Changing Horses' Lives for the Better

 Positive Horse Training Spain is a safe haven for traumatised horses, ponies and mules. Once the initial rescue work has been done to see to their physical health, we provide long term care for their recovery, healing and behavioral rehabilitation. Our primary mission is to enable them to become confident, happy and safe.

The horses that come to us have lived in pain and suffering. They are traumatised and fearful. Our job is to gain their trust and build their self-confidence within the herd. Our approach is holistic, covering their companionship, nutritional, physical and training needs. Firstly, we let them settle with our herd and learn to be horses again. Their best learning comes from the herd and soon they want to copy the others by engaging with us. 

As we only use reward-based training our horses love to engage with us, and this encourages new horses to join in. At last, the experience of being around humans is positive and something they want to repeat. This approach helps them to become more communicative and, once they learn that we listen and respect their choices, their trust in people grows fast 

 The second part of our mission is to train people in the best practise of rehabilitating traumatised horses. We run Courses at the Centre where people come to learn the theory and practice of our work. These people may be horse owners, veterinary professionals or staff from equine rescue centres. As they work with the horses following our careful direction, the horses also learn to trust more people. It is a virtuous circle. People learn to be more aware of the horse’s needs and to respond directly. Horses learn that they can communicate their feelings and that people will listen and respond for their well-being.
We also offer online support and coaching. This ranges from one-off consultations to a full, regular coaching programme. We have proven that online coaching is very successful in teaching people the skills they need and in creating real, lasting change in horses.

We are in the process of developing scholarships and recognised qualifications to support the education of people working in equine rescue.  These Courses will be delivered online and in residence at our Centre. They will be accredited with internationally recognised organisations.

The third part of our mission is to re-home some of the horses into forever homes. People who adopt our horses will have been trained by us and already have a relationship with the horse they adopt, by visiting the Centre. As we re-home a horse, we can then take on another rescued horse for rehabilitation.

 In order for this rehabilitation to be successful, followed by permanent re-homing, we must take all the time we need at this stage of their healing. Here at Positive Horse Training Spain, we ensure that our adopters are committed to the horse for the rest of the horse’s life. This is a long process which cannot be rushed.