Honest feedback
A horse responds to what your body is doing right now, so you see your own state reflected back without judgment.
Equine therapy in Malibu · Grief work with horses
Grief work in Malibu, on the ground alongside the horses.
Somatic grief and nervous-system work with the herd, guided by Angela Schellenberg, a licensed trauma therapist trained in Attachment-Focused EMDR.
- Mondays only
- Outdoors at Shakti Ranch
- No horse experience needed
Named best for equine therapy
Why horses
How the herd helps
Grief lives in the body and the nervous system, not only in the mind. By the time many women come to this work, they are exhausted from thinking and talking about their loss.
Horses are prey animals, finely attuned to the nervous systems around them. They respond to what you feel without needing you to explain it. Being near them invites co-regulation: your body borrows their steadiness and slowly learns that it is safe to settle.
For grief that cannot be talked away, the horses help the body finally exhale.
The benefits
What the horses offer
Co-regulation
Their steadiness gives your nervous system something calm to follow, without any effort to explain or fix.
No words required
Most of the work is felt, not talked about. There is nothing to explain and nothing to perform.
Your pace
You decide how close to be. The herd does not rush your grief, and neither does Angela.
On the ground with the herd
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.
The Equine Resourcing Intensive
The day we work together
One full day, held end to end, at Shakti Ranch in Malibu. Mondays only.
- BeforeA 30-minute intake call
- 10 to 12Two hours with the herd
- 12 to 1Lunch at Neptune’s Net on the coast
- 1 to 3Two more hours with the herd, and time to talk the work through on the land
- 1 to 2 weeks afterA 60-minute integration session on Zoom
$3,500 for the full day, everything above included.Coming as two? $5,500 for the day. Want a shorter start? A half day is $950.
This day is coaching, not therapy. It is somatic resourcing work with the horses and carries no diagnosis, no treatment and no clinical record. Angela is a licensed therapist and that training shapes how she holds the day, but EMDR reprocessing is separate clinical work, offered virtually to clients in California, Washington, Arizona and Florida. Full terms are on the coaching terms page.
Heart to heart
What the research shows
Horses respond to the state of the people beside them, down to the heartbeat. Researchers are measuring it.
Nervous person,
alert horse
When people leading or riding a horse were told something might startle them, their heart rates rose, and so did the horses’, even though nothing happened.
Keeling, Jonare & Lanneborn, The Veterinary Journal, 2009They read
our faces
Horses shown photographs of angry and happy human faces responded differently, with a faster rise in heart rate toward the angry ones.
Smith et al., Biology Letters, 2016About 23%
less PTSD
A 2024 review of 13 studies of equine-assisted therapy with veterans found an average 22.6% drop in PTSD symptoms. The evidence is early and promising, and it comes from trauma research rather than grief.
Provan et al., BMC Psychiatry, 2024How the Intensive fits with EMDR
EMDR with horses: how the Equine Resourcing 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 Equine Resourcing 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 grief work with horses, equine-assisted resourcing, 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.
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.
No riding · No horse experience needed
Shakti Ranch · Malibu
An outdoor room for the work that words can’t hold.
Shakti Ranch, home of Equine Therapy Malibu, 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.
- Closed-toe shoes
- Layers
- A hat if sunny
- A water bottle
From the ranch
Real days with the herd
Photographs from Healing with Horses days at Shakti Ranch.
Equine Therapy
Commonquestions
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 the Equine Resourcing Intensive always happens on a Monday. It 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 resourcing practices 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 grief work with horses?
Grief work with horses, sometimes called equine-assisted resourcing, pairs the resourcing phase of Attachment-Focused EMDR with ground-based time alongside a herd. With Angela, that is the Equine Resourcing 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?
The Equine Resourcing Intensive, a full Monday at Shakti Ranch from 10am to 3pm with lunch on the coast and a 60-minute integration session on Zoom afterwards, is $3,500. It is cash-pay, and it begins with a free 15-minute conversation so you can decide whether it fits.
Is equine therapy covered by insurance?
No. Sessions and the Equine Resourcing 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. Book the day, or start with a free 15-minute conversation if you would rather talk first.
