IRELAND was represented at the recent HHRF-HETI-CZU International Prague Symposium, which brought together leading researchers, clinicians and practitioners from around the world to examine the developing evidence base around horse-human interaction, equine-assisted services (EAS) and equine wellbeing.

Held at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague (CZU), the symposium was jointly developed by the Horses and Humans Research Foundation (HHRF), Horses in Education and Therapy International (HETI) and CZU, with a programme combining research presentations, expert panels and discussion around the future direction of the sector.

Among the Irish contingent was occupational therapist Audrey Darby, co-founder of EquiSense Integrated Equine Assisted Services. Darby, who has worked within EAS since the early 2000s and helped establish the Equine Assisted Occupational Therapy service at ChildVision in Ireland, contributed her extensive clinical experience as an expert panellist. Her work particularly focuses on neurodevelopment, sensory processing and occupational performance within equine-assisted practice.

Doctoral research

Also contributing was Dr Reeta Seery PhD, whose recently completed doctoral research at Queen’s University Belfast explored practitioner and service-user experiences of EAS and the challenges facing a sector moving towards greater professionalisation. Seery joined the symposium’s international Equine Wellbeing Panel, alongside specialists from the UK, Spain, Israel and the USA.

The Irish Field’s own Dr Helen Sharp PhD presented her emerging Therapeutic Ecology framework, examining equine-assisted services through a One Health perspective and asking how relationships between people, horses, nature and place may shape the conditions in which therapeutic change becomes possible.

The Irish presence was boosted by Nicci Hall, an Educational Psychologist and Equine Assisted Learning specialist, Aisling Dunnion of One Equine Trust and Equine Assisted Learning and Coaching facilitator Mary Berkery. The Irish contingent reflected a broader theme running throughout the Prague meeting: an increasingly interdisciplinary EAS field, in which clinical practice, equine welfare, psychology, research and environmental perspectives are being brought into closer conversation.