Equine Therapy in Malibu · EMDR with Horses · Shakti Ranch
Equine therapy in Malibu: grief work and EMDR resourcing, alongside the horses.
Equine-assisted sessions and the EMDR Day Intensive at Shakti Ranch · Angela Schellenberg, LMHC · Mondays only · No riding
Somatic grief and nervous-system work alongside horses, guided by Angela, a licensed trauma therapist trained in Attachment-Focused EMDR. Come for a 75-minute session with the herd, or for the EMDR Day Intensive, where the resourcing tools from EMDR are built with the horses beside you. No riding. No horse experience needed. Just you, the herd, and what shows up.
Sessions are held on Mondays only. Outdoors at Shakti Ranch in Malibu. All women welcome.
Featured in National Geographic · Best for Equine Therapy
What a session looks like
There is no script. We move at the pace of your nervous system and the herd’s. Most of the work is felt, not talked about.
Arrive
We start with a short check-in. What is loud today. What is quiet. What you would like to be near, without committing to where the session goes.
Be with the herd
You meet the horses on the ground. No riding. The herd offers exactly the kind of attuned presence many of us never got, and the body notices.
Integrate
We close with a few minutes to gather what surfaced. You leave with something to land on, not a long list of homework.
This is for you if
Talk therapy has helped, and you know there is more underneath that words have not reached.
You are drawn to somatic, slower-paced work and want time outside of a screen.
You are carrying grief, attachment wounds, or burnout that asks for a different kind of room.
Two ways to work together
A single session to feel into the work, or a full day held end to end. Both are at Shakti Ranch in Malibu, on Mondays.
Equine-Assisted Session
Mondays · Shakti Ranch, Malibu
Somatic grief and nervous-system work alongside horses, guided by Angela. A focused session to drop in, settle, and let the herd meet you where you are.
$450 · 75 minutes
Day Intensive
Monday, 10am to 3pm · Shakti Ranch, Malibu
- A 15-minute intake call before your day
- Two hours with the herd, 10 to 12
- Lunch at Neptune’s Net on the coast, 12 to 1
- Two more hours with the herd, 1 to 3
- Time to talk through the work together, on the land
$2,500 · a full day at the ranch
EMDR with horses: how the Day Intensive works
Attachment-Focused EMDR starts with resources, not memories. The horses are where those resources become something the body can feel.
Before any EMDR reprocessing, Angela helps you build what the Parnell model calls resources: a Peaceful Place, a Container, and three figures of support. In an office or on a screen, those are imagined. At Shakti Ranch they are practiced next to a 1,200-pound animal whose nervous system settles when yours does, and shows you immediately when it does not.
The Day Intensive is that resourcing work, held for a full Monday with the herd. It is somatic support rather than EMDR reprocessing itself. Reprocessing stays a virtual, one-on-one Attachment-Focused EMDR session. Many women pair the two: a day at the ranch to build resources they can actually feel, then online EMDR sessions to move what has not moved.
If you searched for EMDR with horses, equine-assisted EMDR, or an EMDR intensive near Los Angeles and Malibu, this is the version Angela offers, and she will tell you honestly on a free call whether it fits what you are carrying.
Shakti Ranch · Malibu
An outdoor room for the work that words can’t hold.
Shakti Ranch sits in the hills above Malibu. Wide arenas, soft footing, and a herd that has been part of trauma-informed work for years.
You will not be asked to ride, perform, or know anything about horses. The herd does what the herd does best: notice. The session is about what you feel when something that calm, that big, and that present is paying attention.
Plan on closed-toe shoes, layers, and a water bottle. Everything else is taken care of.
Common questions
How does equine therapy help with grief and loss?
Grief lives in the body and the nervous system, not only in the mind, and by the time many women come to this work they are exhausted from thinking and talking about their loss. Horses meet you there. They are prey animals, exquisitely attuned to your nervous system, so they respond honestly to what you feel without needing you to explain it. Being near them invites co-regulation, where your body borrows their steadiness and slowly learns it is safe to settle. There is no riding and nothing to perform. The herd does not rush your grief, and neither does Angela. For grief that cannot be talked away, the horses help the body finally exhale.
When are sessions held?
Mondays only. Angela is at Shakti Ranch one day a week, so every equine session and Day Intensive happens on a Monday. The 75-minute sessions start at 10:00, 11:15, 12:30, 1:45 and 3:00. The Day Intensive runs 10am to 3pm and takes the whole day.
Do I need any horse experience?
None at all. Most people who come have never been around horses. The work is on the ground, and Angela is there with you the whole time.
Will I be riding?
No. There is no riding in this work. The session is about being with the herd on the ground, not on horseback.
What if I am afraid of horses?
That is welcome here, and it is often part of the work. We move at your pace, and you decide how close you want to be. The herd does not rush you, and neither will Angela.
Is this therapy?
Angela is a licensed trauma therapist, and these sessions are somatic, body-based support alongside the horses, built on the same Attachment-Focused EMDR resourcing tools she uses in her virtual EMDR sessions. They are not a substitute for ongoing therapy, and EMDR reprocessing itself happens in virtual one-on-one sessions. If you are working with another therapist, this complements that work.
What should I wear and bring?
Closed-toe shoes, comfortable layers you can move in, a hat if it is sunny, and a water bottle. The terrain is gentle but you will be outdoors.
Where exactly is Shakti Ranch?
In the hills above Malibu, California. The address and parking details arrive in your confirmation email once you book.
What is EMDR with horses?
EMDR with horses, sometimes called equine-assisted EMDR, pairs the resourcing phase of Attachment-Focused EMDR with ground-based time alongside a herd. With Angela, that is the Day Intensive at Shakti Ranch: Peaceful Place, Container, and the figures of support are built with the horses beside you, so the body learns them rather than imagining them. Reprocessing itself happens in virtual one-on-one EMDR sessions.
How much does equine therapy cost in Malibu?
A 75-minute equine-assisted session with Angela is $450. The EMDR Day Intensive, a full Monday at Shakti Ranch from 10am to 3pm with lunch on the coast, is $2,500. Both are cash-pay, and both begin with a free 15-minute conversation so you can decide whether it fits.
Is equine therapy covered by insurance?
No. Sessions and the Day Intensive with Angela are cash-pay and are not billed to insurance. If cost is the deciding factor, say so on the free call and Angela will tell you honestly which option makes sense, including the option of waiting.
Is equine therapy only for children, veterans, or addiction treatment?
No. Most equine programs you find online are built for those groups, which is why adult grief rarely gets named. Angela's sessions are for adult women carrying grief, mother loss, attachment wounds, or burnout. Talk therapy may have helped already. This is for what words have not reached.
Is Shakti Ranch in Malibu or Calabasas?
Both are true. The ranch sits in the Santa Monica Mountains above Malibu, off Mulholland Highway, and its mailing address is Calabasas. It is about an hour from Santa Monica and Los Angeles. Exact directions and parking details arrive in your confirmation email once you book.
Come be with the herd
If something in you is leaning toward this work, that is worth listening to. Pick the option that fits, or write to Angela first if you would rather start with a conversation.
