Meet Shelley

Meet Shelley

Shelley founded Sweet Meadow Stable in 1996. The farm is the beach area's only "natural" lesson stable. Natural meaning the way in which they interact and think about horses and a way which is molded after horses living in the wild. 

This way of thinking and training is called Natural Horsemanship  (aka Horse Whispering. ) Horse whispering became widely noted by the famous movie, "The Horse Whisperer."

The farm also practices Natural Horsekeeping when caring for horses.  A few examples of Natural Horsekeeping are:

-Horses are kept outside and not confined inside stalls

-Developing a horses natural coat and not using blankets

-Not using nail on horseshoes 

There are varying degrees a person can be "natural minded" such as only practicing 1% natural ideology or practicing at 100% natural ideology. 

  Positive Language Use

Shelley encourages positive thinking and speaking in her barn when it comes to horses and horse experiences. This means students and their parents are encouraged to let go of negative phrases and use only positive ones to describe a horse or an experience. Blaming animals for a negative experience, must be let go in order for true "natural" principles behind Natural Horsemanship can set in.

Sweet Meadow Stable's unique way of thinking, teaches all students how to listen and communicate softly, but effectively with all horses they encounter. Most importantly, understand a horse's point of view and how they feel and learn. This simple fact has been key to running a successful lesson farm since 1996.

Shoeless Not Clueless

 Shelley furthered her equine studies into the Natural world with  Equine Podiatry and studied under world famous blacksmith turned natural barefoot trimmer, Dr. KC LaPierre. 

She opened her second business, Delmarva Equine Podiatry Services, specializing in natural barefoot trimming techniques and helping countless lame horses return back to work  again- shoeless. 

Shelley has trimmed hooves the natural way for over twenty years, wrote articles, spoke at the Delaware Horse Expo for two years, and was the featured presenter at several local clinics and demonstrations on the topic of barefootedness and natural horse care in the northeast region.

Something else that is interesting about Shelley, is her passion for rescuing horses bound from slaughter. Yearly student field trips to the New Holland auction in Pennsylvania, have resulted her founding 2nd Chance Horse Rescue in 1999 and since rescuing over thirty horses destined to be slaughtered. 

If you're looking for someone not so "run of the mill" you may have just found her. If you're looking for a place to call your second home, you may have just found that too.