“I’m Not a Therapist”—Can I Still Become an Equine-Assisted Coach?

It’s one of the most common questions people ask when they feel called to work with horses in a professional, helping role.

The answer is yes. And understanding why requires clarity about roles, scope of practice, and the unique power of equine-assisted coaching as its own professional modality.

Can You Become an Equine Assisted Coach Without Being a Therapist?

This question sits at the heart of ethical equine-assisted work. While equine-assisted coaching and equine-assisted therapy may look similar on the surface, they are distinct professional paths with different responsibilities, training requirements, and intentions. Understanding the difference is essential—not only for those entering the field, but for the clients and horses involved in the work.

Learn more about the distinction between the two professions in our article Equine Assisted Coaching & Equine Assisted Therapy: Understanding the Difference.

Coaching and Therapy Are Not the Same—and That Matters

Equine-assisted therapy is a clinical practice provided by licensed mental health professionals. It focuses on diagnosing and treating mental health conditions within a therapeutic framework. Equine-assisted coaching, by contrast, is non-clinical. Coaches do not diagnose, treat trauma, or provide therapy. Instead, they work in the present moment, supporting personal growth, awareness, leadership, emotional intelligence, and embodied change.

This distinction is not a limitation—it’s an ethical foundation.

Clear scope protects clients, practitioners, and horses. Ethical equine-assisted coaches stay grounded in their training, use informed consent, and refer out when clinical issues arise. When coaching is practiced with integrity, it offers something fundamentally different from therapy: experiential, embodied learning that supports forward movement rather than treatment of the past.

Growth, Learning, and Professional Maturity

An ethical coaching practice is not static. As coaches continue to learn—through mentorship, experience, and continuing education—their capacity deepens. What expands is not their scope into therapy, but their discernment, presence, and ability to work skillfully with nuance.

This ongoing development is part of what makes equine-assisted coaching a respected and professional path. It allows coaches to meet clients where they are now, without overreaching or blurring roles.

How Coaching Can Reach Clients

Sue had already done significant therapeutic work. Insightful and self-aware, she was actively addressing deep trauma and long-standing trust issues with a licensed therapist. While progress was steady, the therapist noticed something important: whenever horses entered the conversation, the client’s body softened and her energy shifted. Sensing that the client was ready for a different kind of support—one that moved beyond insight and into lived experience—the therapist reached out to an equine-assisted coach.

Together, the therapist and coach created a clear, ethical plan. Roles were defined. Scope was honored. Therapy remained clinical, while coaching offered a non-therapeutic, experiential environment focused on presence, choice, and self-trust.

In the equine-assisted coaching sessions, nothing was forced or analyzed. The horses responded only to who the woman was in the moment—not her history or diagnosis. Through simple, embodied interactions, she experienced boundaries, agency, and self-trust in real time. Back in therapy, these experiences became reference points—felt moments that could be named, integrated, and built upon.

Why Coaching Matters—On Its Own Terms

What became clear was this: the equine-assisted coaching work unlocked shifts that traditional talk-based therapy often takes longer to reach—or sometimes cannot access at all.

Not because therapy failed.

But because coaching operates in a different realm.

When practiced ethically, equine-assisted coaching is not secondary to therapy, nor is it a substitute for it. It is a powerful modality in its own right—one that works through embodiment, relationship, and present-moment awareness. Coaching supports people who are no longer seeking to process the past, but to live differently now.

This is why equine-assisted coaching is needed.

It provides a professional pathway for supporting growth, leadership, and transformation outside the therapeutic realm. Coaches can work collaboratively with therapists when appropriate—and they can also work independently, with clarity, integrity, and profound impact.

So if you’ve ever wondered whether you can step into this work without being a therapist, the answer is clear: Yes.

The field doesn’t need blurred lines. It needs ethical, well-trained equine-assisted coaches who understand their role—and honor the power of it.

Learn more about The Freedom Way® equine-assisted coach training and step into the arena with us!