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Lindsey crosbie

• Teachers, Special Education Teachers

• Equine Specialists

• Experiential Educators

• Equestrian Instructors (riding, driving, vaulting, etc.)

• Recreational Therapists

• Life Coaches

• Ministers

• Corporate Leadership Trainers

• Mental Health Therapists (for activities outside of a client’s treatment plan work)

• Occupational, Physical and Speech Therapists

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• Teachers, Special Education Teachers

• Equine Specialists

• Experiential Educators

• Equestrian Instructors (riding, driving, vaulting, etc.)

• Recreational Therapists

• Life Coaches

• Ministers

• Corporate Leadership Trainers

• Mental Health Therapists (for activities outside of a client’s treatment plan work)

• Occupational, Physical and Speech Therapists

Are you an equine assisted pactitioner (or practitioner in training) who needs some help with planning sessions? Maybe you feel your activities are getting a bit repetitive and would like to find ways to make them more fun, or you have lots of great ideas for equine assisted sessions but struggle to get them down on paper? This course will help you create a structured a session plan with clear goals and SMART success criteria that can be used to deliver a fun and fruitful equine assisted session.

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What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Learn why session planning is important in equine assisted services
  • Understand what makes a great equine assisted learning session
  • Learn differentiation strategies for a variety of clients
  • Learn all about task analysis

Syllabus

Introduction
How to Plan an Equine Assisted Learning Session
Why we plan
How we plan
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Activities

Coming soon We're preparing activities for Equine Assisted Session Planning Masterclass. These are activities you can do either before, during, or after a course.

Career center

Learners who complete Equine Assisted Session Planning Masterclass will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Equine Specialist
This course is a Masterclass in Equine Assisted Session Planning, making it profoundly relevant for an Equine Specialist. This professional partners with mental health practitioners, educators, or coaches to facilitate therapeutic and educational activities involving horses. The course directly addresses the core competencies needed to create structured, goal-oriented sessions, ensuring both safety and effectiveness in equine interactions for personal growth and learning. It provides practical frameworks for establishing clear goals and SMART success criteria, and teaches methods for framing and processing participant interactions, which are essential for maximizing the impact of every equine assisted session. Taking this course helps an Equine Specialist refine their planning methodologies and enhance their ability to deliver impactful, well-designed experiences.
Special Education Teacher
A Special Education Teacher works with students who have diverse learning needs, developing individualized education plans to support their academic and personal growth. This course provides invaluable insights into designing highly structured learning sessions. The focus on differentiation strategies for a variety of clients and understanding task analysis are directly applicable to creating inclusive and effective educational interventions. Learning to craft sessions with clear goals and SMART success criteria, as detailed in this course, directly enhances a teacher's ability to develop and deliver targeted instruction that addresses specific student challenges and promotes self-growth through engaging activities. This role often requires a master's degree or specific certification.
Recreational Therapist
A Recreational Therapist plans, directs, and coordinates recreation-based programs to improve physical, mental, and emotional well-being for individuals with diverse needs. For this role, incorporating equine activities can be highly beneficial, and this course's focus on structured session planning becomes invaluable. It provides the tools to establish clear goals and SMART success criteria for therapeutic equine interactions, ensuring activities are purposeful and adaptable through differentiation strategies for diverse client needs. This course can significantly enhance a Recreational Therapist's ability to design effective, engaging, and outcome-oriented programs. This role often requires a master's degree.
Experiential Educator
The Experiential Educator role is deeply aligned with the principles of equine assisted learning, which itself is a form of learning by doing and reflecting. This professional designs and facilitates immersive learning experiences where participants learn through direct engagement. This course helps an Experiential Educator design sessions using the Experiential Learning Cycle, a core theoretical framework in this field. It provides practical methods for structuring activities with clear goals and success criteria, and understanding differentiation strategies, directly enhancing an educator's ability to create impactful and adaptive experiences for personal growth and skill development.
Occupational Therapist
An Occupational Therapist helps individuals participate in daily activities they want and need to do, often using therapeutic activities to improve skills. If an Occupational Therapist integrates equine-assisted activities into their practice, this course provides essential frameworks for program design. It offers a structured approach to session planning, incorporating clear goals and SMART success criteria, and applying differentiation strategies to tailor equine interactions to specific client needs. This can directly enhance motor skills, cognitive function, and social engagement. This course refines an Occupational Therapist's ability to create purposeful and effective interventions. This role typically requires an advanced degree.
Life Coach
A Life Coach guides clients in setting and achieving personal and professional goals through structured conversations and exercises. This course directly supports a Life Coach in structuring their programs, especially if they choose to incorporate experiential modalities like equine interactions. It provides a robust framework for comprehensive session planning, goal setting (including SMART criteria), and understanding client differentiation, all crucial for guiding individuals toward personal growth and professional development effectively. By mastering these planning techniques, a Life Coach can deliver more impactful, customized, and results-oriented coaching experiences.
Physical Therapist
For a Physical Therapist exploring or utilizing equine-assisted interventions, such as hippotherapy, this course provides essential frameworks for session planning. This professional helps individuals improve movement and manage pain. The masterclass helps structure activities with clear physical and functional goals, applying task analysis and differentiation strategies to adapt movements and interactions with equines, thereby enhancing rehabilitation outcomes. This course empowers a Physical Therapist to design targeted, safe, and effective equine-assisted programs that contribute to improved mobility and well-being. This role typically requires an advanced degree.
Youth Development Professional
A Youth Development Professional works to guide the personal, social, and educational growth of young people in various settings. Since equine assisted learning focuses on fostering life skills, self-care, and social skills, it aligns perfectly with the goals of youth development. This course provides a structured approach to designing engaging sessions with clear outcomes. By learning about differentiation and various learning theories, a Youth Development Professional can effectively support young individuals through interactive and experiential activities, enhancing their ability to build character and essential life competencies.
Corporate Leadership Trainer
A Corporate Leadership Trainer designs and delivers programs to develop leadership skills, teamwork, and professional capabilities within organizations. Understanding how to plan and facilitate experiential learning is key to this role. This course, while focused on equine-assisted learning, provides fundamental principles for designing engaging sessions with clear objectives, using differentiation and task analysis to cater to diverse professional development needs, and building crucial leadership qualities and teamwork skills. The structured approach to goal setting and activity planning is directly transferable to corporate training environments.
Speech-Language Pathologist
A Speech Language Pathologist evaluates and treats communication and swallowing disorders. For those interested in incorporating innovative, experiential approaches, this course provides helpful insights for designing targeted sessions. The emphasis on structured planning, goal setting, differentiation strategies, and processing interactions can assist in developing creative, engaging activities with horses to support communication development, social skills, and nonverbal communication. This course helps a Speech Language Pathologist expand their therapeutic toolkit for individuals with diverse communication needs. This role typically requires an advanced degree.
Equestrian Instructor
While a traditional Equestrian Instructor teaches individuals how to ride, drive, or vault with horses, these activities can be incorporated into broader equine assisted learning sessions. This course helps an Equestrian Instructor expand their practice by providing the framework for planning sessions with personal growth goals beyond mere riding mechanics. It covers differentiation and task analysis to enhance the learning experience, transforming skill-based instruction into opportunities for broader personal development. This course empowers an Equestrian Instructor to offer more holistic and impactful equine-based programs.
Outdoor Education Instructor
An Outdoor Education Instructor leads groups in outdoor activities, using natural environments to teach skills, build character, and foster teamwork, often employing experiential learning. This course's focus on session planning, the Experiential Learning Cycle, and structured goal setting is highly relevant to this profession. While not exclusively equine-specific, the principles of designing engaging, goal-oriented activities, differentiation, and processing experiences are directly transferable to any outdoor educational setting. This course may be helpful for an Outdoor Education Instructor seeking to refine their program design and facilitation skills for deeper impact.
Mental Health Therapist
A Mental Health Therapist provides counseling and therapy to individuals. While direct treatment is separate, the course description highlights that equine assisted learning can be used for activities outside a client’s treatment plan work. For a therapist interested in expanding their approach, this course may be helpful in designing structured, engagement sessions. It provides a framework for creating goal-oriented, equine-assisted activities focused on personal growth or skill-building. Learning about differentiation strategies and processing interactions for self-growth can assist in developing complementary therapeutic approaches, offering a unique avenue for supporting clients' well-being and development beyond traditional therapy. This role typically requires an advanced degree.
Program Coordinator
A Program Coordinator oversees the planning, implementation, and evaluation of specific programs or projects within an organization. This course, with its strong emphasis on structured session planning, clear goal setting, SMART success criteria, and understanding the 'why' and 'how' of program design, can significantly enhance their ability to create and execute effective, well-structured initiatives. The principles of differentiation and task analysis taught in this masterclass are universally applicable to managing diverse program participants and ensuring successful outcomes, making this course potentially helpful for a Program Coordinator seeking to elevate their program management skills.
Curriculum Developer
A Curriculum Developer designs, develops, and implements educational programs and materials across various settings. This course could be helpful for a Curriculum Developer due to its emphasis on designing structured learning experiences with clear goals and SMART success criteria. The course details 'how to plan' sessions, incorporate activities, and apply learning theories like the Experiential Learning Cycle, differentiation, and task analysis, all fundamental to creating effective and engaging curricula, whether equine-assisted or otherwise. This provides a robust methodology for developing educational content. A master's degree in education or instructional design is often preferred for this role.

Reading list

We haven't picked any books for this reading list yet.
Practical guide to designing and delivering experiential learning programs. It valuable resource for anyone who wants to use this approach in their teaching or training.
Provides a practical guide to using experiential learning in the workplace. It valuable resource for anyone who wants to use this approach to develop their employees.
Provides a practical guide to designing and delivering experiential learning experiences in higher education. It valuable resource for faculty who want to use this approach in their teaching.
Examines the use of experiential learning to promote career development. It valuable resource for anyone who wants to use this approach to help students prepare for their careers.
Explores the use of task analysis in the design of educational materials and learning environments.
Introduces the theoretical foundations of cognitive task analysis and provides a practical guide to conducting CTA studies.
Explores the use of task analysis in the design of training programs and the evaluation of training outcomes.
Provides a practical guide to conducting task analysis in software engineering projects.
Provides a comprehensive overview of task analysis in human factors, including its applications in the design of work systems and the evaluation of human performance.
Provides a comprehensive overview of task analysis in healthcare, including its applications in the design of healthcare systems and the training of healthcare professionals.
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Daniel Pink's work explores the science of motivation, moving beyond traditional rewards and punishments. Understanding intrinsic motivation is key for personal and professional fulfillment and for leading others effectively. offers valuable insights for individuals seeking to understand their own drivers and for managers aiming to create motivating work environments.
Provides practical tips for effective learning, which can be applied to professional development.
Introduces the powerful concept of the growth mindset, which is fundamental for continuous professional development and adaptability in a changing world. It provides a strong foundation for understanding how beliefs about ability impact learning and success. This is particularly useful for individuals at any stage of their career looking to enhance their learning capacity.
Provides a comprehensive overview of professional development for educators, covering topics such as needs assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

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