fbpx

About us…

The birth of The Shepherd’s Hideaway

A few years ago a number of like-minded friends and I, all members of the North Wales Shire Horse Society and the North Wales Working Horse group started to help each other break our horses to draft. These ‘Training days’, as they became known, were then offered to a wider group for those who wished to share the knowledge and skills passed down to us by traditional working horsemen.

 

Since then these ‘Training days’ have been held each year between April and October, alternating between venues at my home near St Asaph and that of Porth Swtan Shires, Anglesey.

The need to provide accommodation…

As both the cost and finding people experienced in breaking horses for ‘draft work’ – such as ploughing, logging & pulling farm vehicles (which has a different type of harness to those who drive horses) are few and far between we found that the demand to attend these training days was both high and the we attracted people from across the UK and they needed accommodation for their horses, themselves and their dogs. As a result of this need we decided to establish The Shepherd’s Hideway.

The Hideaway is born….

The Hideaway was born to create a bespoke facility to provide holiday accommodation for those wishing to bring their own horse on holiday, with the option to learn some of the skills required to break a horse, regardless of its size or breed to draft work.

Work commences…

Development work on the Hideaway started in earnest in Feburary 2016.

The first part of the development required the preparation of the groundworks to provide individual, fully serviced plots for each of our locally built luxury Shepherds Huts. Each hut was provided with mains water, mains electric, and treatment plant for the waste. In addition each hut is accessed via a road with parking adjacent to the hut. The access to each hut allows even heavy goods vehicles to drive into the field even on the wettest of days, but allows the grass to grow through keeping the field a field, but with easy access and no harsh concrete/gravel in sight!

The flower meadow with the heart of an orchard…

To compliment the setting for each of huts the paddock in which they sit was further landscaped to include a mixed fruit tree orchard circled by chestnut clef post and rail fence. The orchard will be able to provide our guests in the coming years with fresh fruit and surplus fruit the horses will love!

Wild flowers have also been sown throughout the meadow and we are looking forwards to a magnificent display of colour in the Summer!

And for your horses…

Should you wish to bring our horse on holiday with you we’ve catered for them too! Beyond the orchard, and only a few steps away from your hut is a small paddock. Natural shelter is provided by the surrounding landscape and mixed broadleaved woodland.

The ultimate Shepherds dream…

The Hideaway provides Shepherd huts, unlike others, providing at touch of 18th Century rural living but with 21st Century home comforts! A self-contained luxury experience.