Nederlandse Stichting Helpen met Paarden – Equitherapie (SHP-E(NL))

“Promoting science-based Equitherapy and therapeutic riding across the Netherlands and Benelux.”

Objectives of the Foundation

A Dutch national foundation promoting science-based Equitherapy (equine-assisted therapy) and therapeutic riding, SHP-E(NL) is a non-profit organization with the following key objectives:

• Make therapeutic riding and equine-assisted therapy better known in the Netherlands and Benelux.
• Offer comprehensive training and advanced training for Equitherapists SHP-E(NL).
• Assure the quality of Equitherapy provided by Equitherapists trained at the Foundation.
• Use public relations to inform about the characteristics of quality Equitherapy and properly trained Equitherapists to help clients choose the right therapist.
• Raise funds to support socially and financially weak clients in need of Equitherapy.
• Conduct negotiations with insurance institutions, health insurance funds, and government agencies regarding insurance coverage of Equitherapy provided by certified and registered Equitherapists.
• Participate in international cooperation projects for assuring and enhancing the quality of Equitherapy training (the Foundation is an associate member of FATP, an initiative of German-speaking countries and the Netherlands aimed at promoting equine-assisted therapy).

The organization has developed a training and organization system for Equitherapists who may use the certified name and logo Equitherapist SHP-E(NL) only if they conform to a system of training, supervision, quality standards, and the ethical code of SHP-E(NL). The therapeutic quality of the horse is described as a systematic and central factor (intermediate) within the therapeutic process.

The Foundation organizes further training courses for Equitherapists in the Netherlands and is ready to share its knowledge and expertise with other countries within the framework of international contacts. Its revenue is derived from donations and contributions paid by registered therapists and currently trained Equitherapists.

The EAT concept of SHP-E(NL) involves both pedagogical processes and psychotherapeutic processes with the horse as a central factor. Therapist, client, and horse start a relationship with each other, and within this triangular relationship, a well-structured dialogue in movement between client and horse is conducted by the therapist.

Both working forms start from the assumption that clients are given the opportunity to embark on a journey to their inner self, exploring possibilities and limits within a novel, non-negatively connoted situation with horse and therapist inside a safe relational triangle. This allows them to experience alternatives to daily situations and interactions and take them home to improve their quality of life.

Remedial and Pedagogical Processes

Vaulting/riding and opening a dialogue in movement and relation with a horse in a remedial and pedagogical context is a holistic concept that interferes with a (still) ongoing developmental process. It offers supplementary options that children, young people, and adults do not experience in daily life, opening up new avenues of perception and invitation to test alternative actions.

Psychotherapeutic Processes

In psychotherapeutic vaulting/riding with clients interacting with the horse, we deal with largely concluded and partially unsatisfactory aspects of developmental processes where clients have responded (often for years) with mechanisms of denial, repression, and coping. The process focuses on unmet needs while offering alternatives in perception, interaction, and feelings.

A Resources-Oriented Holistic Approach

We do not see our work as problem-oriented, but rather as a holistic approach using the client’s strengths and possibilities. A possibility sphere is created—a state wherein they can discover new potentials through the relationship established with the horse, therapist, and participants.

The Role of the Horse & Training Program

The Therapy Horse: The therapy horse is a well-trained, willingly cooperative animal treated with respect. It is not expected to obey unconditionally. The therapy horse is friendly, enjoys human contact, and is trained in standard therapy situations including elementary classical dressage and lunging. To cope with its job, it must be given sufficient leisure to relax on pastures in the company of other horses.

The Training Program: SHP-E(NL) offers a two-year Equitherapy course at the HippoCampus Training Centre for students with basic psychotherapeutic, psychosocial, or educational backgrounds, as well as riding instructors. Students may specialize in:

• Therapeutic vaulting and/or therapeutic riding (equine techniques)
• Remedial work, psychosocial work, developmental enhancement, equine-facilitated psychotherapy, or rehabilitation and reintegration

Instructors finish after one year with the certificate of Assistant in Equitherapy. Therapists continue for a second year to finish as a certified Equitherapist SHP-E(NL).

Registration & FATP Affiliation: Registration requires refresher courses and supervision sessions every 2 years. The education is affiliated with German, Austrian, and Swiss therapeutic riding organizations attending the FATP (Forum der Ausbildungsträger einer Therapie mit dem Pferd).