WHY BECOME QUALIFIED WITH AMTHA
Setting the Standard
AMTHA was the first organization to set Standards of Operations and Behaviors and offer a Qualification process exclusively for Miniature Therapy Equine teams.
Our Standards were written by a select group of practicing miniature therapy horse owners and trainers with many years of experience in this field. The standards are reviewed annually and are updated as needed. Our standards offer a roadmap for handlers to follow in training a miniature therapy horse.
Safety
For miniature horse owners and handlers the first priority in working with a horse should be safety. Safety for the horse, the handler, and anyone interacting with the horse. This is particularly important if you are training your horse to provide any form of therapy for the benefit of others. Those served by miniature therapy horses are often young, elderly, or fragile in some way and must be kept safe and protected.
Knowledge
Knowledge and training to the AMTHA standards is required of both handler and horse to become an AMTHA Qualified Miniature Therapy Horse team. These requirements go well beyond general horse training. Miniature horses, although small, are still ‘flight animals’ who can startle at the slightest object or sound unfamiliar to them. As prey animals this is a natural instinct that has protected them from predators for thousands of years.
Professionalism
Teams who have trained to the AMTHA standards have the ability to maneuver through any indoor or outdoor space, around obstacles and/or situations that would otherwise cause fear to a horse. These capabilities are paramount to professionally serving nursing home residents, hospital patients, and children.
Following the lock downs of the Covid-19 pandemic, nursing home facilities and hospitals began vetting their roster of visiting animals more closely. Many facilities are now requiring written proof that visiting miniature therapy horse teams have the training, knowledge, and professionalism required to safely serve their fragile communities.
Online Database for Facility Managers
As a free service, AMTHA maintains an online database for facility managers to verify the credentials of teams they are considering. This database contains a list of all AMTHA Qualified Teams, their qualification history, and contact information.
Not only does this make the process of locating qualified teams easy for facility managers, it puts all AMTHA Qualified Miniature Therapy Horse Teams in front of those who are seeking their services.
