Equine Therapy utilizes the sensitivity and relational quality of horses in the therapeutic process.  There are multiple benefits of using horses in treatment, particularly with clients who tend to hold back from sharing in traditional talk therapy. Horses are large animals, and as such, demand presence.  They are also prey animals, meaning that in the wild, they rely on relationship and communication to stay alive. In the therapy arena, horses can pick up and respond  to a client’s unsaid emotions, feelings, and behaviors and mirror those back in the horse-client relationship. Clients have the opportunity of exploring habitual and often limiting relationship patterns in a safe container, and experiment with new ways of being with a horse. Horses, despite their size, are emotionally safe. Clients can and will project their feelings and worldview on a neutral animal, and can work through challenges without fear of being abandoned, angering, or otherwise disturbing a human-human relationship.

To learn more about Equine Therapy and Wind Walkers, the ranch where we go, click here.