As a child, growing up in the North of England, Angela was fascinated by the Romany gypsies who camped in the village each year, buying and selling horses. She witnessed many miracles as poor looking animals were purchased for peanuts, treated with herbal brews and salves and transformed into sleek, glossy, bright eyed horses which, when re-presented at the sales turned a good profit – all in a matter of weeks.
Angela sat astride her first horse aged 3 and went on to successfully compete in the UK’s extensive show jumping circuit until she moved to Australia in the early 1970’s. There she broadened her equine experience by working in a variety of different aspects of the horse industry. This included time at Heath & Evanne Harris’s Bloodwood Park in Sydney, where she learnt about film work and taught actors how to look like they belonged on a horse. Stephen Jeffery’s was with the team at that time and he introduced Angela to John Drennan who was the late T J Smith’s breaker. From that meeting another adventure began. Starting as a track work rider, Angela had the great luck of becoming involved with and being able to ride some fabulous horses like Kingston Town, Mighty Kingdom, Imposing and later, the great mare Emancipation.
Angela also took the opportunity to spend as much time as possible with Percy Syke’s vets as they did their rounds. With support and tuition from J D Drennan, T J Smith, N Begg and many more, Angela was one of the first females to be granted a professional jockeys licence in Australia. Along with the thrills came her fair share of spills, but thanks to a good human chiropractor who also prescribed herbs, Angela was always back in the saddle quickly. She rode thousands of horses and was horrified at the gross number of animals that neither the vets, nor anyone else, could help. The ‘wastage’ was, and still is, huge.
With a respectable 366 winners to her credit, Angela knew it was time to give something back. She had always massaged and stretched horses and been highly aware of their body mechanics, but she knew she needed to gain a lot more knowledge to become truly effective. Herbs had significantly helped her so she resolved to obtain some solid knowledge of Herbal Medicine and start applying it to the horses.
Angela graduated from the Dorothy Hall College of Herbal Medicine (Sydney) in 1987, studied Craniosacral Therapy with the Upledger Institute, Florida in 1991 and 1992, and the Clinical Science of Mineral Therapy with Blackmores in 1993. She studied EMRT (Equine Muscle Release Therapy) with Ali Goward after completing her traditional Bowen training. Angela developed her own unique Hair Assessment technique in 1991, which forms the foundation of her exceptional work in healing horses and continues to evolve as she allows every horse to be her teacher.
Angela had a thriving mixed human & horse herbal practise for 12 years until the year 2000 when she was ready to specialise in horses. Over 20 years as a full time Equine Herbalist, Angela has continued learning, teaching (TAFE and Herbal Horsemanship Courses) and gaining in experience and expertise. She has developed her own unique Hair Assessment (hair testing) process to help you help your horse.
Angela has been rewarded with numerous remarkable outcomes and it is the success and vitality of her clients’ horses which rewards and enriches her life. Her work represents the culmination of all her years of learning from horses and herbs and she has become a powerful catalyst – helping horses heal and move past their blocks and limitations to realise their full potential in performance and enjoyment of life.
Member, Australian Traditional Medicine Association
Complementary Medicine Practitioner Association Council