Equine therapy is a broad term people use for healing work that involves horses. At Highlands Centre for Healing in the NSW Southern Highlands, this work is ground-based and nature-based, meaning we work alongside horses rather than on horseback. The land, the herd, and the space itself become partners in a return to coherence.

This is not clinical treatment or programmatic therapy. It is an invitation to meet yourself differently, held by the attuned presence of horses and the intelligence of the natural environment.

What People Mean When They Search for Equine Therapy

When someone searches for equine therapy, they might be looking for many things. Hippotherapy with physical goals. Animal-assisted therapy within a mental health framework. Or something they sense but cannot yet name.

The work offered at Highlands Centre for Healing sits in a different space. It is somatic, embodied, and relational. It honours the truth that nothing in you needs fixing. What you are living with is not a problem to solve, but a signal your nervous system has been holding, often for a very long time.

Horses react and respond to the energy of our thoughts, words and feelings. They mirror energy, awareness, and emotion without judgement. 

They respond to what is present in the moment, not to what we think we should be. In their presence, there is permission to feel what has been unfelt, to notice what has been pushed aside, and to return to the wisdom of your own body.

How This Work Differs from Clinical Approaches

Many people associate equine therapy with structured sessions, treatment plans, and diagnostic frameworks. That approach has value for some. There are practitioners across Australia, the United States, and beyond working in clinical or therapeutic riding contexts, some affiliated with organisations like the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship.

At Highlands Centre For Healing, the work is not about pathology or diagnosis. 

It is grounded in the understanding that trauma is a highly intelligent survival adaptation. Your body did what it needed to do to survive. The symptoms you live with—the overwhelm, the numbness, the vigilance—are not signs of something broken. They are signs of a nervous system that has been working hard to keep you safe.

In this space, the horses do not perform tasks or follow a protocol. There is no grooming checklist or activity menu. What unfolds is held by safety, choice, and pace. The horse, the land, the weather, the quality of light, your own breath. 

All of these become part of the experience.

Sometimes people arrive expecting a session to look a certain way, and then find themselves simply standing near a horse, breathing together for twenty minutes, and something they cannot name begins to shift.

The Herd, The Land, and What They Offer

Horses are herd animals, deeply attuned to energy and to one another. They live in a relationship. They regulate together. When you step into the space with them, you step into that field of co-regulation.

Soo Woods, who holds this work at Highlands Centre for Healing, speaks often of the herd as teachers of presence. Horses do not live in the past or the future. They respond to what is real, right now. They notice shifts in your heart rate, your breathing, the tension in your body, the quality of your attention. They reflect it back, not with words, but with their own movement, their proximity, their stillness.

The land itself holds medicine. The Southern Highlands, with its cool air, open skies, and deep quiet, offers a different kind of holding. This is Gundungurra country. There is sovereignty and culture woven into the soil, a history that predates colonial structures, and a relationship to land that speaks to something older than the models of healing we have inherited. To be here, in nature, is to be held by something larger than individual experience.

What Actually Happens in a Session

Sessions here are ground-based. You will not be riding. You will be walking, standing, breathing, noticing. Sometimes moving alongside a horse. Sometimes simply being in proximity. Sometimes sitting on the earth and letting the herd be nearby.

There is no prescribed agenda.

The session follows what your nervous system is ready for. Soo meets you with attuned presence, offering space for whatever wants to emerge. Emotion may surface. Or stillness. Or a felt sense of something shifting that you cannot name.

The horses choose their own level of engagement. They are not tools or therapists. They are energetic beings, and they have a choice at every moment. That choice is part of the healing. To be in relationship with a being who responds to your energy without trying to change you or fix you is a profound experience.

People often say afterwards: “I felt seen. I felt safe. I felt something soften.”

One person arrived recently and apologised for not knowing anything about horses. Soo said, “The horses don’t care.” And they don’t. They care about what is true at the moment, not about your resume or your knowledge base.

Sessions are around 60-90 minutes, though some stretch longer if that is what the moment asks for.

Who This Work Is For (and Who It Might Not Be For)

This work is for people who are ready to come home to themselves. It is for those who have tried many things, who are high-functioning but quietly struggling, who sense that something deeper is calling.

It is for people living with chronic stress, burnout, or nervous system dysregulation. For those navigating grief, transition, or the quiet ache of disconnection. For those who have experienced trauma and are looking for a way to heal that honours the body, not just the mind.

You do not need to know anything about horses. You do not need to have words for what you are feeling. You do not need to have clear goals.

But this work is not for everyone.

If you are looking for measurable outcomes tracked on a chart, this probably is not your path. If you need immediate crisis intervention, you need something else first. If you want a structured program with modules and certifications, there are other offerings better suited to that.

This work is slow. It moves at the pace of trust, of safety, of what your body is ready for.

Many who come to Highlands Centre for Healing travel from Sydney, Canberra, the Illawarra, and across the Southern Highlands. Some come for a single session. Some return over time. Some come for a retreat, immersing in the land and the herd for a day or longer.

Energy, Emotion, and Embodied Knowing

In the presence of horses, the body remembers what the mind has forgotten. This is the realm of embodied cognition, where insight and intelligence emerge not through thinking, but through feeling and awareness.

Horses are sensitive to subtle energy. They notice the quality of your heart, the openness or contraction in your chest, the way you hold space for yourself. They do not respond to what you say. They respond to what you are.

This creates a unique kind of feedback. If you are holding tension, the horse may step back or turn away. If you soften, they may move closer. If you become present, they often mirror that presence with a kind of stillness that is almost devotional.

Energy medicine and holism have long understood that well-being is not just about the absence of symptoms. It is about coherence. About the flow of information through the body and nervous system. About a return to aliveness.

In Soo’s experience, people often arrive with a story about what they think they need to work on. And then the horses meet them somewhere else entirely. They meet the part that has not been seen, the part that has been holding everything together, the part that is exhausted.

There is wisdom in that. A kind of intelligence that does not come from problem-solving or analysis, but from being met exactly where you are.

The Nervous System, Regulation, and Why Horses

Much of the conversation around mental health and psychology focuses on the mind. But trauma and stress live in the body. They show up as hypervigilance, as a racing heart, as the inability to rest. They show up as dissociation, as numbness, as the feeling of being far away from yourself.

The nervous system is brilliant. It has kept you alive. But sometimes, it gets stuck in patterns of fight, flight, or freeze- you may not even be aware. The work here is not about overriding those patterns. It is about creating the conditions where your nervous system can begin to feel safe again.

Horses are prey animals. Their survival depends on their ability to sense danger and return to calm quickly. They are masters of regulation. In their presence, your own nervous system can begin to learn that it is safe to soften, safe to exhale, safe to be here.

This is not a quick fix. 

It is not a cure.

It is a return. 

Coming back to the truth that you are not your trauma. You are the life force moving through you, capable of healing, capable of coherence.

Nature as Medicine

The natural environment is not just a backdrop. It is an active participant in the healing process. The feel of the earth under your feet. The sound of the wind. The way the horses respond to the weather, to the changing light, to the energy of the day. The birds and wildlife that show up with their own messages for you.

When you are in nature, away from the noise and pace of modern life, something shifts. The mind slows. The body breathes differently. There is space for insight to emerge, for understanding that does not come from forcing, but from allowing.

In the NSW Southern Highlands, this is amplified. The cool climate, the stillness, the vast sky. There is a quality of sanctuary here, a felt sense of being held.

For those who live with chronic stress, with the pressure of constant performance, with the belief that you must always be doing, this space offers permission to simply be.

To pause.

To remember that you are part of something vast and ancient, not separate from it.

What to Bring and How to Prepare

If you are considering a session here, there is very little you need to prepare. Wear comfortable clothing that allows you to move freely and that you do not mind getting a little dusty. Closed-toe footwear is essential, something sturdy that will support you on uneven ground.

Check the weather and dress in layers. The Southern Highlands can be cool, even in warmer months. Bring water if you wish, though Soo will have what you need.

Most importantly, bring yourself. Your curiosity. Your willingness to be present, even if presence feels hard. Your permission to not know, to not have it all figured out.

There is no right way to do this. There is no performance required. The horses will meet you where you are.

Research, Evidence, and the Question of Proof

Emerging research suggests that time with horses can support nervous system regulation, emotional self-regulation, and a sense of well-being. Studies in Australia, the United States, and beyond have explored the role of animal-assisted therapy in supporting people with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and other experiences of distress.

Health professionals in fields like occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech-language pathology, and psychology have documented benefits in areas such as confidence, self-awareness, empathy, and communication. Some systematic reviews in clinical psychology and psychiatry have pointed to promising outcomes, particularly in areas of attention, behaviour, and emotional regulation.

However, much of the research remains in early stages. The evidence base is not yet robust in the way that institutions and mental health professionals often require. There is anecdotal evidence, and there are small studies, but large-scale empirical evidence is still emerging.

The industry loves credentials and certifications. We are less interested in those.

At Highlands Centre for Healing, the focus is not on proving legitimacy through data. The work stands in its own truth. Those who come often say: “I felt something shift. I cannot explain it, but I know it was real.”

That knowing, that felt sense, is valid. The body holds its own intelligence, and it does not require external validation.

The Ethics of Working Alongside Horses

Here, the relationship with the horses is one of partnership, not use. Horses are not tools or instruments of therapy. They are sentient beings, and their choice, their agency, and their well-being are central to the work.

Soo Woods has spent years – decades with some members – in relationship with the herd. She listens to them, respects their boundaries, and honours their rhythms. Sessions are shaped by what the horses are available for on any given day, not by a predetermined plan.

This ethical stance is woven into everything. It reflects a broader commitment to holism, to consent, to the belief that healing cannot be forced or rushed. It reflects the understanding that true healing happens in relationships, where all beings are seen and honoured.

When a horse turns away, that is information. When a horse chooses not to engage, that is respected. And often, in that space of non-engagement, something else opens. A recognition that you do not have to earn love or attention. That your worth is not contingent on performance.

Highlands Centre for Healing in Context

Highlands Centre for Healing is located in the Southern Highlands of NSW, on Gundungurra country. The work that Soo Woods offers is not separate from the broader landscape of healing modalities in Australia and beyond.

There are other practitioners working with horses across Sydney, Melbourne, rural New South Wales, and internationally. Some work within frameworks such as equine-assisted psychotherapy or hippotherapy. Others work in educational, recreational therapy, or personal development contexts. Each approach has its place.

What makes this work distinct is the commitment to a nature-based, trauma-aware, client-led approach that centres the nervous system, the body, and the relational field between human and horse.

This is not about competing models or claiming superiority. It is about clarity. About being honest in how the work is held, what it offers, and what it does not claim to be.

If you are searching for equine therapy in the Southern Highlands and you find yourself here, you are welcome. Whether this is your path or not, may you find what you are looking for, whatever form it takes.

Practical Details and Next Steps

If you would like to explore this work, the best place to begin is to reach out. Soo is available to answer questions, to have a conversation about what you are navigating, and to help you sense whether this is the right fit.

Sessions are tailored to each person. Some come for a single experience. Others return over weeks or months. Some choose to design a personal retreat, immersing in the land and the herd for a day or longer. Short and one-day workshops and retreats also offer the opportunity for you to engage with Soo and the horses.

There is no pressure, no urgency. This work unfolds at the pace of trust, of safety, of what your nervous system is ready for.

The Southern Highlands is accessible from Sydney (about 90 minutes to two hours depending on traffic), Canberra, and the Illawarra. The land here offers a quiet that is rare, a slowing down that many people find nourishing in itself.

When you arrive, you will be met with presence, with warmth, and with the kind of spaciousness that allows something new to emerge.

A Final Invitation

Equine therapy, as a search term, can mean many things. For some, it is a clinical intervention. For others, it is a longing they cannot name.

Here, it is neither of those things entirely.

It is a return. A remembering. A being held by horses, land, and presence in a way that allows your nervous system to exhale.

If you have been searching, if you have sensed that there is something different available, if you are drawn to the idea of healing that does not require you to be fixed, you are not alone.

The herd is here. The land is here. Soo is here.

And whenever you are ready, there is space for you.