Kathryn Sullivan MCMA
As a qualified and experienced Equine-Assisted Therapist, I bring more than two decades of dedicated practice to supporting individuals of all ages. My professional journey began in 2000 when I founded the Shetland Pony Welfare Trust, a registered charity created to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome Shetland Ponies and their sometimes much larger companions. Over the years, this sanctuary has grown into a haven for equines of all breeds and a uniquely nurturing therapeutic environment where people and animals come together to heal, grow, and thrive.
In 2024, we formalised our therapeutic work by establishing the Shetland Pony Equine Assisted Wellbeing Foundation, a dedicated division of the charity.
Throughout 2025, our trained therapy ponies have supported individuals from across the community through workshops such as Meet and Greet a Shetland Pony, Walking with Shetland Ponies, and S.P.E.A.L. (Shetland Pony Equine Assisted Learning). These workshops offer a gentle, intuitive approach to mental health and wellbeing, grounded in the profound connection between humans and ponies.
When people arrive at our sanctuary for the first time, they often bring a mixture of curiosity, nerves, and hope. Some are children who struggle to communicate in busy classrooms. Some are adults carrying the weight of anxiety, loneliness, or trauma. Others simply need a place where the world slows down long enough for them to breathe.
And then they meet one of our ponies.
A small pony with a soft eye and a steady heartbeat has a remarkable way of opening people up. Children who rarely speak begin to whisper to their pony partner. Adults who feel disconnected find themselves grounding their emotions as they walk through the meadow with a pony by their side.
These moments—quiet, simple, and deeply human—are at the heart of our Equine-Assisted Wellbeing work.
The individuals we support face a wide range of challenges, including mental health difficulties, ADHD, Autism, learning disabilities, and dementia. Through carefully structured sessions, I create opportunities for meaningful interaction, emotional regulation, and personal development.
My practice is rooted in the belief that the human–animal bond has the power to foster resilience, self-confidence, and positive change.
Through Equine-Assisted Wellbeing, individuals are invited to embark on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth, guided by the wisdom, presence, and intuition of our Shetland Pony partners.
2 Reviews on “Kathryn Sullivan MCMA Practitioner”
Kathryn Sullivan is absolutely amazing and extremely modest. The equines jn her care are treated as near to wild ponies, with all the extras which they need. Each individual has a different care plan and she heals them physically and mentally if needed. They blossom in her care. We can recommend anything that she touches. The Equine Midas.
Anyone who goes to one of her workshops will leave with ideas which they had never thought of. You will learn the power of gentleness and the need to understand the equine first and foremost.
An amazing Charity.
KAthryn Sullivan’s compassion doesn’t stop with equines, she has helped us on numerous occasions and has immense empathy. She always has an ear for a fellow equine lover and has supported many of us to go on with life when tragedies hit us. I recommend this wonderful therapy as ponies can communicate telepathically and can read our very souls. We always feel better after spending time with them, and the gentler we treat them the more they will communicate.