About IBIZA HORSE VALLEY SANCTUARY
THE BEGINNING:
In 2010, Ibiza Horse Valley Sanctuary was founded to give unfortunate horses a second chance in life. The shared love for horses brought David and Monique together and together they built David’s dream. The core of this dream was to get away from the horse riding world and how horses were kept and used. One big varied terrain, where horses can just be horses. Living together day & night and the rhythm of nature rules. Very importantly, they stay forever. No selling, no rehoming, no separate stables, no continuous human interaction with demands and expectations.
It started with 2 horses, Manuel and Clown, two geldings. Soon more horses joined, saved from the butcher, found stray, brought over as “problem horses”, or simply dumped by their owners.
The Valley grew. Every horse that came in changed after a while, mostly into a totally different horse from how they arrived. But there was not yet a herd. They were happy horses because they were free, together, and left alone. The change in every horse was spectacular to witness, and this became the start of Monique’s daily observation of the horses.
Besides the generous sponsorships, more donations needed to be generated. In the beginning, this was done by offering trail rides with those horses who felt like doing it. Guests were always informed beforehand about the Valley project and about the horses themselves: their history, their trauma, and who they had become.
David Capdevielle
Monique Tjon
The Herd Emerges
Slowly but surely, the ambience of all horses together shifted: more coherent, more structured, with a truly different ambience. It felt like a whole. We had about 7 to 9 horses at that time, and it all became overly clear when the next new horse joined.
These horses were not just happy and free; they naturally formed a herd. Like a story unfolding before your eyes, you could identify each horse’s role. They needed their time for themselves and for being with others.
Different situations and interactions with each other were of core importance. They found themselves by being together, and together they naturally found their natural way of being: in a herd.
THE HERD SHOWS US THE WAY
While the herd matured and became stronger, the Valley kept growing. More guests would visit. Monique’s informational part kept growing, fed daily by her observations. A shift occurred: the meeting before the rides became the core. More and more time was spent on the ground, amidst the horses, where guests were informed and experienced being in the middle of the herd. Guests started to open up.
This time spent with the horses in their home subconsciously touched our guests: affected by a horse’s history, their suffering, but now seeing them happy, strong, and confidently walking up to connect. Horses would walk up to certain persons and stay close, and intimate moments were shared. Communications and connections happened spontaneously.
Naturally, our new direction was born. The herd was inviting us to join them. Through their own healing, their care for one another, and their invitation towards humans: the herd itself gave direction and showing us a different way.
A bridge was forming. Guests came with questions. Horses responded with presence. The herd was leading, and the humans began to follow.
A Time of Grief and Change
At the end of 2020, David passed away unexpectedly, and a period of grief and hardship began. The loss was enormous, and Monique faced it while she had to carry on: the herd could not be given up. For these horses, the Valley was their last saviour. David and Monique had promised to take care of every horse forever and never put them in an uncertain situation again.
The period 2020–2024 was a long, rocky road. Monique’s gratitude is immense because The Valley received a lot of emotional and financial support from family, friends, and Valley lovers. Horses passed away, droughts ruined crops, and prices rose. Many changes had to be made to remain sustainable. The riding, which had sustained the Valley in the past and had mainly been David’s passion, became too much for Monique to carry on.
Monique’s focus has always been the horses: their development, interaction, and behaviour and her priority remained the horses and their wellbeing. Her daughter, Mya, who had grown up with the herd, stepped in to help after David's passing. After studying Philosophy and becoming a certified Somatic Therapist, Mya returned to Ibiza in 2024.
Together, Monique and Mya began to shape the Valley’s new direction. The horses had already laid the foundation. Their natural behaviours, the herd dynamic, and their willingness and desire to connect with humans had revealed what was possible.
Ibiza Horse Valley today
The path towards this change had been unfolding slowly and naturally throughout the years, shaped by the herd’s invitation, Monique’s love for natural horse behavior, the guests’ opening up, and fortified and supported by Mya’s Somatic Therapy. Our new direction was born!
And with this new direction, one of David’s biggest wishes came true: Mya actively involved with the Valley.
Most importantly, it was the horses who showed the way. Through their own healing, becoming a herd, their welcoming and rehabilitating new horses, and their invitation towards humans, they showed us the way. And what made it so remarkable is that it all unfolded naturally: not planned, not forced, but step by step, through life itself. Even with tremendous loss, grief, and hardships that had to be conquered, the path kept revealing itself. The creation, David’s passing, Monique’s passion, the guests’ opening up, and Mya’s Somatic Therapy all came together, guided by the herd.
This is what makes Ibiza Horse Valley so unique: the conditions that came about were not initiated or forced by humans. They emerged naturally, and the invitation came from the horses.
Horses that were once abused by humans now heal among the herd and, out of complete free will and their own initiative, help humans heal.
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
A Living Educational Ground
What began as a horse sanctuary has, over the years, evolved into something far deeper. For 15 years, Ibiza Horse Valley has been an educational ground for anyone wanting to understand what becomes possible when we stop trying to control nature and instead give it space to unfold. From the beginning, our approach has been to observe, to listen, and to allow healing to happen rather than to impose it: a traumatised horse can’t be healed by humans.
As we stepped back, the horses stepped forward. One by one, they began to recover, form bonds, rebuild trust, and organise themselves into a natural, integrated herd. What we witnessed was not just individual rehabilitation, but a return to the intelligence of the body, of the group, of the land.
Over time, the Valley became a place where humans also started to slow down, to observe, to reflect. The herd doesn’t perform or follow commands. It simply lives and in doing so, it teaches. Visitors began to open up. They started to ask different questions. And through watching the herd, they began to see themselves. This has become our way of educating: not through lessons or lectures, but through lived experience. A form of learning that cannot be rushed, but must be felt.
From Observation to Research
For over 15 years, Ibiza Horse Valley has been an ongoing educational space. Not through structured lessons or programs, but through continuous observation, reflection, and real-time learning. Every day, we witness the impact of natural herd living on the physical and emotional rehabilitation of horses once considered “broken” or “untrainable.”
Because of the depth of what is happening here, we feel a responsibility to share it. What we see in the Valley deserves to be documented, studied, and translated into something that can support others (animals and humans alike).
We are currently working on a number of research initiatives focused on the intersection of ethical horse care, nervous system regulation, co-regulation, and longevity.
On top of what is now in the make, we aim to collaborate with researchers, educators, and institutions to begin testing, documenting, and publishing these differences. Our hope is to share what we see every day in a way that contributes to scientific understanding and pushes the (horse) world toward a more ethical, holistic future.
If you feel this aligns with your work, we’d love to connect. We’re open to conversation, collaboration, and co-creation.
Ibiza Horse Valley is a non-profit sanctuary that receives no government funding. Everything we do is made possible thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. Their support allows us to rescue, rehabilitate, and provide a lifelong safe haven for horses in need.
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