Equine Assisted Psychotherapy

Herd Behavior and Systemic Therapy

Horses in herds have many similarities to the nature of human relationships within family systems, marital systems, friendship systems, corporate team systems, family of origin systems among others. The herd serves to fulfill social and emotional needs with each member of the herd, or system, and each member has a distinct role. These roles have meaning and purpose to the horse herd, such as alerting other horses to flee from a predator threat. Similarly, a family member may hold the symptoms for the family dysfunction so homeostasis is maintained.

Within a horse herd there exists a framework of leadership – with a pecking order to eat and protect others. Within a family system there exists a framework of accepted and unaccepted values, beliefs and behaviors, often brought down generationally. What is ironic is that horses are limited to non-verbal ways to communicate this framework, but humans also often communicate these framework expectations non-verbally.

Humans of course have the choice to clearly articulate these expectations yet unspoken family rules with the do’s and don’ts are often still clearly understood among all members. These systemic parallels often allow the horse herd to uncover unspoken human patterns and ways of thinking that can be brought to awareness with then a decision to keep or change. This is what growth can look like in the horse arena with this therapeutic approach.

Movement and Response Creates Change

Movement impacts our psyche. Physical movement in the horse arena can create internal movement in the client. In therapy, goals are often centered around creating change through some form of movement or selecting a different response to situations or circumstances.

In the horse arena, this is literally played out.

Movement of the horse herd and response by the humans, and movement of the humans and response by the horse herd, is the essence of this experiential therapy. This movement and response in the horse arena is key to the overall internal movement or change created for the client.

All horses are uninhibited in this methodology of therapy – meaning they are not ridden or tacked and are at liberty to move about the arena as they please. Each horse decides where to stand, what direction to turn their body, where to look with each eye, how far to space from other horses, how close to come to each human, and whether to stand still, walk, trot or lope to a new location in the arena. These herd patterns and shifts are observed and experienced both by the clinician and clients. The physical doing, the exploration, and the movement in the horse arena is the core of this experiential therapy.

Relationship and Connection Creates Learning

Because horses are prey animals, unlike dogs who are predators, developing a connection and trusting relationship can be more challenging. The horse first looks to safety – as they will spook and flee when feeling threatened. This is an innate survival response that keeps them alive, and it is a herd dynamic that can be seen in both domesticated and wild horse herds.

Horses are naturally very curious, exploring and investigating new things that come their way. They experiment with boundaries and battle for leadership hierarchy within the herd. If humans create fear, cross boundaries, create a threat or feeling of discomfort for the horse, the human will immediately receive feedback from the horse letting them know. Often human patterns of establishing new relationships, whether with a horse or another human, have the same dynamic in approach and behavior to connect. The horses are wonderful team members to shine a light on subconscious patterns humans play out when trying to connect with a horse.

For example, if someone comes up quickly on a horse that is highly sensitive, the horse will immediately back away to let the person know that created discomfort for the horse and was therefore too assertive. The therapist might ask the client why they believe the horse moved away from them so quickly, then have them try again. If that same person approaches another someone in a similar manner, that person might take a slight step back but verbally state that everything is fine despite experiencing similar discomfort. The honest feedback given by the horse is helpful in this example and can be used to create insight. The insight gained by that client can lead to their adjustment in approach and level of assertiveness, further developing their relationship skills.

Taking this a step further for the client, they might learn to approach their partner in a different way to lessen discomfort and create more emotional safety when trying to resolve a conflict. This ‘in the moment’ experience of interaction can create this type of immediate learning. Eventually, when the horse-human connection is developed and mutual trust is formed, this relationship building can be extremely powerful in the therapeutic process and is also core to this model of therapy.