empathy and better able to stick at tasks. These are all related to increased resilience which is shown through research to lead to better life outcomes for young people who have experienced adverse childhood experiences. Some feedback from young people attending sessions supported by The Pets Foundation funding includes the following;
"Sirona helps me feel calmer and a break from thoughts and feelings, it's a safe place for me to come and helps to feel connected to others, people and animals and nature".
“Being with animals really helps me feel better and calmer. They heal me; if I have a headache it's gone. I think animals are magic". "Sirona has helped me face my fears and feel less nervous”.
“Being with the horses and helping out with them has helped me feel more confident with other activities – like at school and trying new things.”
"The horses help me stay calm and focused. Also they have given me a lot of self confidence. Sirona has helped me gain more confidence, like, talking more and feeling like I can speak up more than I did before. I wouldn't change anything about Sirona, it is perfect just the way it is!".
Thank you so much to The Pets Foundation for enabling Sirona to support more young people access our provision.🙏

15/09/2026

Save the Date! Come and join us for our Open Morning during the October half term. Entry and art activities by donation, plus a bric-a-brac stall with lots of children's items. And Cake!

04/09/2026

A huge thank you to our wonderful equine dentists Keith and Gemma at Keith Evans Equine Dentist for looking after our herd at Sirona so well on their routine dentist treatments this week. Both Keith and Gemma (and Ian) are so sensitive with our horses - taking all the time each horse needs, and also offering us a generous charity discount which is so appreciated! Thank you so much Keith Evans Equine Dentist - we highly recommend your practice to others.🙏🙂