Services: Equine-assisted Psychotherapy (EAP)
Horses can help us heal
experiential therapy
Healing and therapy beyond words
Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (“EAP”) offers a therapeutic environment that might feel a bit less scary and more inviting than a traditional talk therapy office.
Anyone hoping to address relationship issues, build relational and communication skills, or address tough family dynamics, can benefit.
Dig a Little Deeper offers equine-assisted Psychotherapy sessions for individuals and couples in the Caledon and Waterloo area’s.
What to expect
Each therapy session will be tailored to your goals, and will generally including some of the following activities, depending on the type of program:
- spending time observing horses and their behaviour,
- grooming and brushing a horse,
- leading a horse on a walk inside an enclosed area,
- guiding a horse through obstacle courses, or along a trail,
- noticing what it feels like standing with the herd.
At all times, your therapist will stay with you and offer guidance as you interact with the horse.
They may ask questions about your observations and offer support with exploring any uncomfortable feelings or helpful insights that surface during the experience.
- Basic, repetitive acts of grooming can help soothe you and promote feelings of calm.
- Walking can improve your mood, so simply leading the horse may help ease anxiety.
- Feeding and caring for the horse can help you form a bond.
Horses offer us Relational skill building opportunities
Discover and practice skills required to build and deepen relationships, in your personal life and beyond.
Identify emotion (ours and others) in the moment, cope with uncertainty of what to do next, build our own self-confidence, self-awareness, and empathy.
Learn to set healthy and balanced boundaries, overcome fears and learn to trust yourself.
Develop patience, humility, and foster your own sense of pride in your relational abilities.
Learn to accept appropriate responsibility and identify what you need to do to both take care of yourself, and others under your care.
Is equine-assisted psychotherapy right for you?
Folks lucky enough to be around horses have long known spoken about the beneficial effect of horse work on mental health.
- You do not have to have any prior experience with horses, or horsemanship to participate in equine-assisted psychotherapy.
- Equine-assisted therapy does not typically involve riding, but uses ground based exercises designed to specifically to create experiences to engage our physiological processing, for the purposes of psychological change and healing.
Now a growing body of research demonstrates the benefit of equine assisted therapy in the following commonly asked about area’s (click or tap the card for more details):
Anxiety disorders
ADHD
PTSD
Complex Trauma
Autism
Mood Disorders
Grief
Teens and Young Adults
Connected Calm Space
2026 program options and rates
At this time, we offer Equine Assisted Psychotherapy to individuals (aged 17+ Palgrave), Couples (Waterloo) and Youth (Waterloo).
2026 Rates
Caledon - Palgrave
- Initial Session: $275.00
- Ongoing sessions: $260/session
- Couple oR Family Sessions: By Request
Blandford-Blenheim
- Intake Session: $190/session
- Individual Session: $200
- Couples Session: $250
All individuals will receive a Registered Psychotherapist receipt they can submit to their workplace extended health benefits and/or use as a medical tax deduction.
Your experience with us,
Includes:
- completion of Equine specific Consent and Intake forms,
- an initial 20-30 min virtual (or in-office) consultation with your equine-trained psychotherapist, and
- one 1-hour sessions with a horse.
Equine sessions require no previous exposure to horses in any setting, and is also appropriate for anyone with some or a lot of exposure (but not therapeutic exposure) previously to horses.
Ongoing sessions are an appropriate addition to an existing treatment plan for someone working on their mental health, who has tried psychotherapy in the past (or is currently working with a therapist), and is ready to lean into an experiential treatment experience.
Together you and your equine therapist will develop an ongoing plan based on your goals and any relevant treatment considerations.
Reimbursement through workplace or third Party insurance
Equine-Assisted Therapy is a covered when provided by a covered clinician, such as a Registered Psychotherapist, by many of the major insurance companies such as Manulife, Sunlife, WSIB, Blue Cross for Veterans and First Responders (Veterans Affairs Canada and RCMP), Victims Services (VQRP) & Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (Ministry of the Attorney General, Non-Insured Health Benefits (for First Nations People, Residential School Survivors (Health Canada), Children’s Aid Societies.
If you are covered to see a Registered Psychotherapist, you’re covered. Check with your personal policy for any annual limits, caps or per session caps.
FAQ's on Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP)
How do horses help us heal?
Horses, like humans, are mammals.
Horses have long been domesticated and live alongside humans, it’s thought they are especially attuned to humans’ emotions and nonverbal signals, and that they respond accordingly.
In humans, we often refer to the process of ‘atunement‘, or simply our ability to be present to, and with, another’s expression of their experience.
The unintentional benefit of a partner in therapy who cannot use language, is that client and therapist must tap into their emotional functioning and powers of observation to influence the horse.
What is 'co-regulation' between horses and humans?
About 200 million years ago, humans were both predator and prey.
We mammals have nervous systems that keep us safe by constantly scanning for danger – long before any kind of sophisticated thought comes to mind about how we should deal with a potentially threatening situation.
You may have heard of the ‘automatic’ responses all mammals have, called “fight or flight.”
While humans can tend to lean one way or another, we do experience both responses.
Horses on the other hand, are almost always flight animals. They will move away from danger, long before they would dare come near it.
And they most certainly recognize humans – the original predators – as potential threats. So how do you get your horse to want to hang out with you?
We must ensure our horse doesn’t see us a a threat. It sounds simple, but isn’t always.
How do horses 'read' my emotions?
While engaging in activities with the horse, the client will attempt to recognize how the horse’s behaviours might be due to their own emotional signals—a client who is angry or anxious, for example, may see the horse pull away or otherwise respond negatively.
This “mirroring” process is thought to help the client identify what they’re feeling and potentially modify their emotions for the better, all in a nonjudgmental environment.
Equine specialists may also promote the practice of mindfulness, or focusing on the present moment, when the client is interacting with the horse.
Because horses are large, powerful, and may be intimidating to many people, engaging with them in a supervised environment is thought to help anxious individuals face their fears and practice vulnerability in a safe space.
From the Dig Deeper Blog
“For centuries, humans have said to horses, ‘You do what I tell you or I’ll hurt you.’
Humans still say that to each other – still threaten, force and intimidate. I’m convinced that my discoveries with horses have value in the workplace, in the educational and penal systems, and in the raising of children.
At heart, I’m saying that no one of us was born with the right to say ‘you must’ or I’ll hurt you, to any animal or to another human.”
Our Program Partner in Palgrave
Stable Relations, at Rusty Jade Ranch
Palgrave Location
Palgrave, ON, L7E 3C4
Our Program Partner in the Waterloo Area
Meet Alicia
Blandford-Blenheim location:
Barn is just north of the 401, a bit west of Waterloo.
2 ways to get started
Get started with equine-assisted psychotherapy
If you are an existing client at Dig a Little Deeper, simply let your therapist know you are interested, and they can refer you into the program.
If you are a NEW client to Dig a Little Deeper, please take a moment to fill out the New Client Intake form below.