MEET THE TEAM
Lilwen Selina Joynson
Lilwen Selina is the founder and director of Horse Sense for Life and a published author of “Making A Difference”. Lilwen has been delivering Equine Assisted Learning and therapy to individuals, services, businesses and corporates since 2012. She is a certified mental health and equine specialist, Integrative Counsellor BSc (Hons) and certified NLP practitioner. She owns 6 horses and continues to breed Section A ponies in Wales. Lilwen Selina is trained and certified by – Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) which is the leading international non-profit association for professionals incorporating horses for personal and professional development needs.
“I often think about the moments when I sneak my nose into my ponies wild, uncombed manes: the sweet smell of ponies and earth, and I’m home.”
“ Horses are dolphins on legs“
Susannah Powell
Susannah is a an equine specialist been working with horses since a child and made her career from working in the forestry working alongside her own home bred horses and mules. A highly intuitive spiritual holistic approach to being with her herd and owns a organic wellbeing centre on the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast. Establishing a Horse Sense for Life Centre in 2021 and delivering session both for families and organisations a heart centred being truly connected to equines and the earth.
Chris Paling
Chris has over twenty years of therapeutic behaviour change experience working as a drug and substance misuse worker in services and has built on a foundation of harm reduction and uses a person centred approach with clients. He is continuously developing himself to have greater knowledge and understanding of how to support his clients including cognitive therapy, trauma informed therapy. Chris emphasis the importance of harm reduction and staying healthy and connected. He joins the team at Horse Sense for Life as a veteran and a gentle truly passionate horseman who has seen an opportunity to further develop himself now to offer equine therapy and learning with clients.
Denise lyttle
With a career history of working in ‘helping professions’, from starting out as a residential childcare officer and working through a nuance of people-centred jobs in the public and voluntary sectors. Denise is a BACP registered humanistic counsellor, teacher, and EAGALA Certified Mental Health, specialist. Working in partnership with horses has created a synthesis which provides purpose to eclectic nature of her work/life experience thus far, her ambition and combined this with what has for her become a great passion. This swift and powerful way of gaining insights into human behaviour through horses.
“It has taken me almost a working lifetime of sitting on the edge of my comfort zone to be in a position where I creatively stretched, harnessed and balanced my experience into crafting a path which I am happy to remain on and grow with for the remainder of my working life”.
Karen evans
Karen is a professionally qualified as an accountant and since August 2021 accredited as an EAGALA Equine Specialist. She got into horses late in life but spent the last 20 years around horses either riding or taking care of them an has four beautiful horses who are part of the equine experience located at the HSFL Centre is in Afonwen.
Karen suffered with depression for many years and used alcohol to self-medicate. 8 years ago, I stopped drinking and started LIVING.
In 2021 she discovered the world of equine assisted psychotherapy and learning and invested in the EAGALA training.
“If you are anxious the horses will be anxious around you. If we see this behaviour, and use it as a metaphor for our own life we can deliver “light bulb” moments that lead us to ask ourselves “what is it that we are thinking that makes us feel anxious and how can we reflect on it with the additional perspective of the horse?”.
Sue Verne
Sue was born in the UK and grew up with Horses. She then went to South Africa for 33 years. Her late husband was a flat race jockey, they lived for a few years in Mauritius where he raced. They then moved to Cape Town where they ran a spa treatment facility for horses with up to 50 horses visiting at one time.
Sue returned to the UK 15 years ago and has been a support worker for vulnerable women who have suffered a range of issues from depression, addiction, domestic abuse and low self esteem. Sue has witnessed the transformative role that horses have made in supporting positive change in the lives of these women. Sue is a certified EAGALA equine specialist. Sue has horses and has always felt the power and love from horses and can never imagine life without them.
Donna harrison
Donna has been an accredited EAGALA Equine Specialist since 2021.
She has been involved with horses since the age of four and owned her own since the age of nine. She has spent her equestrian life competing initially in showjumping before finding her love for dressage. She is also a qualified groom and spent many years grooming for a yard which backed and schooled horses as well as competing them.
Donna has suffered with two main bouts of depression in her adult life. Both times coming through stronger than before.
In 2021 she discovered the world of equine assisted psychotherapy and learning and invested in the EAGALA training.
Being with horses is her happy place, each session being a therapeutic and learning one. She sees horses as a mirror of how one is feeling inside.
