What is Equine Assisted Therapy?

#4 in the series Doing the Work of Trauma-Based Healing

To answer this week’s question, “What is Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT)—or Psychotherapy (EAP)?” I am sharing the work of my friend, Pat Tremaine (see her bio below). Pat and I met when I ran across her Facebook page for survivors of childhood trauma. I eventually joined as an admin and we watched the page—Dissociative Identity Disorder/Response—reach over 230K followers before we “retired” and closed the page to begin working on another project. Part of this Doing the Work series is serving a dual purpose for that project (yes, it is a book!). My therapy did not include EAT/EAP, but Pat’s did, and she has graciously allowed me to share her story for this week’s post. Thank you Pat!

Photo by Alex Gossett on Unsplash

What is Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT)?

Author: Pat Tremaine
(Note: I have honored the UK spellings of words!)

Many trauma survivors know the calming benefits of being around animals, whether it be walking a dog, stroking a cat, or watching animals in a field as we go for a walk. I admit that Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) is one of my passions, and I have personally found it to be extremely helpful. 

In EAT there is a three-way relationship with the therapist, client, and horse. The therapist must be properly trained as an equine therapist and a licensed counsellor or therapist. During a session, the therapist needs to be continually aware of her own emotions and how present she is in the moment. This is important as she must be aware of what is going on for her horse and for her client to ensure the safety of both. She needs to know when to intervene and when to wait and see how things play out. This to me takes an amazing level of skill and daily practice.

EAT rarely involves riding but rather work is done on the ground. When riding a horse we are in control of them but by working on the ground we are equal partners in what happens between us. Because they are large and powerful animals this can bring up feelings from past trauma when we felt inadequate, afraid, or lacking control. On the other hand, they are herd and prey animals who react to any sense of danger that may be around. Often you will see a horse prick up his ears and go and investigate where a sound is coming from to see if there is danger. Because of their strong emotional sense, they will react for example by a person approaching them in anger by moving away. 

As trauma survivors, we can easily relate to the trust and hypervigilance issues in a horse. We are on a common ground with them which is not so easily found in a room with a therapist. If we stand watching a horse check out a potential danger we can notice that if they decide there is no threat they quickly return to being relaxed and carry on with what they were doing. It is not easy for trauma survivors to do this as our brains are wired in such a way to always be alert, seeing danger where there is none and finding it difficult to return to the present moment. 

Bergen et al. mention several core principals of EAT, the main ones being:¹

• Creation of a safe space, emotionally as well as physically.

• Choice for client and horse.

• Acceptance and non-judgement of client and horse.

• Relationship is central.

• Learning through modelling and instruction when necessary with respect and empathy.

• “Process orientated” rather than “task orientated”

• “Being” rather than “doing” model.

One of the advantages of working with an equine therapist and a horse is that we quickly become aware that the horse is not seeing us as a diagnosis. He is not capable of thinking, “Oh it’s my session with the one with [a diagnosis].” We are just another human being to him so we do not feel judged or shamed and he is certainly not counting the number of sessions we have had so he can discharge us as stable, or too difficult. We are just there, together in the same space, finding ways to relate with each other that are safe for both of us. 

Another advantage is that the work is done in the open involving physical movement and fresh air. Working with a horse gives us real-time feedback as we try out new and different ways of relating with an animal without an agenda. They are significantly more aware of body language than humans are and can sense our emotions. For example, if someone is stressed a horse will pick up this emotion and start pawing the ground with his hoof. If the client is encouraged to do some breathing exercises to calm themselves, the horse will then become calmer too. Or if our emotions are too volatile, he will simply walk away to a place of safety for himself. 

“They are incredibly physical, intuitive beings. This is in contrast to humans, who are predominantly cognitive and verbal beings with a tendency to cover up or ignore their involuntary physical body language and cues. Horses move and behave spontaneously from instinct and need, rather than premeditated thought or conflicted emotional states like we often do. Therefore whatever the horse does physically is significant….after all, why have the horses present if we don’t fully attend to their feedback?” (The Horse Leads The Way by Angela Dunning)

Trauma, as we know, is held in the body so the more we can engage with what is happening in our body in the present moment the better it is. A lot of our trauma cannot be expressed by us in words and sometimes if we do use the words it can throw us back into the memory. With a horse, you have to be in the present moment. This again can be difficult for a survivor but when in close proximity to such a large and powerful animal we have to be in the present or run the risk of a broken toe as our mind has wandered off somewhere. If we are not totally present in our body we can inadvertently put ourselves in danger.

Horses can teach us how we react to people and highlight our negative thinking patterns. Because they are such large and powerful creatures we can initially find that we have a lot of fear but as a relationship is built with the horse it has the potential to teach us how to overcome that fear and develop confidence which can be translated into our “real-life” situations. As my therapist put it, “If you can trust yourself with a 750-kilo horse you can trust yourself with a human you see as a threat.”

I originally had four sessions of EAT and then a few years later, I decided to return. Doing talking therapy on Zoom with a trauma-informed therapist was good but I felt the need to add in the physical aspect to get the greatest benefit. I needed to engage my body, brain, senses, and emotions.

The return to therapy was interesting. In my initial four sessions, my therapist said I had a natural affinity with the horses but this was not the case on my return. I was nipped by one of the horses during the first session. When I took this as his dislike for me, fear took over. I took it personally instead of realising that the horse was hot, hungry, and grumpy. As he tried to nip me again, I just froze and the therapist modelled—using her voice and body language with the horse—how to express that this behaviour was not acceptable.  

I was unaware that in the years between my sessions both the horse and I had changed. The horse had aged, and I had suffered a traumatic physical incident which had deeply affected me. Understanding this, we began to slowly work to try and repair the rupture in the relationship between the horse and me. This involved showing myself compassion and trying to be curious about my lack of confidence rather than frustrated by it.

The therapist and I both monitored my levels of anxiety as we worked slowly and mindfully around the horses just being with them and asking nothing of the horse or ourselves; choosing to join in with their movement when I felt comfortable and not when I didn’t. In moving towards them I was encouraged to notice at what distance I felt safe and to think about how this related to how I felt safe or unsafe with people. Could I be assertive about protecting my space and holding a boundary that helped my feeling of safety?

In those early sessions, I quickly discovered that my default setting was to freeze; I was being triggered into hypo-arousal. Eventually, after several attempts I managed to keep myself safe by moving. I became proactive rather than freezing. As a trauma survivor, I have reacted in certain ways in order to survive but these ways are not helpful now. It takes time to replace the old patterns with healthier ways of responding. 

As the sessions progressed so did I because my confidence grew. I could remove the horses’ rugs, brush them and trust myself to be aware of their body language and my own. I also learned not to roll my eyes when the therapist gave me a compliment about how I was gaining confidence. I think as trauma survivors we find it difficult to accept compliments because we don’t trust that there is not a hidden agenda as there as was so often the case in the past.

To build a relationship with a horse creates a deep connection that is felt on a heart level. It is one of mutual respect where we are both free to choose to move away from each other and one where I do not force the horse to do something he does not want to do. In the same way, the therapist does not force me to do something I do not want to do. Sometimes just sitting watching the horses in the field and how they communicate with each other taught me about relationships or opened emotions within me that the therapist and I talked about in real time.

In conclusion, I give another quote from The Horse Leads The Way where Angela Dunning stated:

“Some of the more cognitive-based methods and approaches, which are very popular at present in all areas of therapy and learning, are missing the most vital part of a person’s being. Through bypassing the body and thus the place where many of our emotions reside, in particular stuck and deeply buried emotions, these approaches merely skim the surface. They may, in the very short term, lead to some mild improvement in symptoms and feelings of well-being and can sometimes enable people to start functioning again. However, if they do not take into account the body, its sensations and relationship to feelings, particularly what resides in the heart, then healing at the core, visceral level cannot be fully achieved. People are then left stuck, as well as confused, as to why their issues keep re-surfacing.”

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Pat Tremaine was born in the southwest of England but has spent most of her life in Scotland, a country she loves (apart from the weather!) She attended Aberdeen University as a mature student completing a Bachelor's Certificate and Master's degree. Pat worked at various jobs, the last of which was as a bereavement counsellor. Her passion for helping those who had experienced trauma led to setting up and administrating a Facebook page for seven years. She is the author of two books. Having closed her own page, she is presently helping to grow a Facebook page run by a nonprofit organisation in the US.

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Note: All information and resources presented in these newsletters are drawn from my personal story and those of my guest authors and do not replace professional psychological care for mental health issues. My legal and ethical advice is always to seek professional help.

1. Burgon, Hannan, Di Gammage, and Jenny Hebden. "Hoofbeats and Heartbeats: Equine-Assisted Therapy and Learning with Young People with Psychosocial Issues – Theory and Practice." Journal of Social Work Practice, vol. 32, no. 1, 2018.