The FATP as representative of a cross-border European quality standard in AMAT

Forum der Ausbildungsträger einer Therapie mit dem Pferd

Many who would like to work with people and horses feel a calling to become an equitherapist. Because of this, training schemes for equitherapists appear to be a very sell-able item. Some want to become an equitherapist even though their primary profession does not qualify them to support clients through therapeutic processes, and regardless of the fact that they do not have enough equine knowledge and experience to involve the horse in this activity in a meaningful manner.

As a result, there are also many unprofessional training providers on the free market, with new ones developing continually while others disappear. Just as for clients, it is not easy for those seeking a qualification to sort the wheat from the chaff, and to critically examine the offers of training and further education. There seemed and still seems to be an urgent need for guidance in the form of clear quality criteria.

For this reason, the long-standing German-speaking organizations linked up with the Dutch foundation promoting science-based equitherapy in 2000 to form an international forum of training providers on equine mediated therapies, the FATP (Forum der Ausbildungsträger einer Therapie mit dem Pferd). It has analysed and compared the therapeutic riding methods and training principles in the pedagogical, psychological, and rehabilitation fields.

This allowed the organizations to profit from each other's experiences. There was respect for the diversity among the various methods and their heritage, and information on them was exchanged. But there were also many mutual core values that bound them together, and set them apart from other training and further education courses for therapeutic riding available on the free market. These core values defined the forum's quality criteria. In the course of collaboration, the concepts of the founder organizations belonging to the FATP have grown closer and enriched each other, despite the differences in their traditional emphases.

This has also led to a joint provision of training. What all FATP members have in common is that the therapist is at the same time also the equine expert. They all emphasize the triangular relationship and the movement dialogue with and on the horse as a holistic humanist concept that binds together psychomotor, sociomotor, and cognitive elements. Within this framework, the horse should have a central role as an individual within the relationship triangle. Providing horses with appropriate habitation and training is seen as a requisite.

Core Principles and Approach

The therapist has a duty to conform to an ethical code in relation to the client, the horse, and his or her own training. The training for "equine assisted therapist" is seen as an additional qualification on top of the therapist's supporting primary profession and equine qualification. The equitherapist trains his therapy horse, keeps it fit, and maintains a relationship to it.

The therapist's holistic humanist approach forms the backbone of the therapy concept, with continuous attention being paid to the progression of the therapy, the function of the horse, and the equitherapist's own function. Within this approach, the relationship between (the individual) horse and the (individual) person, supported by the pedagogue or therapist, is an essential factor in all training models. The differences lie in the directional focus and the equine technique being used.

Today, the FATP has shared ethical standards, definitions of the therapeutic models, and of the function of the horse in the context of these models, as well as minimal quality criteria for the training courses. In 2009, the forum was established as a corporate body with all the associated legal and organizational consequences. The FATP is also open to other organizations that offer training, provided they meet the required standards for quality, ethics, content, and organization.

The Shared Topics of the FATP – Qualifications

The forum of training providers of an equine-assisted therapy (FATP) encompasses the associations named below. These associations offer additional qualifications for an equine-assisted therapy, in differing forms and with different priorities. The additional qualifications awarded by members of the FATP are seen as "a tool for equine assisted pedagogical and/or psychosocial and/or neurophysiological rehabilitation and/or equine assisted developmental support and/or psychotherapy".

The original founding associations from 2000 to 2008 were:

1. Deutsches Kuratorium für Therapeutisches Reiten (DKThR) (D) – German board for therapeutic riding
2. Förderkreis für Therapeutisches Reiten e.V. (D) – Society for the promotion of therapeutic riding
3. Österreichisches Kuratorium für Therapeutisches Reiten (ÖKThR) (A) – Austrian board for therapeutic riding
4. Schweizer Gruppe für Therapeutisches Reiten (SG-TR) (CH) – Swiss group for therapeutic riding
5. Schweizerische Vereinigung für Heilpädagogisches Reiten (SV-HPR) (CH) – Swiss association for therapeutic riding
6. Nederlandse Stichting Helpen met Paarden – Equitherapie (SHP-E) (NL) – Dutch national foundation promoting science-based equitherapy and therapeutic riding

The following aspects are the primary aims of the FATP shared agreement:

• Professional ethics
• Extent and content of the training
• Professional and hippological conditions
• Shared public image
• Cooperation, collaboration, and mutual support
• Quality criteria and quality assurance
• Continuing education and certification
• Continuing development of training courses
• Documentation of training courses
• Admission criteria for training courses
• Contact with groups with a similar outlook
• Cross-border standards and recognition

Training Requirements, Topics & Structure

Suitability Requirements

As a rule, the professional requirement for admission to the additional qualification is a completed professional training in a pedagogical, psychosocial, and/or rehabilitation-related field. Furthermore, the additional qualification is tied to hippological and equestrian qualifications in theory and practice, which are defined by the associations.

Topics Taught in FATP Organizations

• Relationship building human – horse
• Sitting in on classes (e.g., in institutions carrying out therapeutic riding / vaulting)
• Self-awareness with and on the horse
• Planning, execution of, and reflection on practical work
• Introduction to target groups of therapeutic riding
• Reflection on pedagogue / therapist conduct
• Selecting, training, and maintaining the health of the therapy horse
• Purpose and role of the therapy horse
• Accident prevention and insurance matters
• Continuing education opportunities

Structure of Additional Qualifications

The aim of the course modules is to bring specific topics together with the trainee's knowledge and abilities stemming from their primary profession and their equestrian training. This prepares participants for independent work in equine-assisted therapy. Providers expect periods of practical training under qualified supervision, critical reflection, and a written seminar paper or thesis.

Mutual Recognition & European Cooperation in AMAT

In recognition of the internationalization of qualifications in a unified Europe and the growing mobility of people with a qualification in therapeutic riding, FATP members have decided in favour of comprehensive cooperation. They reciprocally recognize qualifications of other training providers in therapeutic riding in their own country. As a joint arrangement, the FATP provides its own universal labelling based on the qualification provided by the respective association.