Equine Assisted Services and the Professional Path to Success

CHave you ever considered that your horse has contributed to your strength, independence or helped you heal?

Over March 10-12, 2023, I attended my first Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International, Region 6 Annual conference. It was a weekend filled with education and networking for all people interested in Equine Assisted Services in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Canada. This year the conference was hosted by North Dakota State University and the Bison Strides program. They did a great job organizing and making things flow despite the huge storm that decided to show up.

The education that was offered included concepts for the business side of providing services, strategies for working with people with disabilities, cultural diversity, and equine nutrition, and massage.

PATH International is an organization that provides certification and accreditation to individuals and centers who provide Equine Assisted Services worldwide.

Their mission statement reads, “We lead the advancement of professional equine-assisted services by supporting our members and stakeholders through rigorously developed standards, credentialing and education.”

As I was sitting through the first session at the conference, I counted the people in the room. First, I have to mention there was only one man in the room. Poor guy. Anyway… Forty! That’s it! Forty people from four states and another country!!! Also, the majority of the people in the room were more than forty years old. I was so surprised by the low number of attendees, but I was told that was about average. So to say that this industry has some growing room is an understatement!

My surprise in the numbers of the conference may not be surprising to most. Because, well, what is this “Equine Assisted Services” you are talking about, anyway?

Here in Western North Dakota, I come from a ranching and rodeo dominated world. Horses are loved for what they do for us in the arena and on the ranch. The connection with the horse seems to be understood by those who use horses for these things, but there is a population of people who also call Western North Dakota home, who do not live in those worlds who could benefit from the horse just as much, if not more.

Horses have a long history of service to mankind. Documentation has been found that in 460-377 BCE, the Greek Hippocrates wrote about “natural exercise,” which mentioned riding. So the horse not only has been a tool for war, hunting, farming, ranching, and now, more popular, human entertainment, they have also helped heal! And they do so, now more than ever, with the growing popularity and access to Equine Assisted Services.

Equine Assisted Services (EAS) allow people with physical, cognitive, behavioral, or emotional challenges to find strength, healing, and independence through the power and connection with the horse. Have you every thought of a horse providing that for people? Think of your own situation with horses. Have you ever considered that your horse has contributed to your strength, independence, or helped you heal? It is a thought-provoking concept and one that has been studied and proven to be true.

There are a few different avenues to EAS.

The most popular is the Therapeutic/Adaptive Horsemanship. This type of activity is a non-therapy service that is facilitated by an equine professional. These activities are adapted forms of the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting.

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Second is Equine Assisted Learning. In this non-therapy service, specially trained or certified professionals incorporate the horse in three distinct avenues: education, learning in organizations, and in personal development. This can look like a type of team building retreat for a business, a specialized modality for personal development such as EAGALA, or an opportunity for a school group to use the horse to learn while with the horse. This service can be done mounted or unmounted to be effective.

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Third is therapies incorporating equines. The difference with this service is a licensed therapy professional leads this service with the equine professional present. The therapies that utilize this type of service are counseling, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychotherapy, and speech-language pathology.  

Finally, there is equine assisted services for veterans. Equine-assisted services of all types have proven effective for veterans and active service personnel. Some participate in therapeutic horsemanship including riding and driving, while others benefit from healing their trauma through psychotherapy or strengthening their bodies with physical therapy incorporating horses. This service has a guiding program through PATH International called PATH International Equine Services for Heroes, whose goal is to make mounted and unmounted equine-assisted services available to any veteran or military personnel within or near their home communities.

So now that we have an idea of what Equine Assisted Services are and what they can do for all people, there needs to be a discussion on the delivery of these valuable services. When you go to a physical therapy session, you have an expectation that the therapist that is providing you the exercises have training in physical therapy. It is a research-based practice that has strict guidelines for those who want to practice it. You scan the walls for a college diploma as each state has requirements for individuals practicing physical therapy. There are laws that require Physical Therapists to have the proper training, and each state has their own rigorous credentialling guidelines. With the incredible benefits of EAS and the wide open space for growth in this part of the world, this incredible support for communities and should also provide experienced, well-trained professionals to carry it out.

As Katie Oakland with TR 4 Heart & Soul explained when asked about her hope in the EAS industry growth and the importance of professionalism, “I didn’t just jump into this. I had a background in teaching K-12. I also grew up with horses and had horse handling experience already. If I didn’t have that, I wouldn’t have started the way I did.” She continues to learn to this day and says being a life-long learner needs to be a value that a successful EAS professionals holds.

Merriam-Webster defines professionalism as: The skill, good judgment, and polite behavior that is expected from a person who is trained to do a job well.

For more information on how to become a professional in the EAS industry, please visit pathintl.org. To work on both EAS certifications and horsemanship skills through the Equine Studies Program at Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College (NHSC), please visit nhsc.edu.