High Wycombe girl receives sheep therapy from Ewe Talk

Emily Tarr, who lives in High Wycombe with her mum Claire and three siblings, was diagnosed last December with a blood clot on her brain which led to severe swelling, sinusitis and mastoiditis. 

Her mum, Claire, said that while the swelling has gone down, the blood clot has not reduced and continues to pose a major threat to Emily's longterm health.

"She's ok at the moment but doctors just don't know what's going to happen. If she gets worse, she'll need operations which are very high risk, and as a mother, I'm petrified for her."

Claire said she is now focused on providing her daughter with positive experiences - including "making Emily's dreams come true" by working with Ewe Talk, a sheep therapy business based in Oxfordshire.

The unconventional non-profit, created by friends Emma Redman and Pippa Ashton, is one-of-a-kind in its provision of a mobile sheep therapy service that sees Emma and Pippa travel with their flock to residential properties around the UK.

After Emma and Pippa got in touch with Claire, they offered to visit her home in High Wycombe with members of their flock free of charge. 

While Claire had warned them that Emily might be overwhelmed or unsure about the visit, Pippa said it had been a huge success.

"She was so eager and was really taken with the two sheep we had brought over right away.

"You could see in Claire's face how much it meant to her to see her daughter so happy. Emily was belly laughing and playing with the sheep and Claire said to us that she hadn't heard her laugh like that in so long."

Claire added: "Emily was amazed and couldn't believe what was going on. She hasn't stopped telling everyone - it honestly was the best experience for her. We can't thank Ewe Talk enough for their help in a time of such uncertainty."

Pippa said that sheep therapy is unique as an animal-based treatment because unlike puppy or equine therapies, sheep have a deep 'prey drive', which makes them highly reactive to threats.

It also makes them very perceptive, which means that recipients of sheep therapy have to revert to a natural state of calm and peace - something that necessitates being grounded in the moment.

Both Emma and Pippa have struggled with their own mental heath in the past and are passionate about creating a service that can apply across the board, but especially for younger people going through tough times.

Emma said the ideal next steps for the business - which is still in its infancy - would be to create schemes in local schools whereby the two founders could function as sheep-bearing breaktime monitors.

"Some children have such a hard time in school and there's so much pressure to be a certain way or do what everyone else is doing.

"We've found that bonding with sheep is an incredibly helpful thing for allowing young people to let those barriers down and open up.

"There's not the pressure of counselling, because the sheep aren't asking anything of them, but it's always surprising how many people do start sharing once they feel comfortable and safe."

Click here to visit a fundraiser Claire has created to help Emily fulfil her dream of visiting Disneyland Paris and follow this link to learn more about Ewe Talk.