Volunteers Training as assistants in Horse Assisted Therapy – Asociación Equinoterapia Girona
During the last years, Asociación Equinoterapia Girona (ADEG) and Fundación para la Promoción del Deporte Ecuestre have already signed, with this in 2019, 9 cooperation agreements; on this occasion, to collaborate in their program to foster volunteering and train volunteers as assistants in Horse Assisted Therapy.
The training program of volunteers as horse-assisted therapy assistants was developed in several blocks: Theory (5 hours), Horseback riding (5 hours of which 3 hours riding + 2 hours handling), and practical training for 15 hours (5 hours as observants and 10 involved in the intervention). A total of 25 hours during the months of March to September with the participation of 21 volunteers who assisted 38 users in total.
Specialized volunteer training reverts to the children, youth and adults who benefit from Horse-Assisted Therapies, but also on the volunteers themselves, who are improved by this experience; the centers, that see their therapy sessions reinforced, and associations like ADEG; thus creating a network of relationships among various agents with the support of the Fundación para la Promoción del Deporte Ecuestre.