About Springwood Sanctuary
Springwood Sanctuary is a vegan animal sanctuary and nature recovery project set within 80 acres beside the River Teifi in West Wales.
It is home to rescued horses and other animals who live with as much freedom, choice and autonomy as we can give them. There is no riding, breeding or rehoming. The horses live at liberty within permanent herds, with access to shelter, forage, water and extensive land throughout the year. They are safe, peaceful, healthy and inquisitive. Their rehabilitation from traumatised to thriving is wonderful and heartwarming to witness.
But Springwood has become about more than sanctuary for animals. As we changed the way we lived alongside the horses, the land began to change too. Land once intensively grazed by sheep, sprayed with chemicals and micromanaged, have for the past six years been allowed to recover. Wildflowers and medicinal plants, small mammals, insects and birds have returned, hedgerows have thickened, new woodland is developing and protected areas beside the river, lake and wetlands are creating habitat for an increasing diversity of wildlife. It's exciting and inspiring to see!
Springwood is a place where respect and care for animals, the recovery of the natural world and human wellbeing are deeply connected. It's about rewilding us all. Only when all these are in balance and harmony, can we all thrive.
Our Mission & Ethos
At the heart of Springwood is a simple question: what happens when we stop asking animals to serve human purposes and begin listening to what they choose for themselves?
Our approach is founded on autonomy, relationship and respect. The horses are not ridden or used for therapy or entertainment. Everyday care, including hoof trimming and complementary therapies, is offered wherever possible at liberty and with the animal’s participation.
The same philosophy extends to the land. Rather than controlling every part of the landscape, we increasingly allow natural processes to lead, observing how horses, plants, soil, water and wildlife influence one another.
Springwood is continually evolving as we learn from the animals and the land.
Our Story
Springwood began in 2012 with rescuing one horse, Missy. Jacqui's relationship with Missy led her to question many of the assumptions she had grown up with around horses. As she moved further away from riding and conventional horse management, something unexpected happened. Without any agendas, training methods or expectations, her relationship with horses became deeper. Listening and choice replaced directing and compliance and a very different way of living alongside animals began to emerge.
Springwood grew from ten acres in Surrey to two larger sanctuaries in Sussex, whilst David and Jacqui continued to search for somewhere the animals could have life long security and even greater freedom.
In 2020 they found an extraordinary landscape of lake, meadows and woodland in Wales, adjoining the river Teifi. What began as a search for more space and security for the horses gradually became something much bigger: a growing understanding that giving animals greater freedom could also give the land an opportunity to heal.
Today Springwood brings together animal sanctuary, human wellbeing, nature recovery, conservation, education and research, while remaining rooted in the principles with which it began: choice, kindness and respect for other lives.
Founder
Springwood was founded by Jacqui Howe, whose approach has developed through decades of living and working with horses alongside study and practical experience in holistic animal care, nutrition, medicinal plants, mindfulness and complementary therapies. Rather than following a single method, Jacqui has drawn on these experiences to develop Springwood’s own approach: observing animals closely, respecting individual choice and recognising their innate ability to communicate what they need.
Over time, this way of listening to the horses led to an equally important realisation about the landscape. When grazing pressure changed and the land was given greater freedom, dormant plants returned, wildlife corridors strengthened and a more complex living ecosystem began to emerge.
This relationship between animal autonomy, human awareness and the recovery of the land now lies at the heart of Springwood and the work developing here.