FAQ's

Spirit Horse's FAQ's

Horses grooming one another at dusk

Clover, our large mini

The herd grazing at sunset

Dusk on the Farm

Working towards his Spanish Walk

Trail riding out around the farm

Taking connection over fences

Taking some pairs to a pair pace

Deuce and their person

BLM mustang Tobias and their person

What is EFP?
EFP, Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy, is a psychotherapeutic service where the horse is  believed to be more of a co-facilitator in the process so questions around influence, power, and relationship are more likely to come up. 

What is unique?
We are asked to take off the masks we wear and work with our defenses. As we keep coming back to the moment, to the interaction with the horse, the space we are in, to our own fluid thoughts and feelings, a certain vivid presence starts to emerge. 

But why horses?
?Horses have an uncanny and almost magical ability to sense underlying intentions in their human partners. Horses depend on their herd members to keep one another safe, regulated, and emotionally balanced. When a horse takes on a human or humanity as a herd member, horses look to humans for those same supports. When we are not acting authentic to how we feel, not present in the moment with ourselves and our herd, the horses instinct is to let us know.

What should I expect in a session?
If you are not a horse person, you will need to get orientated with the horse when it comes to safety and communication. After that, much can happen. You can work on connection with one horse, a group of horses, you can work on being accepted in a horse's space, leading them with your body language, or becoming more clear on who you are. Plan on wearing closed toe shoes, and weather appropriate clothing.

​Cost? 
All sessions are $100 an hour with a $25 horse "lease" fee if we are using a Spirit Horse or farm horse for our session. The lease fee is waived if you bring your own horse or lease one at the farm. 

I'm not intersted in therapy but I do want the connection with my horse and to improve my dressage/jumping/horse training ability. Can we focus on my horse training abilities in our sessions?
I used to offer either horse training or therapy and eventually they merged into one practice. Working with our presence, how we impact our horses, how we problem solve and react, this is what changes the dynamic with the horses and our ability to work with them. We start with working on building trust and relationship but we can go anywhere from there! Some folks go on to compete or practice dressage, jumping, eventing - all with more clarity, precision and intention in their ride. The art of these higher energy types of riding is precision, timing, and knowing how to communicate what you would like from your horse while boosting their confidence. How much of your personal journey you want to bring in the saddle is completely up to you! 

I want to be engaged in therapy but not sure if I will like horses. Can we try it out before I commit?
Yes, horses are not for everyone. We can see if being around the horses helps your process and if it doesn't, we have a beautiful farm house space where we can sip tea and have our time inside.
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Someone I know bought a horse on commission with you. How does that work? And can you find me my next partner?
I do offer a horse purchasing commission service and have matched over a dozen of people to a horse of their dreams. I use a different approach in that I am not only looking at simply what the person is able to accomplish in the saddle and a horse that can fit that need, but I look at personality, potential challenges in both human and horse, ideal personalities, what each being has to teach and has to offer one another, and also finding that spark between horse and human. This is a very wonderful process and takes time and commitment. I like to get to know the person before we set out to find your horse and see the person work with horses on the ground and in the saddle. Once we know what type of horse and the perimeters of the search, we start looking at horses together. I help with the search, the pre-purchase, negotiations,finding  transport, the official sale, and settling in with the new horse. I pool resources, experience, and wisdom in this challenging process and help find a horse that can be a partner for years to come. I charge 15% of the horse's purchase price for this service.