Why Horses?
A growing body of research shows horses support overall well-being as well as promote healing in the fields of trauma, occupational stress injuries, depression, and issues of aging.
Horses evolved with a strong awareness of their senses and environment as key to their survival. They take in our subtle body movements, facial expressions, quality of breath and body energy as vital information for their ultimate safety. Like people, they have a nervous system that is wired for safety and have a flight, fight, or freeze response to threat.
They also respond to and react to our way of being in the moment. They experience emotions. They invite connection. They invite us to be fully present. The relationship created with a horse is a genuine relationship that gives us the opportunity to look within ourselves to cultivate or change our way of being in relationship with others and the world around us.
Working with horse guides is like working with a version of your unseen self. With authenticity and without judgement, they continually respond to what you are consciously and unconsciously presenting in a particular moment. With gentle and genuine curiosity, they invite meaningful connection and healthy relationship.
As a client said, “the horses seem to know me better than I know myself.”
Horses do not live in the world of over-thinking, rationalizing, and stress we cling to in our every day. They live in the here and now. They respond to us accordingly. Engaging in structured experiential learning or equine-assisted psychotherapy activities with horses offers a unique opportunity to let go of who you think you are, while embracing the possibilities of a more confident, resilient version of you.
Most importantly, horses have big hearts (literally). They’re gentle, attentive, and hold space for human companions with grace and compassion. Our herd offers you the liberating experience of telling your story to another who hears only with a welcoming, open and accepting heart.