FOUNDER OF EQUINE PRESENCE

Dr. Tula Paul, M.Ed., Ph.D.

Registered Psychologist (Alberta)

As a child, I dreamed of one day combining horses and healing. Life, however, unfolded differently. A series of car accidents changed my ability to ride competitively and, over time, I distanced myself from the barn and from horses altogether. I moved to the city, attended university, became a Psychologist, married, raised children, and immersed myself in urban professional life.

Even so, horses quietly remained part of my world. I continued visiting my parents’ ranch, occasionally rode for pleasure, and sometimes helped them with horses they were selling. I had come to accept that my childhood dream would remain simply that — a meaningful dream from another season of life.

Then came COVID.

Like many people, I found myself confronting profound existential questions. The ground beneath life suddenly felt uncertain. I was forced inward into reflection about identity, values, relationships, autonomy, meaning, and who I was becoming. During that period, I felt an unexpected and persistent pull back toward the barn. I was searching for something solid. I had a deep urge to reconnect with horses. Being around horses again did not feel nostalgic; it felt grounding. Something about their presence invited stillness, honesty, and reconnection with parts of myself that had long remained quiet. A desire to integrate all of me into my present emerged.

That experience reawakened my curiosity about Equine-Facilitated Services.

I initially began exploring through virtual training with Caroline Resnick’s The Waterhole Rituals. The experience resonated deeply and opened new ways of thinking about relationship, presence, communication, and connection. At the same time, I noticed a growing tension within myself. While I felt personally drawn toward this work, I am also a scientist-practitioner grounded in evidence-based psychological practice. Some of the language and explanations I encountered within the equine world felt more mystical than clinically coherent for me.

I realized I needed to better understand an important professional question: Why horses?

More specifically, I wanted to understand what meaningfully distinguished Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy from simply conducting therapy in the presence of horses. I was not interested in horses as props, metaphors, or therapeutic scenery. I wanted to understand how horse-human relationship itself could meaningfully contribute to therapeutic process, awareness, and change.

That search eventually led me to Dr. Veronica Lac and The HERD Institute.

My experience with The HERD Institute helped me begin integrating my professional identity, personal experiences, relational philosophy, and lifelong connection with horses into a more coherent orientation. It encouraged both intellectual rigor and relational curiosity while helping me articulate the deeper intentions beneath this work.

Over time, Equine Presence emerged — not just as the fulfillment of a childhood fantasy, but as the integration of many parts of myself across time: psychologist, equestrian, relational thinker, and human being.

“Whether you regard the horse with awe or love, it is impossible to escape the sheer power of his presence.”

Mary Wanless