Everything you need to understand or teach Steal the Dragon by Patricia Briggs.
Rialla is a young girl taken as a slave. Years later, after her escape, she finds an opportunity to end slavery in the land.
Rialla is a natural empath, so her father teaches her how to use her ability with horses. When slavers attack the entire group, they torture and kill almost everyone, keeping Rialla for a slave. Rialla loses almost all of her empathy. She is trained as a dancer...