Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy

Coming through the black gates…

… and slowly driving down the gravel driveway there will be a dark brown barn with red painted trim. Next to the barn you will see a little chicken coup with happy chickens pecking on the ground seeking a tasty treasure.

You’ll notice horses gently grazing on grass in the nearby pasture, the horses might be drinking from the cool pond water or walking to seek the perfect place to sunbathe.

This environment welcomes you to deeply breathe in the fresh air and let go of whatever is burdening you. We will do this together and with the help of the horses.

Horses are amazing creatures of depth and nobility.

A horse extends his head towards the back of your hand offering you to touch his velvet soft nose. There is a reaching out between the horse and human which causes a deeper level of awareness inside the human.

Horses are social animals with individual personalities and have a desire for connection. Relationship connection is one of the most important aspects of the horse’s existence because their survival depends on it.

If given the chance, horses have so much to teach us about ourselves and our unique relationship tendencies. Horses will not judge you based on what you look like, what has taken place in your past, or your current portfolio. They just see you for who you are in the present moment…

Where the human and the horse intersect…

There are many times we wish we would have responded differently to someone or a stressful situation instead of having a knee jerk, freak out or shut down reaction. Being edgy towards your spouse, acting awkward to that person you are trying to impress, parents yelling at your kids, the list goes on…

The problem is, we are not even sure why we are reacting the way we are! Typically, we are reacting in these moments because of our past experiences and we sense some sort of relational danger.

Horses help women get to the bottom of the reactivity, because horses experience a large variety of emotions and are asked to function with other horses in a herd. It’s amazing how comparable the herd dynamics are to human social interactions.

Horses live in the moment and respond honestly and directly…

… to whatever behaviors and internal states a client presents to them. This is why horses are amazing therapeutic partners.

Horses notice slight internal shifts within us which humans are just not capable of noticing to the same degree. When horses notice a shift within the client… they will respond to the client. It could be something as simple as the horse intentionally moving closer to the client once she has identified her true emotions.

Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy is a powerful form of therapy because it offers great insight when words alone are not enough.