Joanne Oakes - Children's Author, Educator & Equine Therapy Professional
Gold Coast QLD
From Equine Assisted Therapy to Children's Book Author
How Six Years with Therapy Horses Became a Children's Picture Book
Hello, I'm Joanne and I didn't set out to become an author. I set out to help children, families, and anyone who needed me alongside them in their most challenging times, where trust was built one small step at a time. Over the past few years, that's exactly what I did, working as a professional therapist.
It was during the equine assisted therapy, here in the beautiful hinterland of Mudgeeraba, where I witnessed things that still moves me deeply. Children, as well as adults, who struggled to find stillness, or words, or trust, would find what they needed, and this was often discovered standing side by side, in a paddock, simply watching, or being in the present moment, with one of my horses who would simply be.
These magic moments from my horses, Star, Koda and Shadow planted a seed that kept growing and eventually, it became a book! I am so glad you found your way here.
The Pivot: The Horses Kept Whispering "Write the Book"
My horses don't analyse. They don't fix. They don't rush toward the hard thing or away from it. They simply stay present, fully, attentively, completely, and allow feelings to move through their body, through movement, their breath, and moving back to the present moment. Somehow that presence creates the safest space imaginable for anyone to just be themselves in the moment.
That insight lives at the heart of everything I do. Yes, it’s not always easy to move through emotions and be present in difficult times, but I know things shift and being fully present in the moment can allow for a calmness inside. These insights have been in the counselling room, in the paddock, in the classroom, and now, in the pages of my first book.
I am new to being an author. I won't pretend otherwise. But I have spent a long time gathering these lessons, and I feel that my horses have been nudging me toward this for years, so thank you, Star, Koda and Shadow. It is time to share what you have taught me with as many families as possible.
Grounded in Knowledge, Guided by Heart
My work has always been underpinned by genuine training, experience and a deep commitment to the wellbeing of children and families. But qualifications only tell part of the story.
What shaped me most was time, with people, with my horses, learning what actually helped versus what the textbooks scribed. Time standing quietly in a paddock, watching my horses do in five minutes what a traditional therapy session sometimes couldn't.
'Hoofbeats and Heartbeats' grew out of thousands of real moments with Star, Koda and Shadow.
It is my attempt to take the profound simplicity of what horses know and offer, presence, emotional honesty, living in the now, and translate it into something a parent and child can explore together at home, at bedtime, or on a difficult afternoon when the feelings are big and the words are hard to find.
Qualifications & Experience
Counselling, Education & Equine Assisted Practice
My work has been shaped by registration as a counsellor with the Australian Counselling Association, training in somatic approaches, mindfulness, trauma-informed practice and child-centred play therapy, and six meaningful years offering equine assisted counselling alongside Star, Koda and Shadow in the Mudgeeraba hinterland.
Today I continue as an educator and new Author. I share this not to impress, but simply to reassure you that everything here has grown from years of genuinely caring about people and learning what helps them most.
