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They sense you before you speak. Your body language is their clearest signal.

Before the mat is laid down, and breathwork begins, the mind has a chance to race ahead; the horses are already there. In their majestic presence, the noise of the outside world fades. Something ancient stirs. The body remembers how to soften.

This is Crystalline Equine, Dubai’s first boutique wellness sanctuary to place horses at the epicentre of healing as intuitive partners in your wellbeing.

Set within JSR equestrian centre on the outskirts of the city, Crystalline Equine feels a world away from Dubai’s high-speed pulse. Horses move freely around the space, sometimes approaching, sometimes observing from a distance, always attuned. Every interaction is ground-based, creating a safe, non-performative environment for genuine connection.

The sanctuary is the realisation of a long-held vision by Joy Desmond, founder of Crystalline Equine, whose vision was shaped not by theory, but by lived experience.

Of horses and crystals

Originally from Newport Beach, California, Desmond spent over a decade building a high-pressure career with British Airways, rising into management by her early thirties. The work was demanding, emotionally intensive, and relentless. Eventually, love led her to England, where she stepped away from corporate life to raise her two children, Angel (14) and Valentine (11).

It was during this chapter, particularly during and after lockdown, that Desmond’s path quietly changed.

Joy Desmond

While volunteering through her family’s charitable foundation, she encountered a London-based organisation called Strength and Learning Through Horses (SLTH). The charity worked with foster children, neurodivergent youth, individuals with learning differences, and even adult prisoners, using horses as therapeutic mirrors.

Desmond didn’t just observe the impact. She witnessed it firsthand.

Children who would not speak to adults smiled for the first time beside a horse. Foster children who had never known safety found calm in the herd. Prison inmates, men who had never opened up to counsellors, broke down in tears in the presence of a horse that reflected their unspoken pain.

Horses, she learned, are profoundly present beings. They do not judge history or identity. They respond only to energy.

“Horses reflect what we cannot always see in ourselves,” Desmond says. “They show us where we’re holding tension, fear, control and where we’re ready to let go.”

As Desmond continued volunteering, a vision began repeating itself, which consisted of horses, purple crystals and healing. She began to see horses not just as animals, but as living conduits of crystalline energy, capable of transmuting dense emotional weight when a person is open to healing.

From London to Dubai

Two years ago, Desmond and her husband decided to change their lifestyle completely, trading grey skies for sunlight. They moved to Dubai, a city where horses are deeply woven into culture and history.

While riding at the JSR Equestrian Centre, she noticed an old, unused, worn-down building tucked away at the back of the grounds. Where others saw a relic, she saw possibility.

With the blessing of the centre’s owner, Desmond personally renovated the space over several months — removing walls, opening the flow, and intentionally designing it as a boutique wellness sanctuary with horses integrated into the experience. No cosmetic excess. No distraction. Just presence, warmth, and energy.

Crystalline Equine opened quietly in January. And within weeks, the response was undeniable.

The quiet power

Horses are highly sensitive herd animals, biologically wired to read energy, emotion, and intention. Their hearts are the largest of any land mammal, generating an electromagnetic field five times stronger than a human’s. When we stand beside them, our nervous systems naturally begin to synchronise with theirs.

Heart rates slow. Breathing deepens. Muscles release.

This phenomenon, known as co-regulation, is the foundation of Crystalline Equine’s work. In contrast to the constant stimulation of modern life, the horses gently guide participants into a state of down-regulation, shifting the body from stress into stillness, without force or instruction.

Sessions blend mindfulness, somatic awareness, breathwork, sound healing with crystal bowls, and meditation, all held within the steady, regulating presence of the horses. Sometimes they wander closer. Sometimes they lie down nearby. Sometimes they simply stand, anchoring the collective energy.

The equine effect

Desmond works alongside two horses, Atoll and Crystalline, each chosen as much for their temperament as for their presence. Crystalline is a striking mix of Arabian and Lipizzaner Spanish bloodlines, carrying the elegance and curved lines reminiscent of classical Spanish dressage horses.  Atoll, a retired grand prix jumper, brings a grounded, steady strength. 

Participants arrive early, often 30 minutes to an hour before sessions, simply to be with the horses. Phones stay away. Conversations soften. Strangers connect easily, bonded by shared calm.

Some come carrying anxiety, burnout, and overstimulation. Others arrive with fear, including fear of horses themselves. One woman, traumatised by a riding accident years earlier, was initially unable to stand near them. Over repeated visits, she began feeding them carrots, standing closer, breathing easier. She now hopes to ride again for the first time in decades.

“Horses don’t respond to control,” Desmond explains. “They respond to authenticity.”

This principle underpins everything at Crystalline Equine.

Everything in Crystalline Equine is intentionally holistic. Sound healing with crystal bowls, breathwork, meditation, Pilates, yoga, and somatic practices all take place with horses freely present, lowering their energy and joining the collective field. The space is designed to bring nature back into wellness, rather than isolating healing within four walls.

Desmond is also preparing to introduce Reiki with horses, allowing them to intuitively scan the body and draw attention to areas of emotional or energetic density. Horses, she believes, sense imbalance instinctively and respond with remarkable accuracy.

Crystalline Equine operates seasonally, honouring the land, the animals, and natural rhythm. Desmond envisions the space evolving into a hub where healers, educators, and horse-led practitioners collaborate — and eventually, other Crystalline Equine sanctuaries emerging where people and horses meet in mutual respect.

“For thousands of years, horses were healers, companions, and mirrors — not just mounts or tools,” she says. “We are simply remembering.”

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