Wendy Firmin-Price: From Stable to Soul

Wendy Firmin-Price is a dynamic leader in personal transformation, renowned for her unique blend of compassion, clarity, and grounded wisdom. Fondly known as the “Spiritual Awakening Midwife,” she has spent over three decades guiding individuals through life’s most challenging transitions—helping them overcome overwhelm, reclaim their personal power, and step confidently into their truth.

Through her pioneering HEART Equine-Assisted Therapeutic Coaching, award-winning publications, and transformative speaking engagements, Wendy combines the principles of behavioural psychology with the profound, reflective power of horses. Her core message is simple yet life-changing: truth changes everything.

With the release of her powerful new book, Dying to be Heard: Giving Teenagers a Voice Straight from the Horse’s Mouth, Wendy extends her mission to a generation in critical need—offering a platform for teenagers to be truly seen, heard, and understood.

The Pony Who Saved Her

Wendy’s story begins not in a boardroom or therapy chair, but in a stable. On her 12th birthday, she met the love of her life. “He wasn’t tall, but he was dark and handsome—and he stayed by my side for 30 years,” she recalls. Her sweetheart was Tiggy, a little black Welsh Mountain pony.

Tiggy carried her through a turbulent childhood marked by her parents’ acrimonious split and the shadow of a bullying stepfather. When her mother once threatened to leave and sell the pony, Wendy—at just 13—turned into what she calls a “kidpreneur.” She delivered newspapers, gave pony rides, skipped lunches to pay field rent, and scraped together every penny to keep Tiggy.

“He taught me what unconditional love really meant,” Wendy says. “That love gave me resilience when everything else around me felt unstable.”

The Breaking Point

By her teens, Wendy was juggling school, multiple jobs, and a growing herd of rescue horses. At 18, she stunned her teachers by becoming a casino croupier, working nights so she could spend her days in the stables. By her early twenties, she was running yards with over 30 horses—until her body rebelled.

A diagnosis of ME (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) forced her to slow down. “That became my first spiritual awakening,” she explains. “I had to learn to work with my body, not against it. Within six months of listening to what ME was trying to teach me, I recovered.”

She opened a riding school, finally aligning with her soul’s calling. Yet life had more lessons ahead.

Facing Fear in the Arena and at Home

During her instructor exams, Wendy’s fear of jumping fences mirrored a deeper fear in her personal life. She was living with a violent alcoholic partner, and the anxiety she felt waiting for him to come home drunk was identical to the fear she felt in the arena.

“One day, sitting on a jittery horse while a terrifying instructor shouted at me, I realised my dry mouth and knotted stomach weren’t about the horse. They were the same fear I carried at home. That was my breakthrough.”

A friend introduced her to Louise Hay’s You Can Heal Your Life. At first, Wendy scoffed at the idea that she created her own reality. But over time, she saw the truth: her partner was mirroring the self-betrayal and low self-worth she had buried. Through affirmations and self-love, she not only found the courage to leave the relationship but also conquered her fear of jumping 3’6” fences.

“That’s when I began the real spiritual work with horses,” Wendy reflects. “I saw how people’s fears in riding mirrored their fears in life. Horses became the perfect partners for transformation.”

Horses as Healers

In her HEART coaching method, Wendy works entirely on the ground with horses, allowing them to reflect her clients’ inner worlds. The results are often breathtaking.

She recalls a corporate director terrified of public speaking. The horse he worked with, H, showed little interest in him. But when Wendy asked him to drop his polished presentation and simply speak authentically, H walked across the arena and stood listening intently. “In that instant,” Wendy says, “he realised the only fear was being himself.”

Another memory brings tears to her eyes. A woman who had raged at everyone found herself alone with Harry, a horse known for biting and kicking after years of abuse. To everyone’s shock, Harry gently touched her cheek with his muzzle. The woman broke down in tears—and transformed before their eyes. Harry, once destined to be put down, went on to become one of their best therapeutic horses.

“Horses don’t lie,” Wendy says. “They mirror exactly who we are. Abused women gravitate toward abused horses. Clients with poor boundaries get taught by ponies like Smartie, who’ll push until you learn to say ‘enough.’ They show us what our souls need us to see.”

The Labour Pains of Transformation

Wendy describes personal growth as a form of labour. “Every time we’re on the brink of a spiritual upgrade, we go through contractions—pain, illness, betrayal, or loss. It’s the soul pushing us toward rebirth. The moment we realise life is happening for us, not to us, healing begins.”

Sometimes this discontent is loud and dramatic. Other times, it’s subtle. Wendy calls it Divine Discontent. “From the outside, everything may look perfect—career, partner, home. But inside there’s a persistent whisper: Something’s missing. If we ignore it, it grows louder until we can’t deny it anymore.”

Giving Teenagers a Voice

Her latest book, Dying to be Heard: Giving Teenagers a Voice Straight from the Horse’s Mouth, and its companion documentary shine a light on young people whose struggles often go unseen. Some came to her workshops suicidal, others crushed by family expectations or bullying. One Iranian refugee, Kavyan, arrived traumatised at 16 but rediscovered joy through horses. Today, he’s living his dream as a pilot.

“Teenagers often carry not just their own pain but the unhealed wounds of their families,” Wendy says. “Too often, adults expect them to change without changing themselves. Our work—and this book—gives them a voice, and more importantly, hope.”

Perfection, Burnout, and Truth

Perfectionism, Wendy believes, is the biggest thief of joy. “It’s rooted in the belief that we’re not enough. I lived that way until burnout forced me to surrender. Spiritually, I realised perfection is balance—the good in the bad, the right in the wrong. My life isn’t flawless, but it’s perfectly aligned for my soul’s growth.”

And when someone feels completely lost or burnt out? Wendy’s advice is simple: Call me.

Full Circle

Even after decades of coaching, Wendy is still moved when the horses “press the right button” for someone—whether it’s a bullied child sobbing in her arms or a hardened executive dropping the mask.

“For me, it always comes back to truth,” she says. “The horses reflect it. Our bodies reveal it. Our souls demand it. And when we finally have the courage to live it, everything changes.”