Bree Equine Enounters Ltd

 

Esquisse by Picasso

You might recognise the name Bree if you liked to read as a child. It is the name of a horse in a children's book, a talking horse. The author, C.S. Lewis, apparently took the name from a mythical place in a book written by his colleague and friend J.R.R. Tolkien. Writing is the pedigree, the lineage, of the Bree whose birth was registered at Companies House on 1 January 2026. And it's why I've chosen a line drawing, une esquisse (in French), by Pablo Picasso to represent her. 

Bree is an imaginary horse, a mare, and is currently stabled at Kingsmead Equestrian Centre in Warlingham. She is available for hire on a Tuesday at present. She has accepted to meet people who want to learn something about themselves as a speaking animal through an encounter with her. 

Humans are animals that speak. Horses don't speak but they do communicate. Interacting with horses via Bree can give you an experience as a speaking animal. She will help you to recognise what is unconscious in you and to discover how this relates to other horses. 

The Freudian unconscious depends on the listener; if you suppress or cancel the listener, you silence what Freud named "the drives." Silent drives, though hidden, are still present – in fact they are exacerbated, as if needing to become louder in order to be heard. If speaking and listening isn't an option for humans or horses, acting becomes more likely. Instead of speaking, the "thing" of the drive pushes to be acted out. 

You can't dominate the unconscious, but you can become enlightened about it. You can learn to read what is unconscious in you, you can learn to translate it, and you can learn to get along with it better. You might even become friends with it. Horses are a marvellous metaphor for an unconscious aspect of humans. 

There are three pathways for making an encounter with your unconscious through Bree:

1. For people who love horses, but who rarely have a chance to get close to them. Perhaps you have never been close to a horse, or maybe it was years ago; Bree welcomes people who want to begin to know horses or to begin again. This pathway offers sessions to initiate or renew the relationship.

2. For people who care for other people (e.g. therapists, Blue Light Card holders etc) and would like to know what facilitated equine encounters can do for them, for their colleagues, and for those they care for.

3. For people who would like to try equine facilitated psychotherapy for regular sessions over a period of time. This pathway is suitable for anyone who wants to work on a particular problem and is willing to take some time over it. This pathway also welcomes people who own their own horse or have extensive experience with horses.

Access to these pathways is via an initial meeting with me, Janet, where we will discuss what is going to be the best path for you and what it will cost. During this meeting there will also be time to meet some of the horses. Bree is working to fund a project which takes horses to visit local institutions. She has already been to the Bethlem Royal Hospital, in the company of Kingsmead horses Haribo and Warrior, and there are plans to go again. 

You will be accompanied throughout your time at the equestrian centre by an experienced and qualified therapist. My experience and training make me singularly capable of accompanying you through what can sometimes be an emotional and challenging journey as you learn to translate what’s going on between you and the horses.

Want to come? 

Warrior and Haribo at the Bethlem, October 2026
Photo by Jabz Cutamora, OT at the Bethlem


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