Blog · October 2026
Is equine-assisted therapy covered by insurance?
No. Equine sessions at this practice are paid directly, and that is the usual position across the field. The reason is duller than people expect: it is not that insurers have examined the evidence and ruled against it, it is that there is no billing code for it. Health plans pay against codes, and equine-assisted psychotherapy does not have one of its own.
What actually gets billed
When a licensed clinician provides psychotherapy, that psychotherapy has a code, whether it happens in an office, on a video call, or standing in an arena. What does not have a code is everything that makes an equine session an equine session: the facility, the horses, the extra time, and in many programs a second person handling the animals.
So a plan looking at a claim sees a psychotherapy session. It does not see, and will not pay for, the rest of what the session costs to run. That gap is the reason most practices offering this work ask to be paid directly.
Session length is the other half of it. A standard outpatient psychotherapy benefit is built around roughly a fifty-minute hour. Equine work does not compress into that usefully. Getting to the property, meeting the horse and letting something actually happen takes longer, which is why sessions here run an hour and a half to two hours.
A plan that pays for fifty minutes does not pay more because the session was longer.
What to ask your plan
You do not have to take anyone else's word for it, including ours. If you want to check your own plan, these are the questions that get a usable answer. Ask your insurer directly, and write down who you spoke to and when.
- Does my plan cover outpatient psychotherapy with a Licensed Professional Counselor, and what is my cost for it?
- Does my plan exclude equine-assisted, animal-assisted or adventure-based therapy by name?
- If I see an out-of-network provider, will you reimburse against a superbill, and at what percentage of what allowed amount?
- Is there a session length limit or a limit on sessions per year?
- Do I need prior authorization?
The second question is the one that decides it. Plenty of plans cover counseling and separately exclude this delivery format, and the two answers can both be yes without contradicting each other.
What it costs here
- Equine session
- $185 to $240 for a session of 1.5 to 2 hours
- Insurance
- Not billed to insurance. Paid directly.
- Where
- At the horses near Dripping Springs, outdoors
- Who
- Reem Glasco, LPC-S. Adults 18 and over.
- Before an equine session
- Some work online first, so the session is not the first conversation
Insurance questions that are specific to this practice, including which plans are accepted for ordinary therapy, are answered on the FAQ. The free fifteen-minute consult is also a reasonable place to ask.
Questions about cost and coverage
Is equine-assisted therapy covered by insurance?
No. Equine sessions here are paid directly and are not billed to insurance, and that is the usual position elsewhere too. It is not a judgment about whether the work helps. There is no billing code specific to equine-assisted psychotherapy, so a plan sees either a standard psychotherapy claim or nothing it recognizes, and many plans exclude animal-assisted formats by name as well.
Why is there no insurance code for equine therapy?
Codes exist for procedures that have been defined, standardized and submitted for inclusion. Equine-assisted work covers several different models with different training routes and different methods, which makes it hard to define as one procedure. Until that settles, it is billed, if at all, as the psychotherapy inside it.
Can I use out-of-network benefits for an equine session?
That depends entirely on your plan, and it is worth asking directly: whether they reimburse against a superbill, at what percentage, and against which allowed amount. Ask before booking rather than after, and get the answer in writing if you can.
Is equine-assisted therapy the same as therapeutic riding?
No, and the difference matters for coverage as well as for what happens. Therapeutic riding is an adaptive sport and physical activity. Equine-assisted psychotherapy is psychotherapy delivered by a licensed mental health clinician, on the ground, with the horse as part of the work rather than as something to ride.
How can I learn more?
The frequently asked questions page collects everything that is not specific to one service: fees and insurance, how the methods differ, complex PTSD, what Texas requires of a counselor, and how to start. If the answer is not there either, a free consult is the quickest way to get one.
This practice does not provide emergency care. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Start with a conversation
Therapy consults are fifteen minutes. Supervision and EMDR consultation consults are thirty. Both are free and commit you to nothing.