Can I Study Equine Assisted Services Online?

Can you study Equine Assisted Services online and still become competent in practice? YES!

After several years of running highly specialised education online, I have seen that it can work very well – including for subjects that require practical skills. The important question is not whether the tutor and learner are sitting in the same room. It is how the learning is organised, how much time learners have to understand and revisit the material, what they are required to practise, and how their practical work is assessed

Four days in a classroom does not guarantee four days of learning

I have attended and taught many in person courses during my career. They were stimulating and useful, but there was a practical problem: a large amount of information is delivered in a very short time. Theory, demonstrations, discussions and practical exercises may all be compressed into two, three or four days. At the time, everything can appear clear. Then you return home, open your notes and try to reproduce what you saw.

How much do we really remember? There is no scientifically defensible percentage that applies to everybody. What educational research does show consistently is that learning distributed over time is retained better than information concentrated into one intensive period. Repetition, returning to material and applying knowledge over a longer period all support learning. Online education offers a valuable opportunity to work in this way.

The advantage of online education is that you can learn, practise, review, receive feedback and then practise again.

You can return to the teaching

In a live lecture, if you miss an explanation, it is gone. Perhaps you wrote something in your notes. Perhaps you did not understand it well enough at the time to realise that you needed to ask.

With recorded teaching, you can stop. Go back. Watch a demonstration again. Return to a difficult lesson after you have gained more practical experience and suddenly understand something that meant very little to you three months earlier. This is particularly valuable in Equine Assisted Services because learners are often learning several areas at the same time: their own professional role, equine behaviour and welfare, movement, safety, teamwork and practical decision-making. I do not expect a learner to understand everything after hearing it once. I would rather give them the option to return to the material when they are ready to understand the next layer.

Technology has also expanded access to education for people who previously had very limited choices. Geography no longer decides which lecturer you can learn from. Subtitles, translated materials and other language tools can greatly reduce language barriers. Learners who cannot travel due to cost, visas, political restrictions, or work or family responsibilities can still access specialist international education. For a field as international and relatively small as Equine Assisted Services, that is a considerable advantage.

Practical training can happen online – but the practice itself is real

This is probably where the greatest misunderstanding occurs. When I say that we run courses fully online, I do not mean that learners learn horsemanship by watching a video and then receive a certificate. They receive detailed practical assignments and clear criteria. They go to an equine, a centre or their practice environment and actually perform the task. Their work is recorded. They submit the recording and receive individual feedback.

The practical work is real. The education, supervision and assessment are delivered online. I have found this format extremely useful because the recording itself becomes part of the learning process.

During a practical workshop, I may watch you perform something and correct you immediately. That is valuable. But afterwards, you remember the situation mainly from your own perspective. When your work is recorded, you can see yourself. You can observe where your hands were, how you positioned yourself, how the equine responded, how much time you allowed, what you noticed and what you completely missed. I can look at exactly the same moment and give you detailed feedback. You can then return to your environment, practise again and compare the result. Video review is also used because seeing one’s own performance can support reflection, skill development and feedback.

Online does not mean easier

A serious online course can actually ask more from the learner than spending a few days at a workshop. You have to organise your practice. You have to demonstrate your own work rather than disappear within a group of participants. You have to submit evidence, respond to feedback and sometimes repeat a task because the first attempt was not good enough. That process tells me much more about a learner’s developing competence than attendance alone.

So, can you study Equine Assisted Services online?

Yes. I have no hesitation about that.

High-quality online education gives learners time to learn over months rather than days, revisit complex material, practise in their own environment and receive feedback on what they actually do. It also makes specialist education accessible across countries, languages and circumstances that may make international travel impossible.

For Equine Assisted Services, practical competence must still be demonstrated. But the tutor does not have to stand beside you every time for that practice to be observed, analysed and assessed. After years of teaching in this format, I have seen learners successfully develop practical competence. Technology has not removed the practical part of education. It has given us another way to teach it, observe it and return to it repeatedly.

Svítání online accredited educational programmes are built around this principle: substantial theoretical learning, clear practical assignments, recorded evidence, individual feedback and enough time for learners to apply what they are learning rather than trying to remember an intensive few days.

This article is part of a series addressing the practical questions people face when considering a career in Equine Assisted Services.

The next article in the series will explore: How Long Does It Take to Become Qualified in Equine Assisted Services?

About Vera’s EAS Lens

Vera’s EAS Lens – An Expert Guide to Equine Assisted Therapy and Services is written by Vera Lantelme-Faisan, MSc, a physiotherapist, educator and international lecturer with more than 25 years of clinical and teaching experience in Equine Assisted Therapy and Services.

The blog examines professional practice, education, safety, clinical decision-making and equine welfare through the lens of real experience. It is written for practitioners, learners and anyone seeking a clearer understanding of responsible Equine Assisted Services.

If you are curious to learn more about Equine Assisted Services and how they are understood and practised today, you can explore further information here: https://hipoterapie-kurzy.com/eas/

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