Braving the Arena FAQs

With hippotherapy, clients are receiving physical therapy, occupational therapy, or speech therapy while riding or interacting with horses.

Therapeutic horseback riding is for individuals with disabilities and special needs as a physical activity, vocational learning experience, self-confidence builder, and a behavioral correction activity among many other uses.

EAP and EAL attends to mental health, relationship, and behavioral challenges as a way to improve mental and emotional capacity in clients.

Yes! For each psychotherapy session, the individual, couple, or family will work with a licensed mental health professional (therapist/counselor) and a horse who make up the therapy team. Our therapists are licensed in the state of Texas to practice psychotherapy. The therapist and the horse work together to provide experiential therapy to the client.

Experiential therapy differs from traditional talk therapy in that you learn by doing in therapy rather than just talking. While there will be talking in the EAP sessions, there is also room for silence for the client to work with their horse and practice new skills to form a relationship with a horse. At Braving the Arena, we view the relationship the client engages in with their horse as the vehicle for healthy change and healing.

Yes! Horses are social animals and seek to connect with one another as humans do. They use nonverbal communication, are nonjudgemental, and give immediate feedback about how the human is communicating with them. The same skills that are used in forming a healthy human to human relationship are the same skills used in forming a human to horse relationship. In EAP sessions, clients practice their relationship skills with the horse in a safe, nonjudgemental way so they can become more confident using those skills out side of the EAP sessions.

There are many reasons, but here are some top reasons:

1. It’s more fun, and it works.

2. Many times, children benefit from this type of therapy because it does not rely on verbal processing and is more action-oriented.

3. In one session of EAP, we can typically get to the core of the issue where it would take about 6 sessions in an office setting to really understand the issue.

4. It is more comfortable for many people than discussing problems in a therapy office.

At this time, we will not be providing psychotherapy or learning experiences while riding a horse. Our work is done on the ground with the horse interacting at eye-level.

Everyone! There are many benefits to EAP - EAP works for those who have tried other therapies which have not been as effective, such as traditional talk therapy. EAP is for those who are ready to take responsibility for their own growth and healing and who like to learn by doing.

For children and teens, we recomment 50 minute sessions because 90 minutes tends to be a little too long to maintain focus and energy.

For adults, couples, and families we recommend the 90 minute sessions; in a 50 minute session, we typically get to the good work toward the end of the session, and before we know it, the session ends. In an 90 minute session, we can cover more ground in an effective and efficient way.

Yes. We offer a free 20 minute consultation to discuss your needs, if our services are a good fit for you, and to answer any questions you may have. To schedule a consultation, please click 'Schedule Free Consult'.

No. However, we know many people we can refer you to if you are interested in riding lessons or boarding. One such referral is Ragland Performance Horses.