Our staff are qualified in Counselling and in Equine Assisted Therapy and Learning and with our team of calm, sensitive horses we work empathetically within a dynamic of trust. We provide individual therapy sessions, both with and without horses, in a beautiful rural environment. We also work with couples and family groups, run workshops on specific themes, and give talks and public presentations. We also offer certification training to students who have the qualifications and experience appropriate for working in equine assisted therapy or equine assisted learning.

We are ACC Registered

We are Rainbow friendly

We work within a Kaupapa Māori framework

What is therapy with horses?

The healing capacity of counselling is amplified by horses who sensitively mirror your immediate emotional and developmental needs. We listen deeply to your needs while the horses add value by bringing to the counselling process an authentic external focus. The combination of experienced counselling with the calm mirroring process of horses, leads rapidly to healthier ways of being.

Our work complements standard therapy practices but operates within each client’s zone of comfort around horses. The work doesn’t require previous experience with horses, and usually doesn’t involve horse riding.

How horses work with us at Earthhorse Aotearoa

Within a safe environment you will experience a horse’s generous and honest response to your physical and emotional states. As a team, your counsellor and horse will guide you to extend your edges of awareness within an environment of self-acceptance. This works in five ways:

1.   Observation

By observing how horses interact with each other and their environment, we can reflect on our own habitual behaviors and learn how to regulate our interactions with others.

2.    Empathy

Horses show deep empathy for people experiencing grief, loss, or sadness. Developing empathy for a horse teaches us how to be kind to ourselves and others.

3.   Personal narrative

The horse mirrors and reflects not what we think we are, but what we hide from ourselves (what we really are). We see how our thoughts and assumptions can be self-limiting as horses help us see healthier and more truthful narratives of who we are.

4.      Positive outcomes

Horses invite us to bear witness to new emerging stories that better serve our present and future selves as they invite us to experiment with different ways of being and thinking.

5. Shared being and spiritual connection

Simply by living in true presence, horses encourage us to renew our connection with nature and become truly grounded and at peace with ourselves.