HEALS

HEALS is an Equine Assisted program based in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Ireland. Rancho Bosque is proud to maintain close ties with HEALS, and its founder, Kevin Smith.

Drs. Allan and Jane Hamilton will be presenting the following courses at
HEALS in July, 2011:

July 5 & 6 Equine Assisted Therapy/Learning Course
July 7 Selecting and Training Horses for EAT/L
July 8 Horses and Spirituality

VENUE: Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE) in Kildare

Download a Flyer with complete details and registration.

HEALS VISION
The Vision of HEALS is to see the horse – traditionally regarded as a beast of burden, an instrument of war and/or a player in human controlled sports – become widely recognised as a very effective partner with humans in therapy i.e. physiotherapy, psychotherapy, rehabilitation and aid. Moreover, HEALS envisages Ireland becoming an International Centre of Excellence for Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) and Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT)

MISSION AND OBJECTIVES
Its Mission is to develop a network of people - nationally and internationally - who are engaged in different aspects of equine assisted therapy (EAT), rehabilitation and aid in pursuit of the following objectives:

• To create a synergistic approach in illuminating the value of EAT for disabled and/or deprived and/or disadvantaged and/or delinquent and/or otherwise afflicted people in our society.
  
• To raise levels of awareness of the scope, benefits and practice of Equine Assisted Therapy.
  
• To promote the need for qualification programmes in Equine Assisted Therapy (physiotherapy and psychotherapy) in Ireland.
  
• To encourage the establishment of fully equipped Equine Assisted Therapy Centres throughout Ireland.
  

Equine Assisted Therapy in Ireland and Europe

Though references to the value of hippotherapy were included in the writings of the ancient Greeks, it was not until the 1950s that the benefits of using the horse in human therapy came into prominence after Liz Hartl who, despite her paralysis by poliomyelitis, won a silver medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games. Then, two physiotherapists Mrs. Bodthker (Norway) and Miss Harpoth (Denmark) began to prescribe horse therapy for patients. The emergence of formalised Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) is much more recentRiding for the Disabled - Ireland (RDAI), which was founded in January 1969, has 80 groups countrywide - totally reliant for its great work on volunteers and (available on week days only) commercial training centres. Ironically, more volunteers could be attracted at week ends.

The Irish Horse Welfare Trust (llIWT) was founded in 1999 and in addition to its splendid work on rescue and rehabilitation of horse and ponies - also retrains ex-racehorses for other pursuits which can include therapy riding.

Arising from a well-attended 'seminar, near Dublin in May 2005, on the role of the horse in human therapy, a body called HEALS ('Horse Energy Alleviates Living Scars') was founded.

Visit HEALS to learn more and see their schedule of events.

You may also download their brochure.

Phone 045 435791
St. Anthony's 10 Weston
Newbridge
Co. Kildare, Ireland

E-mail rosaleenbattlessmith@eircom.net

KEVIN G.A. SMITH - Founder ofHEALS
Kevin Smith has had a real love of equines since he was a small boy watching groups of draughts, ponies and donkeys grazing his grandfather's fields in West Cork.

Educated at Blackrock College (when he played rugby for the Senior Schools Cup Team) and UCD (where he was President of the Students' Council and the Irish Students' Association), Kevin went on to establish an independent management development consultancy and operated in that field for over 30 years. A keen horse racing enthusiast since his youth, the Racing Club of Ireland (RCI), which was the consumer body for the industry from 1982-2003, was his brainchild.

RCI pushed hard and successfully on the non-trier issue; betting tax reduction and elimination; and for an improvement in racecourse/betting shop facilities. In the columns of the Sunday Press, on 22nd May 1988, he wrote: "It has played a pivotal role in introducing a new egalitarian era to the Irish turf. While shortcomings still persist,
our racing authorities are now a model of approachability compared to their monolithic counterparts across the Channel - and The Racing Club was the first to batter down the ramparts dividing the turf into 'them' and 'us' in the bad old days".

Following his retirement from management consultancy and consumer protection, Kevin Smith has devoted a considerable amount of his time to the cause of horse welfare and to researching the role of the horse in human therapy - it was from the latter activity that HEALS emerged in 2005.