Is Equine Therapy Covered By Insurance?

Equine therapy can have so many benefits for the right people.

It has applications in many, many different illnesses and conditions and it has demonstrated some wonderful results for lots of people.

As with any potential treatment, though, if you’re thinking about trying equine therapy, the first thing you’re probably wondering is whether it’s covered by your insurance.

Well, I looked into it and did my best to answer the question.

So, is equine therapy covered by insurance?

The simple answer is that it will depend on your insurance, but it typically isn’t. Equine therapy in particular refers to assistance with mental health troubles and special needs. This shouldn’t be confused with hippotherapy, which is more commonly covered. Reach out to your insurer to find out if equine therapy is covered.

Equine therapy is often also called therapeutic riding and is widely considered a leisure activity that aids in mental health support, rather than a treatment in and of itself.

For this reason, most insurers are unlikely to cover this for you.

That said, it is still not prohibitively expensive if you are looking into undertaking some sessions.

That distinction between hippotherapy and equine therapy is really important, though, so let’s look at that first.

Hippotherapy vs. equine therapy

Both types of therapy involve horses, but each addresses a different goal in overall health.

Hippotherapy is an approach to purely physical therapy, where a patient will ride horses to address their body and physical health, sometimes after an accident that affected their movement.

Hippotherapy itself is a combination word, encompassing occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and physical therapy.

Equine therapy, on the other hand, is focused on addressing mental health challenges, very often those associated with alcohol, opiate or any kind of addiction withdrawal.

Patients care for a horse along with a mental health professional who talks them through it, which can act as a great way to focus their energy.

Equine therapy is offered in a lot of different ways, but usually, it is an approach to lifelong issues, rather than a response to a specific trauma.

This is not always the case, of course, but hippotherapy is much more often about addressing a physical injury or condition than a mental one.

So, with that distinction in mind, let’s look at if equine therapy is covered by insurance

Does insurance pay for equine therapy?

Equine therapy, then, is less often specifically prescribed by a doctor as it is suggested as an extra treatment patients can undertake.

Hippotherapy is a way of addressing very particular physical issues and often is prescribed.

So, I think you can see where I’m going with this.

Under most insurance plans, equine therapy will not be covered.

Equine therapy is an additional, beneficial treatment as far as insurers are concerned and does not fall under required medical care.

That said, there is no harm in checking.

Whether or not you’re covered will depend both on who your provider is and the specific ailment (if any) that you’re trying to address with equine therapy.

So, while it’s always worth checking with your provider, in general you shouldn’t expect to be covered for equine therapy by your insurer.

Even if you aren’t covered you could still consider covering your own cost, so let’s look at how much it generally costs.

How much does horse therapy cost?

Equine therapy is typically offered by private organizations that set their own prices, so it will not necessarily be uniform across the board.

It will also depend on the level of involvement you have with the animal.

Sometimes, equine therapy sessions take place over a whole day.

For an entire session like this you may pay between $150-$300 per session.

Sometimes you might pay $200 per hour for a one-on-one session, or around $630 dollars for a day session, from 10am-2pm.

So, it can be quite costly, when you factor in how many sessions you may need to do.

No therapy is fast-acting, and all of these things must be worked on over time.

Expect to need to put away a few dollars for your equine therapy sessions.

What are the benefits of equine therapy?

All that said, there are countless potential benefits of equine therapy.

Most often, equine therapy is used as a treatment for mental conditions like anxiety.

Handling and caring for a horse, which would likely be a challenging thing when you haven’t done it before, can be a great way to break boundaries and get you out of your comfort zone.

Furthermore, you aren’t simply caring for a horse.

You’re also able to utilize the session to help communicate things you feel about yourself. Understanding the horse’s needs can help you understand your own, and your own patterns of thought.

Caring for an animal is highly therapeutic for depression, and can aid in lessening the effects of depression.

Again, it can help you to understand your own feelings and unpack them in a healthy way.

So, in most cases, you will need to finance your own equine therapy if it’s something you’re trying out to help with mental health issues.

It’s typically considered a therapeutic leisure activity, rather than a medical treatment in and of itself.

Doctors usually won’t prescribe it, which is often what you need to have it covered by your insurance.

That said, it’s always worth getting in touch with your insurer to find out for sure whether or not you could be covered.