Learning is at the core of what we all do at Festina Lente – at an individual, team and organisational level. Attending conferences, carrying evaluation and research studies are two ways that we promote this. Some of the conferences we have either presented and/or attended recently include:

Our conference in May was a fantastic success with many Irish speakers talking about initiatives and programmes they have started over the past few years. Many thanks to Horse Sport Ireland for thier support in making this conference affordable for over 100 people.

Conferences we attended during 2009 – 2010 included:

• Munster, Germany August 2009 : Federationa of Riding for the Disabled International (FRDI) (attended & presented)
• Stockholm, Sweden July 2010:International Association of Human Assisted Interventions (IAHIO)(attended & presented)
• Maidenhead, UK October 2010: European Association of Horse Assisted Education (EAHAE) (attended & presented)
• Turin Italy October 2010 :Italian Federation for Riding for the Disabled (attended & presented)

At present, there are a number of research studies being carried out with a view to presenting them at the FRDI Confernece in Athens in April 2012, and inlcude :

• Evaluation of continuous feeding for all stabled horses
• Evaluation of the recently developed Therapeutic Riding Coach Training Programme
• An exploratory study of the impact of Supported Helpers Programme on the well-being of young people with a disability

Some examples of compelted studies include:

Exploratory study on Therapeutic Riding 2010 With the assistance and support from Enterprise Ireland, Festina Lente appointed UCD to carry out a study of stakeholders knowledge and attitudes towards the use of therapeutic horse riding for children with a disability. This was done through the School of Public Health Physiotherapy and Population Science within University Colleeg dublin.
A study of stakeholders knowledge and attitudes towards the use of therapeutic horse riding for children with a disability

Festina Lente has just completed the two year evaluation of the Allied Irish Bank sponsored Equine Assisted Learning service 2008 – 2009.
This will be available for viewing / downloading shortly.

Benefits of Equine Assisted Learning

Exploring the Development and Use of Equine Assisted Personal Development for adults with a Mild/Moderate Intellectual Disability

Using TAG (teaching with acoustical guidance) to support learning

Benefits of using a mechanical horse as a learning aid
Clicker Training with horses

Impact of horses wearing crossover bitless bridles

Exploring the Development and Use of Equine Assisted Personal Development for adults with a Mild/Moderate Intellectual Disability Marian O’Gorman BA (Hons) A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Developmental Disabilities. Thesis_MOG