Equine assisted services in France: current status and challenges for the future

Equine assisted services consist of connecting a horse and a beneficiary into a therapeutic, educational or social setting. This practice has grown significantly in France over the last ten years, leading to a considerable heteroge- neity in practices, methods used, economic models, trainings offered, and the structures involved. This explorato- ry study seeks to identify the different profiles of professionals working in this sector and to analyse their practic- es, organisations, needs and challenges for the future. To this end, qualitative interviews were first conducted with twelve key professional stakeholders in this sector (practitioners and actors within training, funding or structuring organisations in the sector). In a second step, the analysis of this data made it possible to design a quantitative questionnaire to which 188 equine assisted services practitioners responded. The first results highlight that 93% of respondents are women, the majority work part-time, 63% have a second professional activity (not always related to equines). The main issue encountered is related to financial constraints, which impacts different aspects of the activity, such as covering the cost of horse care, renewing horses, but also purchasing customized equipment. Nevertheless, respondents show a certain optimism about the pursuit of their activity. Among the respondents, 91% express a need for additional training on varied subjects such as equine ethology, human psychology, or specific knowledge about the beneficiaries they work with. The research topics considered as both useful and a priority by the respondents are the benefits of equine assisted services (87%), the human-animal relationship (59%), and equine welfare (55%). This study will help support the development of this emerging sector and iden- tify avenues for scientific research that would further support these activities.