Why Horses?
Because They See What We Cannot Say
Because they see what we cannot say...
by Dr. Danielle Moore, LPC, LBS; Counselor
June 2, 2025
There was a moment recently that cracked something open in me. A moment that reminded me why I keep showing up to this work, even on the hardest days.
That morning, I pulled into the barn with a full heart and a heavy body. Grief and fear clung to me like fog. I was carrying my own weight, my own pain, and the exhaustion that comes from trying to be strong for too many people, too many hours, for too long. I felt it in the tightness across my chest, the dull ache behind my eyes, the weight in my shoulders.
So, I did what I always do when I need to come back to myself.
I went to Artax.
I went to Artax.
My horse. My connection. My love.
As I stepped into his space, I felt my breathing begin to slow. I let my hand rest on his shoulder, matched my breath to his, and felt the ground beneath me. I gave myself permission to feel the sadness and overwhelm. Not push it down, not explain it away, but just feel it. I scratched his favorite spot and watched his ears flick gently, his eye softens. That small exchange pulled me back into my body, out of survival mode, and into the present.
In that moment, Artax didn’t need me to be fine. He just needed me to be there.
And so I was.
Later that day, I was facilitating a family session. My client, a young man with a tender, well-guarded heart, had agreed to include his parents. But the way he stood told a different story. His body was closed, his arms wrapped loosely around himself. I could feel the hesitation in the way he avoided eye contact, in the way his shoulders curved forward.
While I talked with his parents, answering their question about how equine-assisted therapy is different, I watched my client walk across the field and over to Apollo.
He began to scratch him softly. Every time he reached for Apollo’s face, Apollo gently moved his head. And each time, my client seemed to shrink just a little bit further into himself. His posture slumped. His energy pulled inward. He looked invisible, even standing in plain sight.
I quietly handed the conversation to an amazing intern and made my way across the field.
By the time I reached them, he and Apollo were at the far corner of the pasture, right at the edge between the therapy field and the boarded horses’ space. And what I saw next felt almost sacred.
The other horses had gathered.
On the other side of the fence, Goose was lying down, his eyes soft and steady. Artax, my own grounding point from that morning, was grazing just a few feet away. The chestnut twins stood close, alert but calm. Inside the therapy pasture, Remy and Noble had moved near without a sound.
Seven horses.
All within ten feet.
All choosing to be near.
All within ten feet.
All choosing to be near.
I gently asked, “What do you think is happening when Apollo moves his face?”
He looked down and said, “He doesn’t like me.”
My heart sank. I could feel the sting of that belief, the way it wrapped around his nervous system and whispered the old lies he’s lived with for too long. We did some grounding and some gentle inquiry together. Then I looked up and said,
“I don’t know. To me, it doesn’t look like he doesn’t like you. I see you standing in the middle of a group of incredible horses. And they could all be anywhere else right now. But they’re here. With you.”
He paused. Looked around.
Then he said quietly, “Apollo carried me here. You and Apollo are the only two things that have ever really seen me.”
And I had to gently remind him. They all see you.
Because that’s what horses do.
They stay.
They feel.
They show up.
They stay.
They feel.
They show up.
So, when people ask me, “Why horses?”
THIS is why.
THIS is why.
Because in a world that demands performance, horses respond to presence.
Because they speak the language of energy, rhythm, and truth.
Because they offer something most people don’t know how to give: Connection without condition.
Because they speak the language of energy, rhythm, and truth.
Because they offer something most people don’t know how to give: Connection without condition.
And because on a quiet afternoon, in the middle of an ordinary pasture, a boy who believes he’s unlovable stood in a circle of horses, believing he wasn’t worthy of being liked. And seven beings stayed with him anyway.
That is healing. That is regulation. That is relationship.
That is why I do what I do.
That is why I do what I do.
And that morning, I needed it too.
So, thank you, Artax.
So, thank you, Artax.
Thank you for seeing me, so I could see him.
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