Experiential therapies such as yoga, therapy with horses, or with an emotionally supportive canine have become more popular and accessible over the years. Specifically, equine therapy has evolved from its origins to include more diverse treatment options! Originally, a lot of equine therapy services were offered for hippotherapy to improve physical limitations and provide creative, soothing, and engaging therapy for neurodiverse clients.
Today, equine therapy has grown to include trauma treatment, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, emotion regulation, domestic violence, distress tolerance, and so much more!
Equine therapy can come in many different forms, hippotherapy, experiential equine counseling, equine-assisted learning, or formal equine psychotherapy. The main differences include a certified equine assistant in conducting informal therapeutic interventions between the horse and client and collaborating with the client’s therapist after a session. Or a licensed professional therapist is conducting a formal psychotherapy session with a horse handler alongside the session to ensure safety for the client, horse, and therapist. Additionally, therapeutic inventions can happen either on the ground interacting with the horse or herd of horses or it can happen while riding the horse. This depends on which certifying body the person conducting the interaction is certified in.
Here is a list of the major certifying equine therapy models where you can find a certified barn or provider near you:
Written by: Catherine Virden
