Horse Connection - Equine Assisted Psychotherapy / Counselling

26/12/2025

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Don’t worship your child. Love them, protect them, teach them—but do not put them on a pedestal, or you risk raising someone who believes the world owes them everything.

24/12/2025

Wishing all past, current and future clients a blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

I am so looking forward to walking beside you on your healing journey in 2026.

Here are some highlights of 2025.

So many connections made.
So much healing achieved.
So many projective exercises to express inner most hurts or to gain a fresh perspective.
So many opportunities to face our desires, deepest fears and feelings.
So much hope for a brighter future.

It’s been my absolute pleasure and privilege to share these moments with each of you.

24/12/2025

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We posted this earlier in the year, and people seemed to gain a lot from it.
So incase you need a reminder of why we love working with horses, please read on ...

How horses show up for humans 🐴
In Equine Assisted Therapy we talk a lot about how horses respond to human emotions.

There is a whole science behind this.

Horses are highly attuned to their environment and surroundings, this includes the emotional state of humans which enter their space or herd.

They are sensitive to a human’s body language and physiology, including posture, breathing patterns and heart rate.

It’s been proven that horses can distinguish between positive and negative facial expressions – and can even remember the emotional expressions of a person they have encountered.

Horses also respond to vocal cues. Who remembers telling their pony to ‘trot on’ and they did without any other cues?

Beyond this, horses can also differentiate between voices expressing different emotions.

Many fascinating scientific studies have taken place across the world on the human–horse interaction.
Researchers are encouraging more studies to take place, specifically on gaining further understanding about the human–animal partnership and evaluating its effects on human health outcomes.

An extract from a scientific article: Emotional Transfer in Human–Horse Interaction: New Perspectives on Equine Assisted Interventions, noted the following:

“Detecting emotions of other individuals and developing the capacity to fine-tune its (a horse’s) own emotional state accordingly with that of others, may have fostered the success of equine assisted interventions, bringing positive effects on both sides. From the body-to-body contact (the most immediate aspect of interaction) up to the emotional transfer (the sophisticated process of connecting individuals through emotions), horses and humans became able to coordinate physiological activities through bonding."

When people attend an equine-assisted therapy session for the first time, it can be quite a profound experience when a horse ‘tunes’ into them 💛.

A real connection and deeper understanding of your emotional state can take place in the presence of a horse, as they adjust their behaviour and responses to reflect your own.

24/12/2025

What a beautiful place…

23/12/2025

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18/12/2025

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Parenting Teens…

18/12/2025

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25/10/2025

21/10/2025

17/10/2025

Exciting News! Today is a day of milestones.

I'm pleased to share THREE significant milestones, both personal and professional.

Firstly, the counselling and psychotherapy field has taken a major step forward with the endorsement of National Standards for Counsellors and Psychotherapists. This long-awaited development recognises the importance of formal qualifications and ethical practice in our profession. (You can read more in the press release from the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia – PACFA linked below.)

Secondly, on a personal note, I’m delighted to confirm the official conferral of my Master of Counselling degree—the culmination of over a decade of study and commitment to professional development.

Throughout my career, I’ve encouraged prospective clients to carefully consider the qualifications of any counsellor or psychotherapist they are thinking of working with. Until now, the profession has been largely unregulated, leaving space for under-qualified individuals to present themselves as therapists. The introduction of national standards will help ensure higher levels of safety and professionalism across the board.

I also anticipate that these standards will extend to specialised modalities such as Equine (or Animal) Assisted Psychotherapy, leading to improved service delivery. This is a positive step forward for the industry and, most importantly, for the clients we serve. It will help distinguish well-trained practitioners from those with minimal qualifications offering therapy and training programs that may fall short of ethical and clinical best practice.

These changes not only support client safety but also honour the dedication of those who have invested significant time, effort, and resources into becoming skilled and ethical practitioners.

Thirdly, I received an email today informing me that Horse Connection had been nominated and received recognition for our 'grassroots' community service in the form of a generous donation. I am so humbled and grateful for this gift which will assist with our facility development and upkeep of our beautiful equine team.

For more information or to book an appointment visit our website
www.horseconnection.com.au

PACFA - PRESS RELEASE

https://www.pacfa.org.au/portal/News-and-Advocacy/Media-Releases/2025/national-standards-2025.aspx?utm_source=enews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Pacfa%20enews&_zs=LxxHn&_zl=djkV3

Equine Assisted Therapy is partnering with horses to heal our hurts, to deal with our anxieties, depression or other mental health issues and to learn to manage the pain in our lives. Welcome to Horse Connection - counselling with a difference!

01/10/2025

Wow!!! Go UK

13/08/2025

I am often asked questions by parents about how they can become their child's best friend. My advice is always the same... if you are their friend when they are growing up, who is their parent? Children don't need us to be their friends when they are requiring our guidance as parents. Let them find friends within their own peer group and be the parent they need to trust, to turn to, to seek advice from and to be taught boundaries from. Research is clear, if you would like to be your child's friend - wait until they are adults, in the meantime build that safe, secure, loving disciplined space for them to learn and grow.
Click on the link below for more.

Want to be your kid’s best friend? Think again. Being close is important—but without clear boundaries, friendship can blur the lines and leave both of you confused.