Professional Equine Learning Certifications
E3A equips you to stand out in the personal and professional development field as a confident certified equine assisted learning practitioner.
Who can become certified?
Individuals who wish to partner with horses so they can offer transformational experiences to their clients through Equine Assisted Learning. These include:
Coaches, Consultants, Educators, Mental Health Professionals, Equestrians
And those from other walks of life. Your ability to help others learn and grow through Equine Experiential Learning is limited only by your imagination!
Your 4 Steps to E3A Level 1 Certification
1. Become a member of E3A
2. Attend Introduction to the Equine Experiential Education Facilitation Method and pass the self test.
2025 Dates
- March 11
- May 6
- July 15
- September 16
- November 18
In this online introductory course, you will learn:
- Your role as facilitator.
- How to create an environment for enriched learning.
- Why horses are best suited to partner with humans in learning environments.
- The 5 Question Model for facilitating equine activities.
Prerequisites: E3A membership
Length/Format: 1.5 hour webinar
Recommended Reading: Open to Outcome, 2nd edition, by Micah Jacobson and Mari Ruddy
Cost: $100
3. Foundations of Equine Experiential Education Facilitation Online
In this 8-week online course, you will explore how horses as co-facilitators provide learning experiences with benefits and how to facilitate transformative experiences via the horse-human connection.
The course will allow you to build your core competencies in the foundational elements of the E3A model before progressing onto the Capstone Arena Experience.
You will learn to:
- Discover how to partner with horses consciously and responsibly while embracing the wisdom of our horse partners.
- Deepen your understanding of horse behaviors and herd dynamics
- Acquire a basic understanding of applied equine experiential facilitation and coaching techniques for E3A facilitators
- Understand how the E3A five question model becomes the framework for successful facilitation
- Recognize the difference between a coaching facilitation approach vs. a therapeutic approach in debriefing horse activities
- Explore strengths and challenges as an E3A facilitator
- Utilize the CHANGE model of learning to explore how individuals’ beliefs, perceptions & values create life results/outcomes
After completing the online Foundations course, you are invited to the in-person Capstone Arena Experience Course – the course fee for the Foundations to Facilitate includes the 5-day Capstone Arena Experience. This brings the theory into practice.
Prerequisite: E3A membership and completing the Introduction to the Equine Experiential Education Facilitation Method Webinar and self test.
2025 Dates
- January 23 - March 20
- March 6 - May 1
- June 19 - August 14
Cost: $4,500 (Capstone Arena Experience Included)
4. E3A Capstone Arena Experience (5 Day Arena session)
Building on the Foundations of Equine Experiential Education Facilitation Online Course, this five day in-person arena class offers participants the opportunity to be actively involved in every horse activity as either a participant or facilitator.
Keeping the size of this Capstone course to a maximum of 12 participants allows you to receive personalized coaching and encouragement from two E3A Master Trainers.
The learning is truly experiential
This arena experience will assist you in gaining the confidence necessary to design and deliver your equine assisted programs.
In the E3A Capstone Arena Experience, you will:
- Practice mentored facilitation of horse activities to learn and build facilitation skills
- Demonstrate a safety protocol using an E3A Safety Framework
- Utilize the 5 Question Model debriefing technique, capture cause and effect within the client context
- Select horses for activities
- Participate in horse activities to gain an understanding of what your clients will experience
- Learn how to set the context for activities to make the debriefing sessions transformative
- Increase understanding of horse and herd behavior and how it is used in Equine-assisted Learning
- Begin learning how to design a transformational EAL workshop from start to finish
- Experience incorporating CliftonStrengths assessment into the debriefing process
Prerequisites
Read the book, Open to Outcome by Micah Jacobson and Mari Ruddy
Attend the Teleclass – Introduction to The Equine Experiential Facilitation Method (C1),
Take the CliftonStrength Assessment online.
2025 Dates and Locations
- May 20-24 at Spirit Song Equestrian Academy in Anna, Texas
- September 9 - 13 in Reno, Nevada
Cost: Capstone is included in Foundations registration fee.
Note:
Travel and lodging for the Capstone is not included in the registration fee.
Level 2 Certification - E3A Practicum
E3A offers their certified equine-assisted learning practitioners the opportunity to become advanced equine-assisted learning practitioners in a specialized area of corporate, education, or personal development and wellbeing.
This advanced certification is a ‘competency-based’ certification for those practitioners who have completed the E3A Certified Practitioner Certification. Those seeking to become advanced practitioners will work with other E3A-certified practitioners to develop a one-day live training with a client group, including all pre-logistics planning and a post-workshop summary with the client.
Value
Our advanced practitioners are leaders in their respective fields. Many certification programs – whether with horses or without – don’t evaluate students on the competencies needed to provide high-quality services in the area of certification.
E3A understands the importance of practitioners having competencies not only with facilitation but also a solid knowledge of horse behavior herd dynamics and how to:
- Write a proposal
- Design and execute an EAL workshop
- Follow up with clients to provide a holistic experience from start to finish.
When you finish the Advanced Certification Practicum, you’ll be confident in providing your clients with an EAL experience exceeding their expectations.
Learning Outcomes of the Advanced Certification Practicum
- Capacity to perform all logistics for conducting a successful EAL one-day workshop
- Skill in selecting client goal appropriate horse exercises
- Ability to select horses for each ground exercise
- Marketing your workshop
- The appropriate use of client assessments
- Program design
- Effective facilitation techniques
- Creating client action plans
- Writing a comprehensive Workshop Summary Report and program follow-up with your client
E3A Advanced Certification Practicum course requirements:
- Complete a series of E3A coaching teleconferences with E3A Master Trainers (8+ hours of coaching) along with preparation via the online course
- Secure a client and host facility to conduct the workshop
- Provide all facility pre-workshop logistics
- Select appropriate horses and design activities to meet client objectives
- Complete a half-day workshop preview for Master Trainers at the host facility the day before the client workshop
- Co-facilitate a one-day workshop
- Complete a Workshop Summary Report to send to the client for a follow-up session the day after your workshop
- Receive feedback and coaching on your workshop from the Master Trainer coaches
- Design and submit an original horse activity and debriefing questions for sharing with E3A
- Pass an evaluation based on 47 competency criteria observed while planning and facilitating your workshop
To learn more about earning your advanced certification, please email us at staff@e3assoc.org.
Registration & Cancelation Policies
Registration process
- Must be a member except where indicated.
- Register via the website only
- Must register to get call info even for free teleclass events
Cancelation policies
- E3A reserves the right to cancel a training if there are not enough participants and will confirm an event 6 weeks before the start date. E3A encourages participants to wait to purchase plane tickets 6 weeks before the event and confirmation has been given.
- Full refund is given 60 days before the event: less admin fee of $50
- Partial refund @90% 45 days before the event: less admin fee of $50
- No refund after 30 days; ok to transfer to another event; must be used within the same calendar year
Become a confident certified practitioner with our E3A Equine Assisted Learning Certifications.
To learn more, call 775-376-2530 or email at staff@e3assoc.org.
