HETI - Horses in Education and Therapy International

14/11/2025

🌟🌟🌟WEBINAR ANNOUNCEMENT🌟🌟🌟

We're excited to share that Carlos Ganzabal, CVO of iPoney Outdoors will be our next wonderful webinar speaker! Carlos will be sharing a practical webinar exploring how to design, launch, and grow sustainable equine-assisted projects.

We're really looking forward to this one!

If you're a HETI member, you can register for this webinar for FREE -
https://hetifederation.org/webinar/webinar-20-carlos-ganzabal/

If you're not yet a member, why not consider joining to access this webinar and a host of other member benefits - https://hetifederation.org/membership-plans/

13/11/2025

Our next HETI Live meeting will take place on 25th November at 11am CET (PARIS/BRUSSELS) where Ethics and Equine Welfare task force member, Rita Seery, will be sharing the work the task force are doing to update the Ethical Guidelines.

If you have registered for a HETI Live meeting before, you will automatically receive the meeting link. Otherwise, you can register here: https://hetifederation.org/heti-online/

12/11/2025

We had a wonderful meeting of the HETI Asia-Pacific network with participants from 8 different countries looking at the question, 'How are volunteers/staff trained for EAS within your centre/organisation?'.

It was a really interesting conversation learning from different organisations who have a variety of models in place like online training videos to accompany in-person training, a buddy system where new volunteers are paired with more experienced volunteers/staff, volunteers booklets, competency cards for self and peer assessment, probation periods, colour coded vests/name tags to identify newer volunteers. Some organisations also offered training seminars to enhance training.

We'd love to hear more about volunteer training in other countries too! Is there something you think works really well in your centre/organisation? Are there specific requirements someone needs to have before volunteering with you?

The next Asia-Pacific Network meeting will take place on Tuesday, 9th Nov. If you haven't registered for this meeting, but would like to join, follow the link below:
https://www.surveyhero.com/c/HETIAPN

11/11/2025

We have some great news!!

You can now access all HETI research articles from 2023 onwards for FREE!!

This is just another step that HETI is taking towards sharing great resources, important research and best practice!

To access the free research papers, simply click here:
https://store.hetifederation.org/product-category/journals/?journal_year=2023

10/11/2025

Our Asia-Pacific network will be meeting tomorrow, 11th November!

Join us at:
Tokyo (Japan) 18:00:00
Auckland (New Zealand) 22:00:00
Sydney (Australia) 20:00:00
Perth (Australia) 17:00:00
Hong Kong 17:00:00
Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) 12:00:00
Singapore 17:00:00

We will be discussing how we train our staff and volunteers for the services we provide.

Register here: https://www.surveyhero.com/c/HETIAP

05/11/2025

Yesterday, HETI President, Vera Lantelme-Faisan and Executive Director, Kirstin O'Neill had the privilege of attending and presenting at "The evolving role of horses for human health" EAS symposium Ireland in the utterly stunning, Castle Leslie Estate.

It was a truly inspirational morning hearing about the different EAS modalities available in Ireland and case studies from their services.

It was also a fantastic opportunity to catch up with HETI members from all over Ireland (and a few UK visitors).

We are so excited to see the evolution of EAS in Ireland and to hear the strong message that connection and collaboration are so vital in our field!

02/11/2025

🌟 Congrats to Kiss Me Blue “Chrissy” from our business member Maryland Therapeutic Riding — the 2025 USEF Heart Horse Award winner! ♥️🐴

For 17 years, Chrissy has brought love, joy, and life-changing bonds through Equine Assisted Services.

The 2025 USEF Heart Horse Award winner is Kiss Me Blue, “Chrissy”, from Maryland Therapeutic Riding! ♥️🐴

The USEF Heart Horse Award was developed to bring recognition to the difference that horses are making within our USEF Community Outreach Organizations. For 17 years, Chrissy has been the heart of MTR, serving hundreds through Equine Assisted Services. Her intuition, versatility, and loving heart have created life-changing bonds, defining what it means to be a “heart horse” for so many people.

Congratulations to all four nominees who were named 2025 USEF Heart Horse Award Finalists.

🔹Cinder, Cloverleaf Equine Center
🔹Fearless Kitten, Lucky Orphans Horse Rescue
🔹Valentino F, Gleneayre Equestrian Program

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31/10/2025

Yesterday, we had the 4th meeting of the HETI Latin America Network! It was a wonderful meeting where members of the network from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia and Uruguay presented on the work they're doing.

A huge 'thank you' to Gustavo Dos Santos() and Vera Horne() for facilitating this network! We're so excited to see how quickly the network is growing!

You can watch all the network meetings here:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7loRSVHHCsjXFTCQRvttmytb3fLAo-6n&si=fvNnKp2eAnYc64Sb

If you'd would like to join the network, please register here:
https://forms.gle/m6bD4TKEeXZvHtnX7

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Ayer celebramos la cuarta reunión de la Red HETI de Latinoamérica. Fue una reunión estupenda donde miembros de la red de Brasil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia y Uruguay presentaron sus proyectos.

¡Muchísimas gracias a Gustavo Dos Santos () y Vera Horne () por facilitar esta red! ¡Nos entusiasma ver lo rápido que está creciendo!

Puedes ver todas las reuniones de la red aquí:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7loRSVHHCsjXFTCQRvttmytb3fLAo-6n&si=fvNnKp2eAnYc64Sb

Si quieres unirte a la red, regístrate aquí:

https://forms.gle/m6bD4TKEeXZvHtnX7

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Ontem tivemos o 4º encontro da Rede HETI América Latina! Foi um encontro maravilhoso, onde membros da rede do Brasil, Argentina, Chile, Colômbia, Bolívia e Uruguai apresentaram o trabalho que estão desenvolvendo.

Um enorme agradecimento a Gustavo Dos Santos () e Vera Horne () por facilitarem esta rede! Estamos muito animados em ver como a rede está crescendo rapidamente!

Você pode assistir a todos os encontros da rede aqui:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7loRSVHHCsjXFTCQRvttmytb3fLAo-6n&si=fvNnKp2eAnYc64Sb

Se você gostaria de participar da rede, inscreva-se aqui:
https://forms.gle/m6bD4TKEeXZvHtnX7

30/10/2025

Our HETI Library (https://hetifederation.org/heti-library/) now has books in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish! A helpful resource for many different topics related to EAS!

If you, or someone you know, has published a book related to EAS, why not list it on our website? It's free to do and helps our community access resources they may not know about!

Complete the details of your book here:
https://forms.gle/C6tBfDFFxDDcto9V7

29/10/2025

Vera Lantelme-Faisan , HETI President, recently visited a wonderful riding centre in Crete 🇬🇷, owned by the family of Marianna Grammatikaki , Chair of the HETI Sport Task Force. Marianna is a dedicated coach for para-athletes and successfully supported her athlete on the road to Paris 2024 🏅.

Marianna is now looking to broaden her services, and Vera, as a physiotherapist and Equine Assisted Therapy Clinical Specialist, supported her in selecting suitable equines for a future Equine Assisted Therapy project. 🇨🇿🤝🇬🇷

This visit reflects once again the strength of international cooperation, communication, and collaboration across our global HETI community. 🌍🐴💛

28/10/2025

HETI Vice-President, Alexandra Stergiou, had a wonderful 'meet&chat' with HETI Associate member, Caroline Erviksæter. Caroline spoke about the emotional nature of Shetland ponies and described how they work with children in psychiatric care during sessions where the children do not ride the horses.

She expressed interest in connecting and exchanging ideas with people from different countries and professional backgrounds around the world. Caroline has been an associate member of HETI for about two years and is eager to become more actively involved in our community.

We have really loved the opportunity to meet with members 1:1 and hear their passion for EAS!

25/10/2025

Welcome to our new associate member and the first ever HETI member from Kyrgyzstan - Alisa Korshunova!
Together with her husband, they have been running a hippotherapy center in Bishkek for 7 years. Today with 4 instructors with medical degrees and helpers they provide up to 80 sessions a week.
Looking forward to more of Alisa's story in the upcoming issue of The Global Gallop!