Sarah (22) became a master of the Eastern art of channelling healing energy through the hands after reading in a magazine that it worked on horses.

It works so well, that watching Spanish gelding Zorro curve his neck over hers and fall asleep with his head resting on her shoulder through the touch of her hand is a lesson in perfect relaxation therapy.

Now Sarah is not only using Reiki to treat horses that pass through her family’s Gedney Hill riding school, stud and training/ breaking yard, The Hacienda, but their riders too.

And she runs Reiki courses for anyone who handles horses on a regular basis.

Sarah said: “I learnt how to communicate through body language from Whisper, the pony I got when I was nine.

“Then when my horse Pancho was seriously injured and the vet said he couldn’t be ridden again, I read about equine Reiki and set about learning Reiki and adapting it myself to treat him.

“I began treating friends, family and, of course, our family horses.

“I found that horses had such beautiful energy that all of my spare time was spent giving Reiki to them.

“Straightaway I noticed a difference in the horses, from the older horses with perhaps a bit of stiffness becoming instantly more supple, to the youngsters who weren’t used to being stabled becoming completely settled and happy to be stabled.”

Former Spalding High School pupil Sarah lives with parents Ernie and Helena Berrisford and sister Vicky (24) in a temporary dwelling next to the paddocks, fields and stables at The Hacienda.

They moved to Gedney Hill from Sutton St Edmund six years ago and Ernie’s company purpose-built the stables with openings on two sides to soothe and relax the horses.