The Thornberry Equine Team: Our approach

Our aim is to treat each horse and pony as an individual, identify their needs and work with them to ensure that they are ready for finding their forever home.

Some horses have very bad prior experiences and need a lot of rehabilitating before they learn to trust people again.

For some, the basics can be a huge milestone, and we have to work at the pace of the horse for things like accepting head collars, leading in and out in a sensible safe way, stable manners, picking feet up and learning to load in and out of a trailer. These are all things that make an animal easier to rehome, and therefore it is worth taking the time to do this correctly.

We always work at the pace of each animal. For some, this is quick and we can soon move forward, for others it can take weeks to get them to approach even for a sniff! Patience is key to ensuring a good base and experience for the horse. No horse or pony is ever forced to do anything.

We have backed several horses so that they can be ridden, and thus have the best chance of getting a good start, but our current facilities are not ideal for this. We have plans for future improvements to ensure that we have appropriate facilities to bring these horses into work.

We do have some cases where the neglect is not only emotional but physical too and the horses need medical veterinary care. Staff that are committed to ensure they get their daily treatment however serious their condition is.

If you’d like to learn more about our equine team or horses, please get in touch,

You can also email us with your enquiry on largespecies@gmail.com.

If you would like to be involved as a volunteer at our equine centre, please download a horse management and riding ability form here.