Protecting the Public

Our Core Mission: Your Protection

The Register's fundamental purpose is to create and maintain professional ethics and standards that prioritise the health and wellbeing of clients and service users. These standards serve to protect everyone from harm or injury when engaging in Equine Assisted Services, ensuring that all who access the service can benefit from the highest standards of practice and care.

The Register not only sets out to establish these benchmarks but also acts to protect the public interest in providing a clear and safe means by which service users can raise concerns or complaints about services being offered or provided.

Furthermore, the Register is committed to the conditions of the Equality Act (2010) and expects all Accredited Practitioners (PSA) to act with similar respect at all times. You can read our full Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion statement here.

Understanding Equine Assisted Services

What is Equine Assisted Services and what you might experience in a session?

The market for Equine Assisted Services in the United Kingdom has grown significantly over the last twenty years. While many people are aware of the benefits of therapeutic riding through the work of organisations like Riding for the Disabled (RDA), there is less public awareness of ground-based interactions for wellbeing and therapeutic benefit.

There is also no single, common terminology used to describe these services. To help you understand the field, here is a short summary that outlines some of the different types of practice. To find out more about what you might experience in such a session, please read our short guide to Equine Assisted Service sessions, which also contains links to independent published articles and research.

How We Promote and Maintain High Standards

We set and enforce rigorous standards for ethics, professional practice, education, and horse welfare. Raising and promoting standards is at the heart of the Register's activity. We support this mission by providing guidance, resources, and services to help our members develop and maintain effective and competent practice. Our standards are built on several key pillars that every practitioner must commit to:

• Ethical Principles: A framework designed to guide and inspire Accredited Practitioners (PSA) towards achieving the highest ideals of the profession.
• Professional Standards: A definition of the best operational practice that all practitioners must adhere to.
• Standards of Education and Training: A framework that outlines the minimum educational and training requirements for all Accredited Practitioners (PSA).
• Ethical Framework for the Treatment of Horses: A commitment to ensure the welfare and respectful treatment of all horses involved in interactions.
• Creating a Safe Space: A requirement for practitioners to create and maintain a physically and emotionally safe space for all parties—clients, practitioners, and horses.

Using the Public Register to Find a Practitioner

Choosing a practitioner from our public register guarantees they meet our high standards.

The Register is a public record of professional practitioners delivering Equine Assisted Services. A practitioner's inclusion on this register means that they have been vetted and have demonstrated that they meet or exceed all the standards outlined above, including qualifications in education, commitment to supervision, and ongoing professional development.

Choosing an Accredited Practitioner (PSA) from our Register provides you with the assurance that your practitioner meets the expected standards of proficiency, safety, and ethical practice.

Our Complaints Process

We provide a clear and robust process for raising complaints if direct resolution with a practitioner fails.

All Accredited Practitioners (PSA) are required to have their own complaints policies and processes in place. In the unfortunate event of a complaint, we encourage service users to first seek resolution directly with the practitioner. However, we recognise that this will not always be a satisfactory approach, and some may not feel comfortable raising complaints directly. As such, complaints can be raised directly with the Register.

All complaints we receive are acted upon and formally heard by our Professional Conduct Review Committee. We rely on service users, clients, and the public to bring poor and unethical practice to our attention so we can take appropriate action. All complaints that are upheld by the committee are published on our Professional Conduct Notices page for full transparency.

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) and Other Resources

The PSA oversees registers like ours and provides useful guidance and external resources.

In certain situations, you may wish to seek alternative opinions, conduct additional research, or understand how to escalate concerns. The Professional Standards Authority (PSA), which accredits our Register, is a key resource. While the PSA cannot directly accept complaints about practitioners, they do provide useful signposting guidance for reaching out to other regulators. They also provide a "share your experience" service where members of the public can share their experience on accredited registers.

Other accredited registers may also be a useful source of support or information. For example, in the field of mental health, this includes the British Psychological Society (BPS), the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), or the National Counselling Society (NCS). A complete list of accredited registers can be found on the PSA's website.