What is 'Equine Therapy?

‘Equine therapy’ is a term actually that doesn’t do a great job of helping people understand what it is – no wonder people become confused! ‘Equine therapy’ is when a licensed therapist incorporates horses into their therapy sessions. So at The Simpatico Center, ‘equine therapy’ means that we provide occupational therapy services that incorporate horses to support participants in achieving their goals.

Why Horses?

This is another great question! Horses are expensive, and large, and require you to work outdoors. On the surface, it doesn’t seem very logical, does it?

When horses are incorporated into therapy sessions, sessions move from ‘talking about things’ to ‘doing things’; sessions are experiential in nature, meaning that participants are actively moving and interacting throughout the session practicing skills in-the-moment during their sessions.

Horses also have some species-specific characteristics that make them especially helpful when engaging in therapy sessions:

-Horses are are very sensitive to changes and incongruencies in their environment (or inconsistencies between a participant’s feelings, behavior, and language)

-Because horses don’t speak, participants need to be extremely aware of the horse’s movements and gestures in order to ‘read’ their intent and respond appropriately to develop a relationship with them

-Horses allow participants to practice real-life skills without the challenges of language and encourage them to use their entire self in an integrated way (providing opportunities for embodied engagement)

What Skills Can Be Addressed at The Simpatico Center?

-Improving Problem Solving Abilities

-Decreasing Anxiety and Improving Self-Image

-Enhancing Motivation

-Improving Executive Functioning Skills

-Improving Emotional/Behavioral Regulation

-Decreasing Hyperactivity and Reactivity

-Improving Confidence and Self-Esteem

-Enhancing Empathy

-Building Trust

-Improving Communication and Social Skills

-Developing Vocational Skills

Select References

Bloch, E., Franklin, A., Kramer, Z, & Pauda, G. (2019). The lived experiences of equine-assisted activities and therapies (EAAT) on veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73.

Hemingway, A., Carter, S., Callaway, A., Kavanagh, E., & Ellis, S. (2019). An exploration of the mechanism of action of an equine-assisted intervention. Animals, 9(6), 303.

Kearney, B.E. & Lanius, R.A. (2022). The brain-body disconnect: A somatic sensory basis for trauma-related disorders. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16-1015749.

Mazzo, G. & Bendixen, R. (2023). Community-based interventions for childhood trauma: A scoping review. OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 43(1), 14-22.

Pugh, H.K. & Heatwole Shank, K. (2024). Multi-species occupation involving equines: An action-oriented inquiry to inform occupational therapy practitioners. OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 44(2), 196-204.

Pugh, H. K. (2022). Employing an action-orientation to expand our understanding of equine-human occupations. Journal of Occupational Science, 29: sup1, S1S116.

Scopa, C., Contalbrigo, L., Greco, A., Lanata, A., Scilingo, E., & Baragli, P. (2019). Emotional transfer in human-horse interaction: New perspectives on equine assisted interventions. Animals, 9(12), 1030.

Shelef, A., Brafman, D., Rosing, T., Weizman, A., Stryjer, R., & Barak, Y. (2019). Equine assisted therapy for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder: A case series study. Military Medicine, 184(9/10), 394-399.

Wood, W., Alm, K., Benjamin, J., Thomas, L., Anderson, D., Pohl, L., & Kane, M. (2021). Optimal terminology for services in the United States that incorporate horses to benefit people: A consensus document. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 27(1), 88-95.