Creating space for change, connection and growth through meaningful encounters with horses and nature.
Sessions take place outdoors, set against the quiet hills of the Green Heart of Italy. Horses respond honestly, without agenda, and in that response people see themselves clearly, sometimes for the first time.
Some things can't be reached in a consulting room, a classroom, or your own head.
We work alongside horses to reach what talking therapy often can't: the body, the senses, the present moment.
Equilibrium Umbria was founded by Charlotte Owen and Melanie McCallum, two practitioners trained in equine facilitated therapy, bringing distinct professional perspectives to a shared approach.
Charlotte’s background in zoology and animal behaviour informs her understanding of horses, behaviour and the subtle dynamics of the human–horse relationship. Melanie is a consultant psychiatrist, bringing extensive clinical experience and a deep understanding of human wellbeing, behaviour and the nervous system.
Together, they work at the intersection of these disciplines — creating space for meaningful change through the relationship between person, horse and environment.
Our approach is grounded in the science of relationship, regulation and co-regulation, while recognising that some of the most significant shifts happen not through being told what to do, but through experiencing something different.
Unlike a room and two chairs, this engages the whole person — not just the thinking mind.
Ground-based sessions — no riding. Using the horse as a reference point, people can explore difficult feelings through the horse's experience before their own, which is often easier than starting with themselves directly.
This co-regulation is physiological, not a metaphor. Working alongside a horse can shift a dysregulated system toward calm in ways conversation alone often cannot.
Already working with a therapist or psychiatrist, or not sure where to begin, Equilibrium Umbria offers space to explore things differently.
We work with adults and young people, individuals and groups. Some arrive with a name for what they're carrying. Others have none at all — just a quiet disconnection, or the feeling that life has become too much. What connects everyone here is the same wish: to stop feeling like things are happening to them.
If you're not sure whether this is the right fit, that's a conversation worth having before you decide either way.
Every plan is shaped around what someone actually needs — so what follows is a starting point for a conversation, not a menu.
Private sessions built around you — your pace, your history, and what you're ready to work with today.
EnquireFor small groups, teams or families — working alongside the horses together, and alongside each other.
EnquireMulti-day, immersive stays with onsite accommodation in Umbria — for a deeper, uninterrupted piece of work.
Enquire"What you cannot hide from a horse is the thing you most need to see."
ANIRE Therapy qualification, Italy
Equine Facilitated Therapy, UK
Licensed physician, Ordine dei Medici, Italy
Fully insured practice
Person-centred, trauma-informed approach
Based near Amelia, Umbria — ninety minutes from Rome. Reach out directly, or send a short message and we'll come back to you.