The cultivated equine-assisted therapist

Built around six themes of reflection concerning the history of equine-assisted therapy, the industry, the role of horses in therapy, the professional framework, and practitioner identity, this essay on equitherapy can be read with benefit by various audiences: curious newcomers to equine-assisted work (who will find information and avenues to support their research), project initiators or future professionals (for whom the different themes may contribute to their training and help them gain perspective on common questions or widely held assumptions), as well as experienced equine mediators or equitherapists (who will find more advanced reflections, topics for debate, and perhaps information on lesser-known aspects of the institutional landscape and the development of the field).