What is Equine Presence?

Equine Presence emerged from a professional question.

When I first entered the field of Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP), I expected to find a framework to understand the role of horses within psychotherapy. Instead, I found myself wrestling with a question that seemed both simple and surprisingly difficult to answer:

Why horses?

As a lifelong equestrian, I had little difficulty accepting that horses could be meaningful participants in therapeutic experiences. I had experienced their significance firsthand.

As a Psychologist, I found my collegial network affirming this perspective. Practitioners spoke passionately about the value of the work and shared story after story of clients describing EFP experiences as impactful, memorable, and transformative.

Yet I struggled to find explanations that fully resonated with me.

That darn scientist-practitioner in me. Helpful, valuable, and occasionally exhausting. There are moments when it would be nice to stop at “because it works.” I rarely seem able to.

Or perhaps it was the philosopher in me that kept asking: Why include a horse? Why not simply proceed with my evidence-based office-based practices?

I found myself searching for a framework that could hold both scientific inquiry and lived experience; one that allowed room for curiosity, complexity, and uncertainty without abandoning critical reflection.

Something that could embrace the robustness without reducing it or mythologizing it. Something that used a language and assumptions that could connect with my professional training AND my instinct.

Over time, I encountered mentors, colleagues, researchers, horses, and communities that helped shape my thinking. In particular, I found grounding within relational and phenomenological perspectives that invited me to approach horses not as tools, metaphors, or mystical beings, but as sentient participants in relationship.

That grounding became the foundation from which Equine Presence emerged.

Equine Presence is not a theory, a method, nor a claim to have found definitive answers. It became my ground. It became my home. The space from which I explore questions related to horses, humans, relationships, well-being, meaning, partnership, and flourishing.

It is informed by psychology, philosophy, equine welfare science, lived experience, and diverse ways of knowing. It is shaped by a commitment to curiosity, humility, integrity, and thoughtful inquiry.

At its heart, Equine Presence reflects a simple belief:

Understanding does not emerge all at once.

We make sense of complex things by exploring, reflecting, questioning, and returning again. Along the way, we create enough coherence to take the next step. We leave markers that help us remember where we have been, what we have learned, and what questions remain.

The questions that shape us are rarely confined to a single domain. Questions about horses often become questions about relationships. Questions about relationships often become questions about meaning, wellbeing, values, and how we choose to live alongside one another.

My journey into Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy did not provide definitive answers. Instead, it provided a place from which to continue exploring.

The name Equine Presence reflects both a grounding and an aspiration: a commitment to remaining present to what is emerging, approaching complexity with curiosity rather than certainty, and continuing the inquiry even when understanding feels incomplete.

Perhaps that is what Equine Presence ultimately represents.

A place to stand while continuing the journey. A home with horses where inquiry, relationship, and community can grow.