IN a little less than a month Ireland will host the HETI Congress for the first time. This triennial congress began in the 1960s and has evolved over the years. HETI stands for Horses and Education Therapy International.

The congress was previously called the Federation for the Riding for Disabled, however, the as it grew and evolved, organisers felt this name was no longer appropriate and changed it to HETI.

The HETI Congress is taking place in the RDS from June 25th-29th. Over 350 delegates from around the world will attend the congress. Minster for Health Simon Harris will open the congress. There will be a series of presentations throughout the congress covering the latest research in the work that people around the world are doing with people who have physical, psychosocial, socioemotional difficulties or people with mental ill-health.

Through Festina Lente Ireland have been involved in the last three congresses, with an increasing involvement each year. Jill Carey, CEO of Festina Lente and congress chair, was very keen to bring the congress to Dublin. She added: “We were really keen to bring it to Dublin because the whole equine assisted interventions is much better known aboard than it is in Dublin.”

The theme of the congress is ‘Striking the Balance’. The four keynote speakers are from a variety of different equestrian career paths and each speaker is likely to have a very unique input into the congress. To add to the balance of the congress there will be three individuals giving their own personal experience of being a service user.

Adam Farelly has ADHD and has been working with Festina Lente. Rachel Doak is seven years old and has cerebral palsy. She has been attending Festina Lente since she was two years old. The final speaker giving his personal experience is Rory Finnegan. He was in one of the Department of Health funded programmes at Festina Lente and has since gone on to working in the riding school.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

William Micklem is the first keynote speaker at the congress. His talk is titled ‘Going over the EDGE: An empowering approach to coaching’. Micklem is Fellow of the British Horse Society, he designed the Micklem bridle and he wrote the best-selling riding manual in the world – The Complete Horse Riding Manual.

Patrica Pendry is an American researcher who has published a wide range of studies based on the human animal interaction and equine assisted learning. Her recent research will provide the basis for her talk titled: ‘Research on Equine Assisted Activities: Causal findings, implications for practice, and future directions.’

French etiologist and scientist Martine Hausberger has published almost 200 papers on animal interaction. Her studies have been very influential in the development of Festina Lente. She will be addressing horse welfare concerns in her talk – ‘Equines and Equine Assisted Activities – Maintaining Their Welfare and Well-being – the Challenges and the Solutions’.

Ed Bracher has helped to transform the Riding for Disabled UK in recent years. He will be taking about how to run a voluntary, not-for-profit model in his talk: ‘Meeting the Challenges of Supporting Riders with Support Needs in a Modern and Efficient Manner’