EQUEST

Erasmus+ project · 2025–2026

Better skills for professionals in equine-assisted therapy and para-equestrian sport

EQUEST helps riding instructors, coaches and therapists work safely and well with people with disabilities. Partners from Poland, Italy and Spain create free training resources that professionals can use while they work.

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Duration
1 December 2025 – 30 September 2026 (10 months)
Programme
Erasmus+ Small-scale Partnerships in Vocational Education and Training
Project reference
KA210-VET-AB89430F

Full project title: Enhancing Staff Competencies in Equine-Assisted Therapy and Para-Equestrian Sports for Individuals with Disabilities

About the project

Why EQUEST is needed

The challenge

Therapeutic riding is a recognised method of rehabilitation. But across Europe, there is no common standard for training the professionals who lead these sessions.

Many instructors, coaches and therapists want to work in a more inclusive way. Often, they do not have the specialised knowledge, adapted methods or hands-on experience they need. As a result, the quality of services varies, and people with disabilities do not always get equal access to good support.

These professionals are also busy. They need training that is practical and flexible, so they can learn without leaving their jobs.

What EQUEST does

EQUEST brings together 12 equestrian professionals – instructors, coaches and therapists – from the three partner organisations. All of them already work with people with disabilities.

They meet at three hands-on training events, one in each partner country, and continue to learn and share online. People with disabilities take part in the practical sessions and give direct feedback on which coaching methods work.

After each event, participants share what they have learned with colleagues in their own organisations.

Our goals

  • Build professional skills

    Help 12 professionals develop inclusive, therapeutic and para-equestrian practice through workshops, knowledge exchange and hands-on training.

  • Raise quality and safety

    Define what professionals in this field should know and be able to do, so that people with disabilities and their families can rely on safer, higher-quality programmes.

  • Make learning flexible

    Create free digital resources, including short micro-learning modules, that busy staff can use step by step.

Three events, three results

Each training event produces one of the project results. Partners draft the result together, test it in practice and improve it.

  1. Activity A1Spain

    Workshop

    Inclusive coaching and adapted sports: theory and practice in an equestrian setting.

    Leads to R1: Professional Profile

  2. Activity A2Italy

    Seminar

    Communication in equine-assisted therapy, including intercultural skills.

    Leads to R2: Professional Path

  3. Activity A3Poland

    Final test

    Coaches use the draft toolkit at a real competition: the Mazovian Integration Show.

    Leads to R3: Professional Toolkit

Project results

Free resources for your daily work

EQUEST creates three resources for professionals in equine-assisted therapy and para-equestrian sport. You can download and use them free of charge.

  • Professional Profile

    Describes the knowledge, skills and attitudes a professional needs to work well with people with disabilities in an equestrian setting.

    Developed at the workshop in Spain

    Available soon

  • Professional Path

    Practical suggestions on how to develop these skills step by step – for people who already have a job and other responsibilities.

    Developed at the seminar in Italy

    Available soon

  • Professional Toolkit

    A flexible training resource with exercises, guidelines, six micro-learning modules and video tutorials. Choose the parts that match your level of experience.

    Tested at the final event in Poland

    Available soon

The final results will also be available on the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform and on EPALE, the European platform for adult learning.

Partnership

Three organisations, three kinds of expertise

EQUEST combines education, clinical practice, and methodology and policy. Each partner leads the area it knows best.

  • PL · Poland

    Luminar Foundation

    Project coordinator

    Luminar Foundation is an expert in adult education and vocational education and training (VET). It designs curricula, blended learning and digital learning tools, and has many years of experience in managing Erasmus+ and other EU-funded projects.

    Members of its team also have a background in equestrian sports, horseback archery and therapeutic riding volunteering. This helps connect educational theory with the daily reality of the stable.

    Role in EQUESTCoordinates the project and leads quality assurance. Designs the learning resources, including the micro-learning modules.

  • IT · Italy

    C.R.E. “Girolamo De Marco”

    Clinical lead

    Centro di Riabilitazione Equestre “Girolamo De Marco”

    Founded in 1989, C.R.E. is a non-profit centre for equine-assisted therapy in Rome. It is registered in the national lists for animal-assisted interventions of the Italian Ministry of Health.

    Its team of psychiatrists, psychologists, physiotherapists and certified riding instructors designs personalised rehabilitation programmes for children, young people and adults – for example, people with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, Down syndrome or neuromotor disorders. C.R.E. also runs a rehabilitation programme for military veterans in cooperation with the Italian Army, and works with Sapienza University and Tor Vergata University in Rome.

    Role in EQUESTLeads the professional training work, hosts the seminar in Italy, and checks the therapeutic accuracy of the Professional Path and the Toolkit.

    Visit the C.R.E. website
  • ES · Spain

    AEDEQ

    Methodology and policy lead

    Asociación Española de Equinoterapias

    Founded in 1996, AEDEQ is a non-profit association that promotes good practice in equine-assisted interventions: therapeutic, educational and adapted leisure activities. Since 2020, it has run a Pedagogic Farm in Serrateix (Barcelona), where it tests and improves equine-assisted methods.

    AEDEQ has taken part in several Erasmus+ projects and works with the University of Lleida on research. It developed an EU-funded training method for ethical horse care and non-submissive horse training, and it works for the formal recognition of equine-assisted interventions in Spain and in Europe.

    Role in EQUESTHosts the workshop in Spain, leads work on the Professional Profile and on sharing the project results, and checks that the results fit European VET standards.

    Visit the AEDEQ website