Equine Facilitated Therapy & Learning at Pony Partnerships

At Pony Partnerships, we offer Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) and Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) as part of our nature-based therapeutic services. These approaches involve the presence of horses within a carefully structured and professionally facilitated environment to support emotional growth, wellbeing, and resilience.

Sessions are led by qualified professionals. The therapist is responsible for formulating the approach, assessing therapeutic need, and facilitating the clinical work. Horses are not used as tools or symbols—they are included as valued participants whose presence offers opportunities for clients to explore relational patterns, emotional responses, and embodied experiences.

Why Work with Horses?

Working in the presence of horses offers a different kind of therapeutic environment—one that is relational, sensory, and often grounding. The therapist uses their clinical judgement to incorporate the environment and interactions with horses in ways that are meaningful and relevant to the client’s goals.

Working alongside horses can support clients in becoming more aware of how they relate to themselves and others. They can highlight subtle cues in body language or energy that may go unnoticed in traditional therapeutic settings. These interactions provide material for reflection, discussion, and change—facilitated and interpreted by the therapist.

This approach can be particularly helpful for clients who:

• Find verbal therapy overwhelming or inaccessible
• Are developing awareness of sensory needs or regulation strategies
• Are working through relational trauma or attachment disruptions
• Benefit from experiential, body-based approaches

Sessions are grounded in trauma-informed, relational practice, with a strong focus on sensory safety and co-regulation.

Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) vs Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL)

Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) is delivered by trained and qualified therapists. These sessions may explore deeper emotional patterns, past experiences, and trauma in a safe, contained, and clinically guided manner.

Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) focuses on personal development, present-moment awareness, and social/emotional skill-building. While not therapy, EFL can support confidence, communication, and self-regulation.

We will help you decide which approach best meets your needs, based on a thorough assessment.

What Might a Session Look Like?

Each session is designed in response to the client’s needs, preferences, and therapeutic goals. Sessions are not task-led. Interactions with horses may include observation, groundwork, or simply being in proximity to the animals. The therapist supports the client in noticing and exploring thoughts, feelings, or patterns that arise in the process.

This can support:

• Development of self-awareness and regulation
• Understanding of emotional and sensory responses
• Exploration of attachment patterns
• Building of safe and consistent relationships

All activities are optional, and the pace is led by the client’s readiness and capacity within their window of tolerance.

Therapeutic Benefits

Evidence supports the value of equine-supported approaches when facilitated by skilled practitioners. Potential benefits include:

• Improved emotional regulation
• Increased self-esteem and confidence
• Development of communication and relational skills
• Reduced anxiety and distress
• Strengthened resilience and coping strategies

Our Equine Team

Horses are sentient beings with their own needs, preferences, and communication styles. At Pony Partnerships, we follow the principles of compassionate equitation and prioritise the welfare of our animals in every session.

While horses are part of the environment and therapeutic process, it is the therapist—using their training, experience, and clinical judgement—who facilitates the work and holds the responsibility for client safety and therapeutic progress.

If the approach does not benefit all those involved—client, therapist, and animal—then we do not do it.