Main Menu

The Empowered Herd

The importance of allowing horses to be horses:

Dawn Oakley-Smith explains why herd-life is vital

“Horses give us an awareness of soul, of who we are in the deepest—where it matters; a consciousness and a sense of our connection to the divine spark within and without; a seeing and a knowing of our place in the stream of life; an ability to stand with courage in one's centre, whatever happens.”

— Dawn Oakley-Smith

Heartshore Horses was founded in 2003 by Dawn Oakley-Smith. A lifetime spent with horses, Dawn's sensitive, therapeutic approach is the total opposite of traditional horsemanship methods making her an unusual horsewoman in the Gloucestershire landscape.

Heartshore is a place where the learning and development of people and horses are intertwined, the horses revealing a different perspective on life as we know it. Dawn and her family work in a variety of ways, all centred around the wisdom of horses and what they can teach us about ourselves.