This May we had a Learning Exchange Activity as part of our project Youth in Equine-Assisted Therapy, supported by the Erasmus+ Program.
The 5 day event gathered diverse participants from Bulgaria, France, and Belgium in the beautiful village of Chavdar, Bulgaria. We and the staff members of our partner organizations were excited to welcome young and experienced professionals of equine-assisted therapy, youth workers, young people with special needs, and their kind accompanying persons. The first days we dedicated to getting to know each other, visiting cultural places, and working on topics of equine-assisted therapy from the point of view of each group of participants. It was followed by two days at the horse ranch where our organization provides equine-assisted therapy sessions. The on-field work was exciting and gave a chance to everyone for close contact with the horses. The young people in the group received their first equine-assisted therapy sessions by the different professionals from Bulgaria, France, and Belgium. All activities gave us a chance to reflect on different practices and apply some of them. The last day we dedicated to evaluate our experience and receive valuable feedbacks from each of our participants. One example of the remarkable results participants achieved was a new concept for a project by Association For You involving the young people with special needs and the equine professional from Bulgaria.
The information we collected during the event from that diverse group will be reflected in the Youth in Equine-Assisted Therapy Guidelines that will be available in 2023.
We are grateful for the participation and input of everyone and hope to see each other again!
More about the project you can find here.
Official number of the project: 2021-1-BG01-KA220-YOU-000029078 'This project is funded with the support of the European Commission. This publication reflects only the personal views of its author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for the use of the information contained therein.'