25 February 2021 Webinar: New international guidelines for equine care and welfare, and equine training and handling
This webinar showcases the publication of IAHAIO’s new international guidelines on equine care and welfare, and equine training and handling for equines in therapy services, education and learning, adaptive/therapeutic riding and horsemanship (equine-assisted services). Drawing on extensive knowledge and experience, our three expert presenters will explain why good welfare standards for equines are crucial and how service providers can ensure that equines are suitably trained and cared for when engaged in therapy services, education and learning services, or adaptive/therapeutic riding and horsemanship activities. There will be opportunity for discussion of the guidelines during the webinar.
Attendees are encouraged to read the new IAHAIO guidelines before the webinar, if possible, although the main points will be covered in the webinar.
Webinar chair: Karin Hediger, IAHAIO VP Education
Presenters
Kathy Alm (CEO Path Intl)
Kathy Alm began her service as Chief Executive Officer of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, International (PATH Intl.) in 2014. For the previous 15 years she served as Executive Director of Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center in Washington state. She served as PATH Intl.’s board president in the 2010-2012 term, first joining the board of trustees in 2005. Kathy has facilitated numerous workshops and presentations on Equine-assisted Services (EAS) nationally and internationally as well as trainings on fundraising, board development, and organizational sustainability. Most recently, Kathy led an initiative to build consensus on optimal terminology for EAS. The resulting Optimal Terminology for Services in the United States That Incorporate Horses to Benefit People: A Consensus Document (Wood, Alm, Benjamin, Thomas, Anderson, Pohl, Kane, 2020) was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Kathy holds a BA from Pacific Lutheran University. Her dedication to EAS spans over 21 years with a passion that was ignited the moment she walked through the door at her first therapeutic riding center.
Terri Brosnan (Head of the Equine Assisted Therapy Unit in ChildVision)
Terri Brosnan is head of the Equine Assisted Therapy Unit in ChildVision, which is the national education centre for visually impaired children in Ireland. Terri has a lifetime of equine experience having worked as an instructor, yard manager, and business and marketing consultant to the equine industry. In ChildVision she has assembled a team of equine specialists and therapists, working together to provide a unified approach to equine assisted services. She is one of the founders of Equine Assisted Ireland, and is a member of the AIRE (Association Irish Riding Establishments) executive council. She is currently working with Horse Sport Ireland, to develop a syllabus for a new education program for Equine Assisted Services.
Nina Ekholm Fry (University of Denver, Institute for Human-Animal Connection)
Nina Ekholm Fry, MSSc., CCTP, is Director of Equine Programs at the Institute for Human-Animal Connection at University of Denver where her work encompasses therapeutic human-horse interactions and equine behavior and welfare. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate School of Social Work and the Graduate School of Professional Psychology, and leads the post-master Equine-Assisted Mental Health Practitioner Certificate program. For the past 15 years, she has focused on horses in human services, specializing in inclusion of equine interactions in psychotherapy and counseling. Nina is the Vice President of the American Hippotherapy Association (AHA Inc.), the immediate past Co-Chair of the Certification Board for Equine Interaction Professionals (CBEIP) and serves as the Chief Editor of the HETI Journal: International Research and Practice, published by the International Federation of Horses in Education and Therapy (HETI). Nina has a background as a psychotherapist with a focus on trauma, as a competitive rider and equine behavior consultant, and as an academic professional and speaker actively engaged in national and international organizations for both human and equine health. She has a particular interest in applied ethics and social justice perspectives within human-animal interactions.