Equine therapy counselling, training, children's books, parenting resources & personal growth We have been working in the field for over 25 years!
Healing Hooves is an Equine and Animal Assisted Therapy program, based in Alberta, Canada. We provide trauma informed and attachment based counselling services within a natural setting with the option of incorporating horses, donkeys, dogs, cats, ducks and chickens into sessions. We have a team of four (two legged!) counsellors all of whom are professionally accredited in the mental health field with additional training in equine and animal facilitated work and trauma informed approached including EMDR. Our animal partners are highly respected members of our team who do this work because they want to and are allowed time off and retirement when they ask for this too! Our services are reimburseable under most health plans. We also provide parent consulting, professional training, mentoring/ supervision, personal growth workshops, therapeutic stories and resources for professionals and caregivers. Trainings are available in Alberta, Nova Scotia, Scotland and online and can lead to internationally recognised certification. For Professionals, when you work with Healing Hooves you join a community of professionals dedicated to a journey of ongoing growth in partnership with animals and nature. We meet you where you are now, honouring the unique experiences and skills – with people and with animals – you already possess, and we share a ‘map’ for applying and growing your experiences and skills within the Equine and Animal Assisted Services and Wellness field. Our approach is insight based and adaptable and is firmly grounded in both the discernments of science, research and professionalism AND in the wisdom of nature and our animals. This often means slowing down, looking deeper and allowing more space – all of which we have learned to do best in the company of our animals! Sue McIntosh MA CCC, founder of Healing Hooves and lead counsellor, is a licensed coach with Equestrian Canada, a Certified Canadian Counsellor and is certified through Pro-EFW as a practitioner, mentor and trainer in Equine Facilitated Wellness. Sue also has additional training and credentials in Animal Assisted Therapy, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Emotionally Focused Therapy and Therapeutic riding. Sue has also worked closely with Gordon Neufeld for close to 20 years and is certified by the Neufeld Institute as a practitioner and facilitator.
01/06/2026
Don't miss out!
January 8th is your last chance for the early bird discount on our Exploration Training in Equine and Animal Assisted Therapy Services
This fully online flexible and interactive training is your first step towards certification and starting your own work in this field
I hope you can join us!
01/02/2026
Happy New Year, and thank you for a wonderful 2025 from all of us at Healing Hooves!
2025 was a busy year with onsite trainings in Equine Assisted Services in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Scotland as well as online and onsite trainings in Equine Neuroscience. Plus we added ducks to the team! Thank you to all our dedicated students for the passion and commitment you bring to this work, to our couragous clients for allowing us to be a part of your healing journey and to my amazing team - Carolyn, Jen, Charlotte, Meghan and Madison - for your hard work and ongoing support. And of course a huge thank you to our wonderful four legged team!
We have lots planned for 2026 including trips to Scotland in March and Nova Scotia in May and online trainings starting in February. This is a great time to sign up for a workshop and secure your spot with an early bird discounted rate!
12/24/2025
Happy Holidays and all the best for 2026 from all of us at Healing Hooves!
It's been an honour to work with you during 2025 and we are looking forward to connecting again in 2026 - online, in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Scotland!
If you're thinking about starting or continuing training with us, now is a great time to sign up as all of our trainings currently have early bird rates on them.
We also have space for a few new counselling clients starting in January!
Merry Christmas!
12/19/2025
Curious about including horses in your work with people?
To harness your work with horses in new mutually beneficial ways?
Or are you simply looking for more authentic, respectful and effective ways to connect with horses, people and yourself?
At Healing Hooves we have been pioneering all three for almost three decades! Whether you’re looking for free resources, ready to start your training journey, or simply needing answers to your questions, we are here to help.
Onsite trainings in Scotland in March, in Nova Scotia in May and in Alberta in July plus online trainings and support year round in equine assisted services and equine neuroscience
Our 2026 programs are open for registration at early bird rates with lots of options and flexibility to suit your budget, timeline, availability and goals
You are in safe and experienced hands with Healing Hooves!
Explore professional training and resources at Healing Hooves in Canada, the UK, and online. Learn about equine and animal assisted therapy certification, registration details, schedules, and more to enhance your healing journey.
12/18/2025
This is a an important message for all of us doing this work and an easy quick read. It also fits incredibly well with the Equine Neuroscience material!
How Clarity Does Not Kill the Magic for me:
I do not believe that focusing on observable behavior takes away the myth or the magic of horses. I believe it relocates it.
What people often call magic arises, imo, when gaps are filled with projection. I have seen when we attribute intention, wisdom, healing power, or moral meaning to a horse without grounding those attributions in what the horse is actually doing, we are no longer in relationship. We are in a story. That kind of magic depends on distance. It requires the horse to remain partly unknowable so that human longing, hope, and unmet need can be placed onto him or her.
My work moves in the opposite direction. I pursue clarity because clarity brings us closer.
When I focus on observable behavior, how a horse shifts weight, how he orients his body, how she regulates distance, how approach and withdrawal unfold over time, I am not reducing the horse to mechanics. I am meeting a living being as he or she actually exists in the moment. True observation does not flatten experience. It sharpens it. It demands attention, humility, and restraint.
What falls away through observation is not magic. It is fantasy.
Fantasy is comfortable. It allows people to feel chosen, mirrored, or healed without asking whether the horse consented to the interaction or whether the human presence altered the horse’s behavior in a measurable way. Fantasy collapses the moment a horse refuses contact, disengages, or responds in a way that does not fit the preferred narrative.
What remains after fantasy dissolves is a quieter and far more durable form of wonder.
I see it when a horse regulates distance without force. When she maintains clarity under pressure. When he adapts to subtle environmental changes without dramatization or collapse. None of this requires mystical language. In fact, mystical language often obscures it. It replaces seeing with believing.
Focusing on observable behavior also restores ethical weight.
When I stop saying “the horse knew” or “the horse healed,” responsibility returns to the human. The horse is no longer positioned as a tool, a symbol, or a carrier of human transformation. He or she becomes a participant whose signals matter, whose limits matter, and whose wellbeing cannot be overridden by a good story.
This shift is sometimes experienced as disenchantment. I see it as sobriety. And sobriety is frequently mistaken for loss.
For me, wonder deepens when it is earned.
There is something profoundly moving about recognizing that a horse does not need to be magical to be extraordinary. His nervous system, her social intelligence, their capacity to remain present without narrative or justification, these are real. They are observable. They hold up across contexts. They do not disappear when the story is removed.
The myth says the horse gives us something.
What I see, when I am willing to look closely, is that the horse IS somebody.
And that recognition does not diminish mystery. It replaces a romantic projection with a living reality that is more demanding, more honest, and ultimately more respectful - in my opinion.
12/11/2025
The herd having fun again in the misty snow!
I love it when the whole herd can be together and have lots of space to roam. And it can be pretty spectacular when they come running in when you call them - even Disa is going for a run occasionally!
12/10/2025
So grateful that Healing Hooves is a part of this amazing professional association. Please share this post to support Pro-EFW and the amazing work that they do in the equine assisted services field!
Would you like to enhance your own and others' growth, learning and wellness through partnering with Equines?
Train and Certify the Pro-EFW Way to:
- Embark on a journey of deep and experiential learning
- Train with pioneers in the equine assisted field with over 25 years in successful practice
- Create your own unique approach as a Human Service and/or Equine Specialist
- Join a community of professionals dedicated to honouring the horse in every connection
- Have the flexibility to certify within a year or to take your time if that works best for you
- Access insurance and start earning in the field part way through your training
- Join comprehensive hybrid online and onsite trainings with regular support from dedicated mentors throughout your journey
- Certify and belong within an internationally recognised and independent professional body and community, in accordance with best standards
Register now to join our 2026 cohorts!
11/27/2025
Register now for our free information and student support session!
Open to current, past and future Healing Hooves students, this is your chance to access support, ask questions and connect with others in the equine therapy field
Get your questions about certification, training, and practice development answered and find a community of like minded professionals who partner with horses as sentient beings in human service fields
Healing Hooves has been supporting clients and other professionals since 1998 and is a leader in the field of ethical and safe equine assisted practice, informed by the findings of research and science while listening to the wisdom of nature and our horses
The ponies are having some fun in all this snow!
If you're heading out this way please drive carefully!
11/14/2025
Join our free info and support session tomorrow!
For all our students and anyone who'd like to learn with us next year!
This is a great time to ask questions about the course you're in or have just completed or about any courses you're considering taking next year. I'm also happy to answer your questions about certification, program development or anything else you'd like to ask about animal and equine assisted therapy and wellness services
10am MST/ noon EST/ 5pm GMT
60-90 mins
Live session on Zoom
There is no cost to join us but you do need to pre-register which you can do here:
Curious about how horses think, feel and learn? Why they do what they do? This mini course is designed to help you create safer, more effective equine environments — for yourself, your clients, and your horse - grounded in human and equine neuroscience!
Don’t miss out — register now and secure your spot at the early bird rate!
In session one you will explore the human and equine nervous systems. This includes both the theory and practical applications of taking up a relationship with the wisdom in your own body and listening to that of the horse.
In session two you will learn all about how human and equine brains are both similar and different. This applies to how we experience the world through the senses, how we learn, how we process information, think and feel.
In session three you will explore how to integrate the above towards creating safer and more effective equine environments and relationships, along with a deeper awareness of equine body language and communication.
Throughout all three sessions you will be invited to apply all of the above to your context with horses, be it Equine Assisted Services, therapeutic riding, competitive rider and for anyone simply interested in knowing more!
Sessions will be interactive and reflective with time to ask questions and optional exercises to practice with your own horses in between sessions
This workshop is open to everyone with no pre requisites or experience required
Date: November 19, November 26 and December 3 from 7-9pm GMT/ noon - 2pm MST/ 2-4pm EST (sessions will be recorded in case you can't attend live)
Location: Online with zoom links sent out once you have registered and paid
Early bird rate: $50/ session or $100 for all three. Register and pay by November 5
Regular rate (if paid after Nov 5 and if space still available): $75/ session or $150 for all three
This workshop is limited to 25 participants and is almost full!
10/31/2025
Fun training days in Conan Bridge, Scotland! We covered a nice balance of equine neuroscience and equine assisted services - with Bruce being the star!
Thank you Lynne for sharing your space again and to our four legged team of Bruce, Finn and Belle!
If you missed us this time we'll be back in Scotland in March and have several online trainings starting soon. More info here: https://healinghooves.ca/workshops-and-resources/
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Contact The Practice
Send a message to Healing Hooves Animal Assisted Therapy:
Healing Hooves is an Equine and Animal Assisted Therapy program, and Professional Training centre, based on a tranquil farm in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada.
We offer counselling, parenting support, equine therapy, children's stories and professional training services and resources to families, parents, children, teens and professionals. Our counsellors and trainers are trained in counselling, social work, equine therapy, animal assisted therapy (AAT), Equine Facilitated Wellness (EFW), attachment, developmental psychology and trauma therapy, including EMDR. We are associated with a wide range of professional bodies including EFW-Canada, the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW), the Neufeld Institute, CanTRA and PATH.
Our Professional Training Workshops explore a wide range of approaches to working in the Equine and Animal Assisted Therapy fields and meet all of the training requirements of Equine Facilitated Wellness Canada.
Our Parenting Support sessions and resources are grounded in the approach taught by Dr. Gordon Neufeld of the Neufeld Institute.
Our Counselling Services specialise in working with people with struggles in the areas of anxiety, depression, trauma, parent child conflict, ADHD, attachment struggles and disorders, self esteem struggles, stress, behavioural problems and more.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
We offer nationally recognised training in equine facilitated wellness and animal assisted therapy leading to national certification with Equine Facilitated Wellness-Canada. Check out our Events Page for current training dates and details.
THERAPEUTIC CHILDREN’S STORIES AND OTHER RESOURCES
We have published a number of therapeutic stories for children aged five to twelve. Grounded in attachment theory and developmental science, each story covers a different therapeutic theme including emotional expression, resilience, recovery from loss, trauma, forgiveness, and relationship conflict. They are also simply fun, engaging and amusing stories holding universal applicability to all children and their parents. Check out our store for the books available for purchase and our posts for free downloads of selected titles.
OUR COUNSELLING APPROACH
The counselling approach followed at Healing Hooves is firmly grounded in attachment theory, developmental psychology and neuroscience; an insight approach, rather than a behavioural approach. Specifically, it is grounded in the approach developed and taught by Dr. Gordon Neufeld with whom all Healing Hooves counsellors and trainers have extensive training. As such the focus is upon the relationship between a client and the key positive adults in his/her life, upon the client’s longer term development, and upon the needs and emotions underlying their behavior.
This is approached through facilitating a process and creating an environment within which the client develops a positive relationship with the horses and other animals at Healing Hooves. This is then used as a bridge to develop a positive relationship with the counsellor, and with other key healthy caretaking adults in the client’s life. The interactions and interventions facilitated with and through the therapy animals, and all other therapeutic approaches and interventions followed by Healing Hooves Counsellors, are grounded in her understanding of both child development and attachment, and the interplay between these two aspects.
This includes consideration of attachment depth, security and health; the health and maturity level of the developmental processes of emergence, adaptation and integration; the level of emotional defenses and the impact of this upon both attachment and the developmental processes; and the interplay between all of the above and a child’s ability to feel and express emotions (including frustration and alarm) in a healthy and vulnerable manner.
Funding is often available for our services through Children’s Services (CS), Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) and through private health insurance.
Sue McIntosh, MA, CCC the founder and lead counsellor at Healing Hooves is triple certified with EFW Canada as a trainer, mentor and practitioner and is certified with the Neufeld Institute as a practitioner, facilitator and parent consultant.
