Welcome to
Spirit of the Herd
Spirit of the Herd is a not-for-profit horse and pony sanctuary with a difference, based near Helsby, Cheshire. Rescued horses and ponies are rehabilitated, and then used to help children, young people and adults living with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, lacking in confidence, or suffering from stress or anxiety.
“Spirit of The Herd is the most incredible place in a beautiful setting that takes your breath away. The rescue horses have their own stories, which the very special volunteers are happy to share. Their stories are often like the people they are helping and contain some trauma and distress. …I have watched someone suffering so much smile for the first time even laugh” – (Extract from a testimonial – parent of a client.)
About Us
A Sanctuary for Horses & People
Spirit of the Herd pony sanctuary was founded in 2018, a not for profit rescue and rehabilitation home for horses and ponies with past issues relating to neglect, physical and mental abuse. Currently run by Directors Agnieszka Jarecka-Griffiths, Alex Irving and Saphron Woods.
Check Out What We Have To Offer
Donate or Shop
Donate to one of our current appeals, or take a look at the experiences and items in our shop
What We Offer
Find out how you can visit, come to children’s activities, volunteer, fund raise, or carry out school or college work experience
Our Thanks To Grant Making Trust and Charitable Foundations
Marjory Boddy Charitable Trust
In March 2023 we were awarded funding to make improvements to our main site to improve our services we offer to the community which are underway to be completed early 2024. Thank you Marjory Boddy!
Tesco Community Grant Funding
In August 2023 we were awarded the most ‘blue tokens’ from shoppers in our community which allowed us funding from Tesco to offer 100 free Wellbeing Sessions to the community.
Marshes Community Benefit Fund
In November 2023 we were awarded £17,000 to make our site more sustainable and accessible. The project is to support the sanctuary to purchase a eco-friendly compostable toilet with wheelchair access. This will replace our current portaloo which is costly and is damaging to the environment. We are very excited about this project and we will be releasing updates very soon.
Frodsham Town Council
Thank you to Frodsham Town Council for granting us £900 to make improvements to our site for our sessions in 2024. We are very grateful to receive this funding and we are excited to show the community what we will do with this much needed funding to make our beloved sanctuary even better.