Deepening the understanding between humans and horses through connection and consent.
Our new Horse Connection activity offers participants (NDIS or not) a unique opportunity to connect with horses in a safe, respectful, and deeply meaningful way.
Through one-on-one sessions, overseen by one of our qualified equine therapy practitioners, participants will engage with our herd of nine therapy horses – learning not just how to be around them, but how to truly understand and honour their body language, emotions, and boundaries.
In these sessions, there is no riding involved. Instead, we focus on observing horses at liberty, interacting with them through hands-on activities, and exploring the foundations of horse psychology. You will learn how to recognise a horse’s ‘yes’ and ‘no’, allowing for a deeper connection based on mutual respect and trust.
This activity is open to anyone looking to experience horses as sentient beings – where consent and connection are at the heart of everything we do. It is designed for those curious about why horses behave as they do, and for those who want to learn how to build a bond that empowers both human and horse alike.
Cost and suitability
No scholarships available. This is not one of our structured therapy programs.
Sessions run for one hour and are $180. This helps to cover the cost of our therapists and also subsidies our equine therapy program scholarships.
You will be asked for your preferred time(s) as part of your application. Slots are offered on a first-come-first-served basis (i.e. no triage or prioritisation), but we will keep a waitlist for each time slot and let you know when we have a space for you.
Current times available are:
- Tuesdays: 11:00am
- Thursdays: 1:30pm
- Friday: 3:00pm
We will have more availability in the coming months are we scale this new offering up. Feel free to call us on 0493 096 016 to discuss specific availability – but all applications must be through our online form.
After you submit an application, someone from our team will get in touch with you to finalise dates and billing.
Those with NDIS funding are welcome under the category Innovative Community & Participation. As we are not an registered NDIS provider we cannot accept NDIS-managed plans, but we can accept self-managed and plan-managed NDIS packages.
Our commitment to child safety
We are committed to child safety. We want children to be and feel safe, happy and empowered. We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. We are committed to the safety, participation and empowerment of all children who attend programs at Hoofbeats Sanctuary or who may visit the sanctuary for other reasons.
We have zero tolerance of child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently with our policies and procedures. We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we will follow rigorously.
We are committed to preventing child abuse, identifying risks early, and removing and reducing these risks. We have robust human resources and recruitment practices to reduce the risk of child abuse by new and existing board members, staff and volunteers.
Since launching in 2009, we have had zero incidents and zero complaints.