🌿 The Botanical Pathway

Step into a new way of living, caring, and connecting with your animals.

Whether you're exploring herbs for the first time or stepping into practitioner training, this option offers layered entry points that honour both depth and accessibility.

An Interconnected Approach to Herbalism

The Applied Botanical Path offers layered routes into herbal training — whether you’re seeking personal guidance, professional practice, or practical skills for everyday challenges. Each pathway empowers you to align with nature’s rhythms while transforming the wellbeing of the animals you love.

Choose your route:

Practitioner Pathway – Two comprehensive journeys into medical herbalism, bioadaptation, zoopharmacognosy, seasonality, and applied energetics, designed for those ready to step into professional practice. This is the practical application and methodology of the Foundation certificate plus a deeper more life changing Diploma pathway
Owner Pathway – Herbal Shenanigans is our seasonal, forage-led training with hands-on herbal making, energetics, and an optional (FREE) membership offering badges, challenges, and awards.
Focused Short Courses – targeted, practical trainings including flea & tick product-making and fireworks & fear support.

Whichever path you choose, you’ll be stepping into an interconnected approach to herbalism — one that blends science with intuition, nature’s rhythm with practical application, and offers transformation for both animals and the humans who care for them.

Choose Your Starting Point

For Owners isn’t just a course — it’s a living, breathing practice.

Herbal Shenanigans is a soul-led journey into a new way of caring for your animals.

Built around the wisdom of animals’ own ability to select seasonally appropriate herbs, this pathway has four guiding principle, Herbal Medicine, Seasonality, Energetics and the Interconnectedness of all life. We train in seasonal bioadaptation, herbal materia medica for animals and have woven this into a complete, structured plan of healing. It’s not just a course — it’s a rhythm, a practice, and a way of life that brings you and your animals into deeper connection with the cycles of nature.

With our (FREE) optional membership woven in, you’ll find yourself supported, celebrated, and inspired through badges, awards, and prizes that keep you motivated and connected as you grow. Herbal Shenanigans is here for owners ready to embrace a guided, empowering, and transformative approach to herbal care — one that honours your animal’s innate wisdom while awakening your own.

Click here for more info.>>>

Ready to turn your dreams of working with animals & herbal into a reality?

The Practitioner Pathway is where herbal wisdom becomes a professional calling.

Rooted in method and application, these trainings weave together energetics, bioadaptation, Western herbal medicine, product making, and seasonality into a complete, embodied framework.

From the Foundation Certificate through to the in-depth Diploma, you’ll learn not only how to apply herbs, oils, and essences with confidence, but how to read the rhythm of the seasons, align with each animal’s physiology, and create practice that is both scientific and soulful.

This is more than training — it is the pathway to step into your role as a holistic herbal practitioner. With structured guidance, case studies, and mentorship, you’ll gain the skills and embodied wisdom to support animals in real time, while shaping a career rooted in transformation, alignment, and deep connection with nature’s cycles.

Professional Pathway.>>>

Specialised Short Courses & Herbal Toolkits

While these offerings are short trainings and courses, they respond to common seasonal and behavioural challenges faced by animals—and offer immediate, practical support to those wishing to walk the Botanical Path. All come with additional continuing professional development for those in the botanical professions.

Fireworks & Fear

In this practical, supportive 3 step plan, you’ll discover how to use the right botanicals to ease stress and fear — helping your animals feel safe, settled, and seen.

You'll learn:
✔️ Which herbs to use and why they work
✔️ How to prepare before fireworks begin
✔️ What to offer on the night itself
✔️ How to support the nervous system and aid recovery in the days that follow

We explore herbs that calm adrenaline, lower cortisol, support the adrenals, and gently guide stress out of the body — all while working in harmony with your animal’s behaviour and innate needs.

Learn more >>>

Natural Herbal Solutions for Fleas, Ticks, Mites & Parasites

In this practical, hands-on training, you’ll discover how to create effective herbal products — helping your animals stay protected, supported, and well.

You'll learn:
✔️ How to make 10 targeted herbal products
✔️ Safe, natural strategies for animal & home
✔️ Supportive care for Lyme and other infections
✔️ Ways to aid detox, immunity, and skin health

We explore herbs that deter and irradicate pests, soothe irritation, build resilience, and support the body's natural defences — all while working in sync with your animal’s needs and the seasons.

Learn more >>>

"I needed to have a slight change in direction and I found Animal Botanical. Well, what can I say, my life has gone on a journey I never imagined! Rachael awakened my love of plants and growing herbs. I have always loved growing things but rather without purpose or focus, not so now!

I think the biggest win from starting Innate Botanical Selections has been for Bund my older dog. Bund was struggling with pain and I decided to go down the heavy duty pain killer route.... but by going out and learning to forage for various herbs, to help mitigate the side effects, Bund and I have learned a way to make his life the very best possible, he still walks 5+ miles a day and does his conditioning.

A huge side effect of establishing a stable gut flora is where he used to be a huge herbivore poo eater he now ignores it all result! I can no longer sit down for a herbal mug of tea, without him joining in and trying to get to the stew at the bottom. It is so nice to see him being so cheeky!".

Sue Julian

Joining Animal Botanicals amazing Diploma programme in Innate Botanical Selections has brought so much enrichment to both my animals and myself. My connection to herbs is deepening, where knowledge changes to a relationship and awareness of our interconnection. It is fascinating and humbling to witness the intelligence of horses and dogs seeking what they need and learning to trust this. I also love exploring the difference in expression, whether herbs are sought in the fresh or dried form, as a cut herb or powder, an essential oil or hydrosol – a whole new world of possibilities of interaction. I have learnt so much about how my horses process too. As an Ayurvedic practitioner I love how we follow the rhythm of the seasons, seeing what is needed now and what will support for the future as the foundation of well-being and interrelatedness for us all.

Laura Shakeshaft

Julie Stewart

Absolutely fab training sign up you don’t regret it. Rachael goes above and beyond to make sure the training covers all your needs. Best course I’ve undertaken.

Anon

This course is the best! I love the way it runs, the information we are learning and the friends we have made. It's helped with my mental health, well being and how to embrace a bit of self care. All with Mother Nature herself and our beautiful animals.

Lisa Shoesmith

I really do love being part of Herbal Shenanigans, I do love sharing my positive moments, everyone here understands them in a way that a lot of the horse world doesn’t.

Dana Kazinski

I truly am beyond excited and cannot thank you enough, for your wonderful way of teaching, your energy, kindness, wisdom and encouragement.

Vicki Thompson

Thanks so much.. Really enjoyed the course, you are a total inspiration!!

Thanks so much for everything. I can honestly say that you're an inspiration & that the courses that I've been on are amazing. They're really well thought through & full of lots of valuable information. Thanks so much xx

Sue Falber

WOW what an amazing herb which in a previous life I discarded as an insignificant weed that grew on the dried out mud patch of the gateway - invisible indeed as ignorance caused me to think of it as totally insignificant. Excellent presentation once again.

Louise

Thank you for the amazingly selected Herbal box this Summer season

The herbs are just fantastic and I’ve been in my absolute element displaying, offering and enjoying self selection with Callie and trying the teas.

Emma

Thank you so much last nights tasting and meditation. As my first one I really enjoyed the whole experience.

The meditation really helped calm my mind and I felt very connected to the white horse. I didn’t really have anything come to me in terms of colour but I had a constant feeling of joy and happiness throughout

It was a great experience and really opened up my mind to how herbs affect us and im really thankful for that, can’t wait for the next one.

Auriol

Yay!!! Thank you Rachael! I love it when the box arrives!!!

Kirstey

Shilo's arthritis rub has been marvelous - not only has it helped him - but it works a treat on my restless legs at night, and my mum's back pain!! I'm running low so I need to make some more asap! Iit!!