Brumby Equine-Assisted Therapy

29/05/2026

I really appreciated reading this article and wanted to share it.

The article was written by Camilla Mowbray and Sarah, both part of the team at Equine Assisted Therapy Australia (EATA).

EATA community, has made a significant contribution to the development, professionalism, and ethical foundations of Equine Assisted Therapy in Australia. What I continue to value is EATA’s commitment to supporting the wellbeing, safety, and welfare of both humans and horses within the therapeutic space.

For anyone interested in learning more about Equine Assisted Therapy and it’s foundations, I highly recommend giving it a read:

https://magazine.theaca.net.au/collections/emag-2-4/equine-assisted-therapy-australia?fbclid=IwZnRzaASGzZBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEejDJnzdxCTyksyuVc6uSvz5p38StWrKbzqueca4dQYd69pzpVliVg-WZuMK0_aem_ipyhSXLnv2Fl50LeL81UBQ

Equine assisted therapy australia is transforming mental health support. Discover its history, benefits, and how it is shaping the future of therapy today. (154 characters)

28/05/2026

The increase of children and young people experiencing mental health challenges continues to grow. These challenges can include anxiety, emotional dysregulation, trauma, low self-esteem, social disconnection, behavioural difficulties, and struggles with confidence and emotional expression.

Research continues to highlight the importance of early intervention, showing that supporting children earlier in life can help reduce the long-term impact of mental health difficulties into adolescence and adulthood.

Studies exploring Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) and equine-assisted interventions continue to show promising outcomes for children and young people across emotional, behavioural, social, and psychological wellbeing. Research has identified improvements in emotional regulation, resilience, confidence, communication, social skills, self-awareness, coping capacities, and relationship building.

For many children, particularly those who find it difficult to engage in traditional talk-based therapy alone, Equine Assisted Therapy can offer a more experiential, relational, and regulating environment.

Working alongside horses can support children in building emotional awareness, confidence, connection, nervous system regulation, boundaries, and a greater sense of safety within themselves and in relationships.

As research in this field continues to grow, Equine Assisted Therapy is increasingly being recognised as a valuable and supportive intervention for children and young people experiencing emotional, social, and mental health challenges.

🌱📚References:
Taylor & Francis – Healing in relationships, the power of equine-assisted intervention

Frontiers in Psychiatry – Equine-assisted psychotherapy and adolescent mental health

26/05/2026

We often learn how to hold the heaviness of pain and stay with discomfort, yet sometimes forget to hold the moments of lightness too.

The moments where being held feels safe.
The moments that show us there is hope.
The moments that remind us how far we have come.
The moments that validate something true within our core.
The moments of giving gratitude.
The moments when we notice ourselves practising compassion.
The moments where we choose to say no with grace.
The moments when we decide not to plant that seed in our garden.
The moments where we take a different path.
The moments where we practise self-care in its simplest form.
The moments where we notice the silence and no longer fear it.

And the moments where, with complete contentment, we choose ourselves.

As therapists, we often build the capacity to stay with discomfort, learning how to sit alongside pain, uncertainty, grief, fear, and vulnerability, trusting that with enough safety, presence, and time, something can begin to soften or unfold.

But there is also something important in learning to stay with moments of softness, connection, joy, calm, and contentment.

Sometimes these moments can feel unfamiliar or fleeting, especially if we have spent much of our lives in survival. Yet they matter deeply too.

They remind us that growth is not only found in what we survive, but also in our ability to notice, receive, and remain present with what feels gentle, nourishing, and light.

25/05/2026

Anxiety disorders are currently the most common mental health condition experienced in Australia.

Anxiety is more than just worry. It can impact the whole body and nervous system through overwhelm, racing thoughts, hypervigilance, emotional dysregulation, muscle tension, difficulty sleeping, and a persistent sense of feeling on edge.

Because anxiety lives not only in the mind, but also within the body and nervous system, many therapeutic approaches are now recognising the importance of experiential, relational, and body-based support.

Equine-assisted therapy, can support individuals to become more attuned to their nervous system responses, body sensations, emotions, and patterns of stress in real time.

Horses are highly sensitive to non-verbal communication, emotional shifts, and physiological changes. Through guided interactions alongside horses and nature, individuals may begin to experience grounding, emotional regulation, increased self-awareness, and moments of connection and safety within the body.

For some people, support does not always begin through words alone. Sometimes it begins through connection, relationship, movement, environment, and feeling safe enough within the body to slow down and notice what is happening in the present moment. 🌱🐴

24/05/2026

Sometimes the simplest activities can create the biggest opportunities for learning.

Experiential activities, like obstacle work alongside horses, can support the development of confidence, communication, leadership, problem solving, emotional awareness, and nervous system regulation in a very real and embodied way.

It’s not about “completing” the obstacle or getting the pony from one side to the other. The real learning can happen in the moments in between. Slowing down, noticing frustration, building trust, adjusting our approach, working together, and becoming more aware of what is happening within ourselves and in relationship with another.

Horses also respond honestly to what we bring into the space. They invite us to become more aware of our body language, energy, emotions, and communication without needing lots of words.
🐴🌱

23/05/2026

🔔NEW WORKSHOP DATES ANNOUNCED

Awareness in Practice: Embodiment & Relational Presence

What happens when we slow down enough to truly notice?

We are excited to officially announce the first two dates for this new one-day experiential workshop at Brumby Equine Assisted Therapy.

📅 Saturday 12th September
📅 Sunday 13th September

This one-day workshop invites participants to explore awareness through nature, embodied experience, and connection alongside horses.

Through guided experiential activities, participants are supported to slow down and become more aware of what is happening within themselves, around them, and in relationship with others.

Together, we will explore:
• Present-moment awareness
• Nervous system regulation
• Embodied noticing
• Relational awareness
• Grounding and connection
• The relationship between mind, body, and environment

Working alongside horses offers a unique opportunity for awareness to become more immediate, embodied, and observable.

Open to anyone wanting to deepen awareness and presence in a grounded and experiential way. No horse experience is needed.

📍 Kanimbla, Blue Mountains NSW

For more information:
🔗 https://www.brumbyeat.com.au/ourprograms

To register:
🔗 https://www.brumbyeat.com.au/eventworkshopregistratio

📧 Parihan@brumbyeat.com.au
📞 0413 781 727
🌐 Brumby Equine Assisted Therapy

19/05/2026

Feeling grateful for this opportunity and invitation to present at Equine Assisted Therapy Australia’s 10 Year Anniversary Conference this September.

I look forward to sharing my lived experience, reflections, and the role horses and relational connection have played along the way.

This conference is open to practitioners, students, and mental health profesionals interested in learning more about equine-assisted practice and the human-animal connection.

To learn more or register to attend, follow the link below. 👇

https://events.humanitix.com/equine-assisted-therapy-australia-conference?fbclid=IwZnRzaAR4n8ZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeTChkGR149Ug6s0tJlF4gdgjFuluNioR1Z-gvzdANSB27YPx5O5seO-gbIgU_aem_eWbErl6HDFLvUJ0Hnyt-5A&utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e225_tv2_tp1_a1demo0jfeg9ap

✨We’re excited to begin introducing the presenters for Equine Assisted Therapy Australia's 10th Anniversary Conference this September.

We’re delighted that Parihan Wyatt Director of Brumby Equine-Assisted Therapy , based in the Blue Mountains, NSW, will be presenting on: A Kurdish Refugee’s Journey: From Survival to Relational Connection:

This presentation will explore Parihan's lived experience as a Kurdish refugee who survived war, displacement, intergenerational trauma and forced migration during Saddam Hussein’s Anfal campaign against the Kurdish people.

✨ In this presentation, participants will explore:
How war, displacement and intergenerational trauma can shape:
• nervous system responses
• attachment
• identity
• relational experiences

🌿The role of horses and nature as relational and regulating experiences within trauma-informed therapeutic work.

🤝 Attunement, embodied awareness and relational safety within horse-human interactions.

🌏 How lived experience and cultural background can influence therapeutic perspectives and approaches in equine-assisted practice.

Attendees can expect practical ideas and reflections that can be integrated into their own work and practice settings, along with the opportunity to ask questions following the presentation.

We’re looking forward to the valuable perspective and experience Parihan will bring to the conference.

📍 September 21–23, 2026
🎟 Early Bird Tickets available until July 30, 2026.
Book now: https://events.humanitix.com/equine-assisted-therapy-australia-conference

18/05/2026

Empathy is the ability to emotionally resonate with and understand another person’s experience. It is more than simply listening or thinking about how someone feels. It can also be felt within the body through facial expression, tone, posture, energy, and nervous system connection.

Not everybody grows up experiencing empathy, emotional safety, or feeling deeply seen and understood by others. Sometimes people learn to protect themselves by disconnecting, staying guarded, or finding it difficult to trust relationships.

And sometimes, even within traditional room-based therapy, it can feel difficult to access these experiences through words alone.

Working alongside horses can offer something different. Horses respond to presence, emotion, body language, and nervous system shifts in real time. There is no pressure to perform, explain, or have the “right” words.

For many people, simply being in the presence of a calm, attuned horse can create a felt sense of safety, connection, and being emotionally held. Through this relational experience, empathy is not only spoken about, but experienced within the body.

📷Image: Barney, our therapy horse and his human.

Start your journey today 🌿
Reach out to make your next booking.
✉️parihan@brumbyeat.com.au

14/05/2026

NEW ONE DAY WORKSHOP

Awareness in Practice: Noticing, Embodiment and Relational Presence

What happens when we slow down enough to truly notice?

At Brumby Equine Assisted Therapy, this one-day experiential workshop has been thoughtfully designed around the practice of awareness through nature, embodied experience, and connection alongside horses.

Awareness is not a new skill to learn. As humans, we already have the natural capacity to notice, sense, and respond to our environment, our bodies, and our relationships. Yet in the fast pace of everyday life, we can lose connection to this ability.

This workshop invites participants to practise presence and awareness in real time.

Through guided experiential activities, participants are supported to slow down and become more aware of what is happening within themselves, around them, and in relationship with others. The focus is not on analysing, fixing, or forcing change, but on strengthening the capacity to stay present with experience as it unfolds.

The activities throughout the day are intentionally designed to support:
• present-moment awareness
• nervous system regulation
• embodied noticing
• relational awareness
• grounding and connection
• the relationship between mind, body, and environment

Working alongside horses offers a unique relational experience. Horses respond honestly to what is present rather than what is performed or explained, creating opportunities for awareness to become more immediate, embodied, and observable.

This workshop is grounded in the understanding that meaningful and lasting change often begins with awareness. When we learn to stay available to our experience with curiosity and presence, clarity can begin to emerge naturally.

At the heart of this work is the belief that people already hold insight, wisdom, and capacity within themselves. Sometimes what is needed is not more doing, but more awareness.

🐴 No horse experience needed
🌿 Small group experience

We only require a minimum of 4 participants at a time for each workshop to go ahead, allowing the experience to remain intentional, supportive, and relational.

🌐Visit www.brumbyeat.com.au to learn more