Equestrian Therapy

Guides

Organizations and Support

The Organizations category highlights the nonprofits, associations, and training bodies that shape the field of equine-assisted services. Here you’ll find clear, plain-language profiles of national and regional organizations such as PATH Intl., CanTRA, Eagala, ARCH, Horses4Heroes, BraveHearts, and others that support program quality, professional education, research, and community access.

9 articles in this category

Organizations and Support

What Is EAGALA? The Ground-Based Equine Therapy Model

No saddle, no riding, no lead from the therapist. EAGALA built one of the field's most distinctive models on a simple idea: put a person and a loose horse in an arena, and let the horse tell the truth.

Organizations and Support

How to Support Your Local Riding Center

You do not need deep pockets or a free weekend to keep a riding center running. A wish-list item, a shared post, an afternoon at a fundraiser — here are the many ways to help, big and small.

Organizations and Support

Volunteering at a Riding Center: Roles and How to Start

You do not need to know a thing about horses to be useful at a riding center. You need patience, a steady presence, and a willingness to learn — the rest is taught. Here is what volunteers actually do.

Organizations and Support

Nonprofits Supporting Equine-Assisted Programs in North America

Behind nearly every riding center is a web of nonprofits — some write the rules, some train the instructors, some run the barns. Here is who does what across the US and Canada.

Organizations and Support

Horses4Heroes: What They Do and Where They Operate

After 9/11, one Las Vegas family opened their ranch to give free horse rides to military and first-responder kids. Two decades on, Horses4Heroes has welcomed more than 10,000 riders.

Organizations and Support

CanTRA: Canada’s Home for Therapeutic Riding Education and Standards

If a Canadian riding centre calls itself accredited, one national charity stands behind that word. Since 1980, CanTRA has set the standards, trained the instructors, and vouched for the programs.

Organizations and Support

PATH International: Accreditation, Certifications, and Organizational Role

When you see "PATH Intl. Premier Accredited Center" on a listing, it isn't marketing — it points to a specific set of standards, a site visit, and a credential that's now the only one of its kind in the equine world.

Organizations and Support

National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy: Programs, Setting, and Community Role

One of the country's first equine-therapy centers sits on twelve quiet acres south of San Francisco, where for more than fifty years NCEFT has paired licensed therapists with horses.

Organizations and Support

American Hippotherapy Association: Mission, Education, and Role in the Field

Behind the word "hippotherapy" sits a small nonprofit that quietly shaped how American clinicians are trained to bring horses into therapy. Here is what the AHA actually does.

How to Support Your Local Riding Center

You do not need deep pockets or a free weekend to keep a riding center running. A wish-list item, a shared post, an afternoon at a fundraiser — here are the many ways to help, big and small.