The Professional Profileof the Equestrian Therapeutic Practitioner
The knowledge, skills and attitudes a team needs to work safely and ethically with people with disabilities and/or special needs in an equestrian setting, treating the horse as a sentient co-actor.
Meeting the horses at the transnational workshop in Puig-reig, Spain, April 2026.
Developed at
Transnational workshop, Puig-reig, Spain, April 2026
Written by
EQUEST partners from Poland, Italy and Spain
Licence
CC BY 4.0: free to use and adapt, with credit
The profile at a glance
15 competencies in three pillars
The Profile sets out the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to work safely and ethically with participants, individuals with disabilities and/or special needs, in an equestrian setting. Its 15 competencies are grouped into three pillars: what the professional team should know, how it should act and who it should be. Throughout, the horse is a sentient co-actor, and its physical and psychological welfare (One Welfare) is part of the participant’s safety.
1
Know: Core Knowledge
Core Knowledge: what the professional team should know
No single person is expected to have all competencies. The profile describes what a team should cover together. Select a competency to read it in full.
I. The profile background
Why a shared profile
The goal of Result 1: The Professional Profile (R1) is to establish a profile of a professional who works with the participant (an individual with disabilities and/or special needs) in an equestrian setting, aiming to raise care quality and ensure safety.
One goal, two names
Across Europe and internationally, professional terminology in equine-involved fields has evolved along distinct regional lines. Understanding it is important not only for the beneficiaries but also for policy makers. The two primary overarching terms in contemporary practice are:
EAI
Equine-Assisted Interventions
Used mainly in Europe
The terminology traditionally established across European clinical, therapeutic and special education systems. EAI emphasises structured, both goal- and process-oriented activities delivered by multidisciplinary teams within recognised medical, psychological and pedagogical frameworks.
EAS
Equine-Assisted Services
Used mainly in North America
An umbrella terminology widely adopted in North American contexts to categorise equine-assisted therapy, adaptive horsemanship and equine-assisted learning under a single service umbrella.
What both shareHowever, the ultimate goal remains identical across all systems: enhancing the physical, cognitive, emotional and social well-being of individuals with disabilities and/or with special needs, while maintaining rigorous welfare standards for the horse as a co-actor in the process.
The EQUEST consortium acknowledges these regional variations in nomenclature. Nomenclature varies across national borders, legal systems and professional traditions.
Three national frameworks
The EQUEST partner countries organise this work differently, and even call the participant by different names.
Italy
National Guidelines
The participant is called“the user”(utente)
The Italian intervention model proposed by the National Guidelines is based on the concept of a multidisciplinary team, coordinated by the project manager, which provides a structured and clearly defined approach to the participant. The team selects the most appropriate type of equestrian activity, identifies the tools to be used to validate the effectiveness of the intervention, and develops a personalised intervention programme.
Spain
AEDEQ · Ley 7/2023
The participant is called“a patient” or sometimes “a student”(paciente / alumno)
The Spanish framework, championed by AEDEQ and aligned with national animal welfare legislation (Ley 7/2023), integrates equine-assisted interventions across healthcare, special education and adapted leisure sectors. The terms reflect the clinical, therapeutic and educational frameworks in which interventions are led by qualified healthcare or educational specialists, and in which the horse is legally recognised as a sentient co-actor trained through ethical, non-submissive methods.
Poland
PTHip (Polish Hippotherapeutic Society)
The participant is called“a client” or “a participant”(klient / uczestnik)
The Polish framework, shaped by the canons of the Polish Hippotherapeutic Society (PTHip), operates primarily through a combined pedagogical, physiotherapeutic and socio-rehabilitative approach. The terms emphasise an empowering, family-centred service model where therapeutic and developmental goals are achieved in active partnership with the multidisciplinary team, underpinned by a strict equine welfare approach.
The multidisciplinary team
Erasmus+ project KA210-VET-AB89430F
The participant is at the centre of the team.
During the project, we agreed that no one single person can possess all the knowledge, skills and attitudes described in this profile. Instead, practitioners working for the benefit of an individual with disabilities and/or special needs in an equestrian setting should create an informal system in which they work as a team to achieve their goal for the person under their care. Such a team then possesses interdisciplinary and even transdisciplinary qualifications to produce benefits for the health and welfare of the participant, in collaboration with their parents, doctors and other members of their team, including volunteer helpers.
Partners from Poland, Italy and Spain drafting the Profile together at the Spain workshop.The first draft, written on the whiteboard in Spain: knowledge, skills and attitudes, with the team (patient, therapist, trainer) sketched around the horse.
One Health or One Welfare?
A horse can be healthy and still not be well
The debate between One Health and One Welfare is common in equine-assisted interventions (EAI). Understanding the distinction, and why both matter, helps clarify the approach taken by EQUEST.
The core difference at a glance
Feature
One Health
One Welfare
Core focus
Interconnection between human health, animal health and the environment.
Interconnection between human wellbeing, animal welfare and the environment.
Primary fields
Veterinary medicine, public health, epidemiology, clinical biomechanics, biosecurity.
Animal welfare science, bioethics, anthrozoology, psychology, social welfare.
Key metric
Absence of disease, physical injury or clinical pathology; physical safety.
Overall quality of life, emotional state, stress levels and mental wellbeing.
Why One Health feels more grounded
One Health stems directly from clinical veterinary medicine, epidemiology and public health. It relies on concrete, objective and easily measurable parameters such as physical soundness, lameness checks and biomechanics; zoonotic disease control, hygiene and biosecurity protocols; and physiological health (e.g. nutrition, dental care, physical injury). Because these indicators are binary or clinically quantifiable (e.g. lame vs. sound, infected vs. clear), One Health feels pragmatic, objective and legally enforceable for facility management and risk audits.
Why One Welfare is comprehensive
One Welfare should not be confused with sentimentality. Modern animal welfare science is an objective, evidence-based discipline that extends beyond physical health to include psychological and emotional states. In equine-assisted interventions, a horse can pass a One Health assessment while completely failing a One Welfare assessment.
The same horse, two assessments
Looking at the horse as a whole: body and emotional state.
One Health check: passed
The veterinary view
A therapy horse undergoes a veterinary check. It shows no physical lameness, has ideal body condition and suffers from no infectious diseases. Clinically, it is 100% “healthy”.
One Welfare check: failed
The welfare view
That same horse may be suffering from learned helplessness, chronic emotional exhaustion or burnout due to unmanaged participant distress or overwork. While physically healthy, its welfare is severely compromised.
In an arena setting, a horse with compromised welfare poses a direct safety risk to human participants (through unexpected displacement, shutdown or reactive behaviour) and compromises therapeutic co-regulation. One Welfare explicitly links the emotional state and mental wellbeing of the horse to the emotional safety and social outcomes of the human participant.
Safe co-regulationwith the participant
One WelfareEmotionally engaged, ethically managed, protected from burnout
One Health: the foundationPhysically sound, safe and medically protected
Erasmus+ project KA210-VET-AB89430F
One Health guarantees that our horses and participants are physically sound, safe and medically protected. One Welfare builds directly upon that foundation to ensure our horses are emotionally engaged, ethically managed and protected from burnout, because a horse cannot safely co-regulate a human participant if its own mental welfare is compromised.
A horse cannot safely co-regulate a human participant if its own mental welfare is compromised.
EQUEST Professional Profile
II. The profile pillars
What the team should know, do and be
Each pillar groups the competencies the team needs.
1
Pillar 1 · Know
Core KnowledgeWhat the professional team should know
This pillar establishes the essential theoretical and cognitive baseline required before starting work with the participant in the presence of a horse.
1.1
Equine ethology, behaviour and biomechanics
Understanding natural horse behaviour, ethology and physical biomechanics.
Differentiating between individual horses (strengths, limits and histories).
Recognising equine neurotypes and individual sensitivities.
Important: recognising stress indicators in the horse.
1.2
The One Welfare approach and horse protection standards
Health and welfare requirements: nutrition, physical conditioning, rest and free time.
Identifying pain micro-expressions, stress signals and signs of burnout.
Practical application of non-submissive horse training methods.
Rest and free time are welfare requirements, not extras.
1.3
Understanding participant needs and pathologies
Scientific knowledge of physical, cognitive and psychosocial disabilities (e.g. autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cerebral palsy (CP), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)).
Biomechanical effects of the horse’s rhythmic, three-dimensional pelvic movement on neuromotor rehabilitation.
1.4
Communication methods and alternative technologies
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) protocols (visual aids, spatial positioning, gestures).
Sensory processing differences and managing verbal and non-verbal communication.
Visual aids
Spatial positioning
Gestures
1.5
Ecosystemic network mapping
Methods for structured, safe information-sharing across the participant’s support ecosystem (parents and caregivers, medical doctors, therapy centre staff and volunteers).
Erasmus+ project KA210-VET-AB89430F
Structured, safe information-sharing in both directions.
2
Pillar 2 · Act
Professional SkillsHow the professional team should act
This pillar details the measurable, practical capabilities required to facilitate safe and effective sessions.
2.1
Multiplex listening and relational communication
Adjusting vocabulary and communication tools to match the participant’s sensory and cognitive levels.
Developing proactive trust with parents and caregivers during initial onboarding sessions.
2.2
Real-time situational awareness (the Triangle Model)
Simultaneously monitoring the horse’s physical state and mood, the participant’s immediate safety and comfort, and the adequate position of the person leading the horse.
Interpreting sudden shifts in the environment and maintaining safety in the arena or any other area of work with the horse.
Erasmus+ project KA210-VET-AB89430F
The Triangle Model.Mounting from a ramp: one person holds the horse, others support the rider.
2.3
Autonomic self-regulation and stress inoculation
Applying the nervous-system grounding loop under pressure: Stop → Breathe → Observe → Use knowledge → React.
Preventing emotional contagion between the therapist, the horse and the participant.
Erasmus+ project KA210-VET-AB89430F
2.4
Technical horsemanship and adaptive riding
Equestrian skills: lunging techniques, long-reining and selecting adaptive tack.
Structuring equine-assisted intervention sessions, which may include riding, to balance therapeutic progress with active equestrian learning.
2.5
Cognitive mediation and dynamic assessment
Applying a “test–mediate–retest” approach to assess a participant’s latent learning potential.
Designing sessions with a threefold goal, combining the participant’s physical rehabilitation and cognitive improvement with the overall welfare of the horse.
Testwhat the participant can do now
Mediatesupport and teach
Retestsee the latent learning potential
Erasmus+ project KA210-VET-AB89430F
The threefold goal of every session.
2.6
Team coordination and volunteer leadership
Clearly structuring roles, safety boundaries and task priorities for arena helpers.
3
Pillar 3 · Be
Professional AttitudesWho the professional team should be
This pillar defines the ethical standards, psychological postures and self-care requirements necessary to sustain a career in EAI.
3.1
A scientific and reflective mindset
Commitment to continuous evidence-based self-development and clinical evaluation.
Engaging in peer supervision, case consultation and professional self-reflection.
Peer work at the Spain workshop.
3.2
Filtered containment and calm assertiveness
Providing a safe environment for the participant’s emotional releases (e.g. fear, frustration, aggression).
Maintaining clear safety boundaries and leadership in high-risk moments.
3.3
Collaborative team spirit (the therapist–instructor–horse handler alliance)
Embodying a shared team attitude, mutual responsibility and fluid position exchange with colleagues.
3.4
Ethical posture towards the horse as a sentient partner
Viewing the horse as a living, feeling co-actor and emotional mirror, rather than a passive tool.
Ensuring the horse’s free attitude and expression are respected, limited only by strict safety criteria.
Letting the horse come forward and make contact.
Team self-check
Does your team cover the Profile?
Tick what your team can already do. The gaps show where to train, or whom to bring in. This checklist is derived from the Professional Profile to help you apply it. Nothing you tick is saved or sent.
0 of 15 covered
Pillar 1 · Know
Pillar 2 · Act
Pillar 3 · Be
Download and share
Take the Profile with you
The PDF has the same text and diagrams as this page, in black and white and without photos, so it is light to download and cheap to print.
PDF · opens in a new tab · 11 pages · 572 KB A4, black and white, includes the team self-check as a printable page.
How to cite
EQUEST consortium (2026). The Professional Profile of the Equestrian Therapeutic Practitioner (Result 1). Erasmus+ project KA210-VET-AB89430F. Luminar Foundation, C.R.E. “Girolamo De Marco”, AEDEQ.
