What Is Equine Therapy? (Answered!)

While out for a drink with a friend the other night we were talking about his daughter who has suffered from a few small mental health issues in her teenage life.

She has had some minor anxiety and associated issues.

He mentioned that they’d recently put her through equine therapy and that had helped more than anything they’d tried before.

I felt a bit embarrassed, but my first question was, ‘What on earth is equine therapy?’

So, what is equine therapy?

Equine therapy encompasses a range of treatments involving engaging in activities with horses to promote mental health. There are all sorts of potential remedies associated with equine therapy and it has its roots as far back as antiquity.

There have been many different applications of the practice, and in its modern form the treatment was established in the 1960s.

It works in a lot of different ways depending on the treatment program and treats a lot of different things, so let’s look at some of the ways it has been used and how it works.

What does equine therapy help with?

Equine therapy has a whole host of potential applications, and many different organizations use it for many different aims.

The basic goal is health and wellbeing, though.

It can either be as a direct solution to a particular problem or simply as a general approach to health and wellbeing.

It is a method for discovering more about yourself, developing new ways of thinking, and altering negative patterns of behavior.

Equine therapy has been used to build confidence in people who were otherwise very shy and unsure of themselves.

It also can help people to develop communication, trust, impulse control and boundaries.

Horses have, on a basic level, very similar responses to humans, so this type of therapy can be really helpful for people who have difficulty interacting with others.

Anxiety has been one area where equine therapy has been shown to be very effective for the right person.

Getting to know and handling a horse can calm these sorts of things down. Again, it can help them to develop a sense of trust.

Equine therapy is often a very individualized treatment and is suggested by therapists or psychologists as an additional treatment.

That’s the only caveat, really; most doctors agree that equine therapy needs to be done in tandem with other treatments for any major results.

How does equine therapy work?

Equine therapy can work in a number of different ways, and sometimes the patient will not even touch the horse.

The practice is normally built up over time, so that the patient can slowly build a relationship with the horse and feel comfortable around it.

In the first sessions, the patient may just be instructed to lead the horse somewhere, or put a halter on it.

Even this type of communication with the instructor or therapist is part of the process.

Learning to communicate relatively complex things in an unfamiliar environment can help to build confidence tremendously.

For anxiety patients, what is called cognitive behavior therapy helps them to identify their feelings and why they feel the way they do, sometimes by even noticing similar things in the horse.

People with anxiety often avoid stressful or challenging situations, and breaking through those boundaries with equine therapy has been very effective in many cases.

Equine therapy has also been used as a treatment for addiction.

The methods are quite similar to anxiety.

Essentially, the activity of caring for the horse acts as a focal point, and helps to distract from the physical symptoms of things like addiction withdrawal and anxiety.

So, clearly, it has countless benefits, but are there any downsides?

Are there downsides to equine therapy?

When deciding if there are any downsides to a kind of treatment, the first thing you’ll be wondering is whether it could do actual harm rather than good.

The fact is, equine therapy is not for everyone.

Many people with these kinds of problems might find it very hard or even frightening to be around a large animal.

However, this kind of therapy wouldn’t be entered into lightly.

The only way it could do real harm is if someone was made to do it who didn’t want to, and of course this would never happen.

The simplest way to look at the downsides of this type of therapy is cost and time.

It is not cheap, and it can be very time-consuming, creating both a financial and time burden.

Others have suggested that the demand for the care of the animal can compete with the rest of the patient’s life in an unhealthy way.

Finally, the most important thing that most doctors would stress is that it should never be a replacement for other, prescribed treatments, especially medication.

Equine therapy should be an extra treatment on top of your ordinary routine.

The unfortunate truth is that there is a financial incentive for many equine therapy companies to attract consumers, so you should always listen to your doctor’s advice first.

Ultimately, equine therapy should always be seen as an accompaniment to other forms of treatment.

It has manifold wonderful potential positive effects for people seeking treatment, but there are obviously vastly varying levels of treatment that people require.

Equine therapy, like many forms of treatment, will work well for some and less well for others.

But it clearly has many benefits for the right person at the right time, so there’s plenty of good reason to try it out.