Why do we need horses today? Horses have been a part of human society for thousands of years. Although their role has changed significantly in recent centuries, horses are still important helpers and partners for us in many activities. Pushing aside nature and replacing it by the computers has caused noticeable damage to human health. A horse, as a part of the world of living beings, returns humankind to nature. A man and a horse together can perform many activities in which the horse may not only be a participant in social events and sports, but it can also help a therapist in Equine Facilitated Therapies and Activities (EFAT). EFAT is a long-term procedure of working with horses to support individuals with specific needs. A horse creates social ties with clearly defined rules, which is used to develop social skills and competences. Non-verbal communication among horses become a foundation for a relationship with humans: they do not judge or criticize. A horse thus often represents a natural authority and replace its absence in everyday life by enabling people failed to adopt social norms and relationships to learn standards of behaviour. The profession and skills matter, otherwise nonprofessional therapy could cause harm to the clients´ health. A therapy horse is an essential member of the EFAT team. To become safe for engagement in treatment, a horse must be selected and methodically prepared for this type of activity. Every kind of EFAT has different specific requirements for horses which need to be taken into account during the training period. Nowadays, in addition to the standard equestrian doctrine training procedures, equine ethology procedures are also being introduced, which helps to change the traditional view of communication with horses. For many riding instructors, the introduction of ethological training methods represents an innovative change in both thinking and the actual concept of working with horses. The project aims to increase the expertise of EFAT professionals, and to enable mutual enrichment through cooperation, sharing and practice exchange with established procedures and methods through demonstrations of good practice in countries with a different equestrian culture and tradition. This objective will be achieved by establishing sustainable long-term cooperation by creating a community whose activities would by far outlive the project itself. This newly acquired knowledge and skills will be implemented into innovative learning programs accessible to the professionals within the EU. The target group is EFAT professionals - 24 participants from 6 partner organizations (4 workers from each subject) will participate. The partner organizations are representatives of different equestrian traditions in various countries in Europe. They reflect the variety in the EFAT as a treatment approach for people with specific needs, including the different concepts of health and social services in these countries. This project contributes significantly to understanding these differences and thus gaining new valuable experience. Given that the practice of each partner is based on diverse traditions as well as various health and social care service and equestrian culture, there is a considerable space open for mutual inspiration and enrichment. Based on the sharing of experience and good practice in countries with different equestrian cultures, and by applying separate methodological guidance of horse training for different clients, the project will provide an opportunity to gain a wide range of perspectives on this topic. It will subsequently allow further broadening and developing of the professional competencies that can continue to be handed over in the home countries of the participants. We want to achieve our goal via seven workshops organized in partner organizations. The workshops will be a part of short-term study trips. Each study trip will focus on specific areas in education to guarantee the maximum flow of information and the possibility of an efficient sharing of experience. The schedule of each study trip will always include a professional workshop prepared by representatives of the host partner organization with examples of good practice based on the traditional concept of their home country. Being able to follow the working methods of horse training of our colleagues is always a great source of inspiration. An integral part of the meeting will be the evaluation of possible benefits and an overall evaluation of the event to set tasks for further discussions. This stage will also always include the Standard for the horse training, which will allow instructors of further education to apply innovative methods in their practice. All participants will participate in the creation of the Standard. The Standard will then be submitted for consultation within the HETI Federation. The project will enable the development of a new field of equestrian science for EFAT as a whole.
In order to achieve the desired changes, it is necessary for Equine Assisted Services (EAS) to have enough educated professionals who will devote themselves to the special training of horses, as well as teaching activities with the aim of transferring the acquired modern knowledge and experience into practice at the local and regional level up to the national level. By implementing the project, we wanted to provide all-round intensive support and education to the workers in EAS so that the worker has the necessary education for an adequate professional level, to get new stimuli and inspiration to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for practical teaching, from which they will conceptually base their own hippological practice focused on end users – people with medical or special needs. The second goal was to create a European methodology and model for preparing horses for EAS with regard to horse welfare. The result was to be the European standard for the preparation/classification of horses for EAS and the Model of the specialization test for horses included in Equine Assisted Services - evaluation test.
Participation in the project offered an opportunity for the acquisition and development of key competencies and skills of Equine Assisted Services (EAS) workers. By participating in training and continuing education, enable equine assistant service workers to reduce skills gaps and also support and facilitate adult participation in education. By improving the educational level of EAS workers, support the development of EAS in individual countries. The impetus for the changes came after the active participation of CHS members at the HETI international conference in Dublin 2018. Here we realized the contradictions between the requirements for horses and their training and the presented practice of engaging in work under clients in the presentations of foreign lecturers. The project thus responded to the unsatisfactory situation in the further education of professional hippological workers in EAS. During the project, we jointly addressed the need for special training of expert hippological workers in EAS through comprehensive, intensive support of international cooperation. The view of horse training within the framework of HETI (the international umbrella organization for hipporehabilitation in the world) is inconsistent, fragmented, unsystematic, it also reflects the ignorance of the use of local horse breeds and the different level of education according to the equestrian doctrine practiced mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries. Due to the diverse requirements for horses, the selection and preparation of a horse is a separate field of riding. The project focused on expanding and developing the competencies of workers involved in the preparation of therapy horses, including lecturing activities in the field of training specialists for the preparation of horses for the therapeutic use of horses to familiarize themselves with the latest directions, concepts and methodologies in the field of education in the field of hippology for hippotherapy . The second need was to check the special training of selected horses and to create a pan-European required general standardization of the requirements for.Therapy Equine.