by Bettina Shultz-Jobe, LPC, NBCC | Oct 2, 2025 | The Latest in Equine Assisted Therapy and Learning
In equine-assisted services, the heart of the work unfolds in the arena, alongside our equine partners, as we attune to the needs of those who come for healing. These are the moments that draw us in and keep us devoted to this path.
Yet beneath these powerful experiences lies another reality: without a sustainable business structure, the work cannot last. Insurance policies, liability planning, business models, and financial systems may not get us excited in the same way a breakthrough with a client does, but they are the foundation that makes those breakthroughs possible.
Too often, practitioners enter this field with vision and passion, only to feel overwhelmed and underprepared when faced with the realities of running a business. Many close their doors within just a few years, not because the work lacked value, but because the business itself was not strong enough to weather the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.
This is why we created the Business Building Master Class. It exists to give equine-assisted practitioners the support, clarity, and tools they need to build something that lasts.
A Story of Courage and Curiosity
Marine Corps veteran and licensed professional counselor Allison Brewton knows this truth firsthand. Allison has always been drawn to helping people heal from trauma, particularly veterans and first responders, because she has seen and experienced how deep those wounds can run. She also has always loved horses and understood intuitively that their presence brings something profound to the healing process.
When Allison first encountered equine-assisted psychotherapy, she saw the calming effect a horse had on a veteran and felt her own sense of wonder. She knew this was the work she wanted to pursue, but she also knew that passion alone would not be enough.
“I literally had zero experience with starting a business,” Allison recalls. “I had no knowledge whatsoever on anything business related. The Business Building Master Class was the answer to my business ignorance prayers.”
Her words capture what so many in this field feel. The heart is ready, but the structure is missing.
How the Master Class Met Allison Where She Was
When Allison joined the Business Building Master Class, she was looking for answers to questions she did not yet know how to ask.
The Master Class gave her a roadmap. Through the Ground Work lessons, Allison began to shape her vision and mission, understand business structures, and learn the difference between expenses and income streams in an equine-assisted services practice. As she moved into the Elevate portion, she started to see how grant writing, contracts, and client development could one day support her dream of reaching veterans and first responders.
What made the biggest impact, however, were the conversations with her instructors, Shannon Knapp and Bettina Shultz-Jobe. Allison came to those consultations with a notebook full of questions, and each time she left with practical guidance rooted in years of lived experience.
“Bettina and Shannon shared both their successes and their mistakes,” she said. “That gave me a way forward without having to repeat all the same missteps.”
Why This Work Matters
Allison’s experience highlights a truth many practitioners face. Most of us entered this field mainly because of the healing we witnessed, not because we wanted to become business owners. Yet without a sustainable structure, even the most meaningful work can remain fragile. After all, the business side of equine-assisted services is not separate from the healing. It is what allows the healing to continue.
Through the Business Building Master Class, Allison found clarity in the choices that once felt overwhelming. She learned to weigh the differences between nonprofit and for-profit models, to understand liability and risk, to explore pathways for funding and growth and many more. With guidance and mentorship, she began to see how her vision could take shape in a way that was not only inspiring but also sustainable.
Allison also came to appreciate the importance of the less visible work. She realized that while most of us want to focus on hands-on client work, the Master Class revealed that building the business is just as essential. There will always be time to do the client work, but without a strong foundation, the work itself cannot last. For Allison, and for all of us, the heart of the work will always be healing. The business is the vessel that makes that healing possible.
Looking Toward the Future
Allison continues her NL certification journey with the same passion that first brought her to volunteer on a ranch years ago. She is still in the process of completing her training and preparing for the launch of her practice. Because she invested time in understanding the business side now, she has greater clarity about her options and confidence in the choices she is making.
Her story reminds us that clarity itself is a form of care. When we know where we are headed and how to structure our work, we create stability not only for our clients but also for our families and ourselves. Sustainability is not about choosing one path over another. It is about discerning the path that best fits your vision and values, and then building it with intention.
Step Into Clarity With Us
The path of equine-assisted work is full of heart, but it can also be full of questions. How do you structure a practice? How do you make it last? These questions can feel heavy when you carry them alone.
The Business Building Master Class was created so you don’t have to. Like Allison, you will be guided with care, surrounded by others who understand both the weight and the wonder of this work. What once felt overwhelming can begin to make sense, and what seemed uncertain can become a clear way forward.
If you are ready to follow in Allison’s footsteps and give your vision the foundation it deserves, we invite you to begin here. Join the Business Building Master Class.
by Kate Naylor | Apr 3, 2024 | Applied Principles, The Latest in Equine Assisted Therapy and Learning
By Kate Naylor and Bettina Shultz-Jobe
“Equine therapy” is probably the most commonly used term to describe, well, just about any therapeutic service involving horses. It is the most commonly searched term online, and we as practitioners use it all the time.
But, there is a problem.
It’s incorrect and it’s confusing.
Using the term “equine therapy” to label the work that we do in equine assisted services not only muddies our work, but complicates marketing and most importantly, leaves consumers confused and often seeking the wrong services for their needs.
This matters. For the integrity of our field, for the wellbeing of our clients, and for the health of our businesses.
So what is “equine therapy”?
Equine therapy literally means therapy for equines. This can encompass many wonderful services such as equine massage, masterson method, chiropractic work, reiki, nutritional therapy…the list goes on and on. But importantly, it is a therapeutic intervention for the horse, not the human associated with the horse.
How many times have you explained the work you do to somebody who thought you did therapy for the horse? I’ve had people tell me that they were picturing an actual horse on a therapy couch. We often giggle and then I clarify, but the language we use in this field seems to contribute to this image.
Enter: Equine Assisted Services
The correct umbrella term for what we do is Equine Assisted Services. Making this distinction is valuable on multiple levels. You can learn a bit more about our terminology here.
I hate to muddy the waters here, but it’s worth mentioning. . . Some practitioners do, indeed, integrate equine therapy (therapy for the equine) into equine assisted services (services for the person). This is powerful work that Bettina touched on in a recent webinar. In NL we do believe that Equine Assisted Services should be good for the equine too, but our primary goals are specific to the person receiving services.
Getting Clear on the Services We Offer
When we describe our services as “equine assisted”, it prompts us to understand what services our equines assist. In a recent paper, leaders in our field argued for more clarity in terminology. One suggestion was, when speaking or writing about our work, we should lead with the service and then add “…integrating equines”; as in “mental health counseling integrating equines”. Or “psychotherapy in partnership with horses”, or “physical therapy using equine movement”, or “occupational therapy in equine environments”, etc.
While this is a mouthful, I admit, I often use this language when describing what it is I do for work. It just is more clear. And importantly, it leads with what it is I actually do. When I lead with this concept, not only is my potential client more clear on whether I can meet their needs, but I am more clear as well. I have to know my scope of practice, my skill set, in order to speak in this fashion. This is a matter of ethics and competence, as well as effectiveness.
We have a problem in our field of believing that just being with the horses is sufficient. While horses are incredible partners in healing work, I think we can all agree, it is necessary for the health and well being of the humans we serve that we develop ourselves professionally separate from the horses. Knowing the service that I offer, with or without equines, makes me a better practitioner.
Now, maybe saying “I offer mindfulness practices in partnership with horses” feels like too much of a mouthful – that’s where “equine assisted mindfulness” can come in. Using this language instead of “equine therapy” is not only an important point of clarity for the work itself, but is incredibly impactful in your marketing and business building.
Incorrectly using “Equine Therapy” creates confusion
When I search “equine therapy” I get a bazillion results all touting a variety of equine related practices. It is confusing and overwhelming, to say the least. But if I am a consumer searching for mindfulness, and “equine assisted mindfulness” pops up as an option? Cool! Now that’s more like it.
Your business is more likely to be found by the right people, the people who want what you do. This is a win-win created by more clarity and precision in your language. When you are clear on what you offer, separate from the equines, and use the correct terminology, you will reach the right audience, and the right audience will be able to find you.
Accurate terminology helps people find right-fit services
Lastly, and most importantly, when consumers have heard the term “equine therapy” used over and over, and then utilize that term to search for a practitioner for themselves or a loved one, they can be lost in a sea of services that do not fit them. Worse, consumers self-select an inappropriate service.
If a licensed mental health therapist specializing in trauma processing markets as an “equine therapy” practice, and so does the life coach down the road, and so does the yoga teacher around the corner, and so does the therapeutic riding center across town – how is a consumer, likely uninformed in all these different modalities, supposed to choose what is right for them?
Each of these services is very, very different, and is designed to meet specific and unique goals. And, if a client with undiagnosed PTSD (or another specific and sensitive issue) chooses a practitioner that is unqualified to recognize and treat that issue, significant harm can be done. That is the last thing we all want.
Clarity in language fuels our professional evolution, better marketing, and more safety and accuracy for our clients – better services for consumers is absolutely the goal. This clarity is a necessary detail that shouldn’t be overlooked.
For more conversation on this topic, check out Bettina’s recent webinar.
by Kate Naylor | May 26, 2023 | Testimonials & Reflections, The Latest in Equine Assisted Therapy and Learning
While it can cause plenty of frustration (for both professionals, researchers, and clients alike), we find time and again that the benefits of therapy are not due to specific techniques learned or specific modalities used – they are due, in fact, to the quality of the person who is the therapist (or coach, or other practitioner).
Reactions to the NYT Magazine’s Take on Therapy
Just a couple of days ago, the New York Times Magazine released an article on the state of therapy in our country today. The journalist overtly shares her frustration with the simple fact that therapy and its outcomes are difficult to research quantitatively.
In fact, in multiple meta-analyses of research done over the years it has been repeatedly found that therapy helps many, and most therapeutic approaches help equally well. There aren’t really any “perfect” interventions or models. Nothing stands out in terms of what, clinically, we do.
So what DOES matter in good healing work?
Ultimately, it is the skills of the practitioner that make all the difference.
Not the skills needed to implement a protocol, but to foster healing connection.
The ability to connect, to empathize, to respond well to conflict, to remind the client (both in thinking and feeling) that they are not alone in their challenges.
This is what it means when we say the relationship is the vehicle for change. (You can also find a webinar on this subject here.)
This is why ALL of our trainings are (sometimes annoyingly) low on technique and formula, and high on personal development, self awareness, and the practice of the ART of connection.
We, as therapists, coaches, and healers of all kinds, are not trying to fix a problem (task), we are attempting, moment to moment, to see our clients, to hear our clients, to feel our clients – so that they have an experience of not being alone (connection).
To be with, not to fix
Life can be challenging, for everyone. It is not our job to fix that, it IS our job to BE WITH our clients in a way that eases the burden.
This is what The Natural Lifemanship Institute attempts to foster in each and every one of our students.
We work to cultivate the skillset to be a positive and therapeutic relationship for change.
Because as it turns out, this is what really matters.
Join us
Something we believe deeply at Natural Lifemanship is that this journey requires community. If you are a therapist looking for a supportive community of colleagues who are learning from each other and evolving every day, we invite you to join us. Learn more about NL Membership.
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