April 1, 2019


Included in this communication:
  • Requirements for new candidates (those not presently certified by PATH Intl. as therapeutic riding instructors)
  • Instructions for completing each part of the application
  • Criteria of which candidates will demonstrate mastery to earn PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor (CTRI) certification

Greetings!

In this communication, the PATH Intl. Credentialing Council (PICC) previews the application and supplementary instructions for the PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor (CTRI) credential. The documents provided today  are being released for the purpose of the PATH Intl. CTRI application paperwork pilot and candidate education. All documents are subject to change pending the results of the pilot. The finalized documents to be used for official application submission will be released in June 2019 .

(Important: These documents are for new applicants for the PATH Intl. CTRI certification. These documents do NOT pertain to the requirements for certified instructors already holding PATH Intl. certification to transition to the PATH Intl. CTRI credential.)

Introduction:
The PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor (CTRI) application has five parts:  
  • Part I: Equine Handling Skills
  • Part II: Equine Management Skills
  • Part III: Riding Instruction and Communication of Riding Skills
  • Part IV: Experience Working With Individuals With Disabilities
  • Part V: Supervised Instruction of Therapeutic Riding

Each of the parts will be explained in detail below. Please note that parts I, II and IV provide two options: the applicant can choose either option to meet that requirement.

For each part of the application, guidance is provided for the applicant and, where appropriate, guidance for the person or persons signing off that the requirement has been met.

Part I: Equine Handling Skills
Purpose: This portion of the application is intended to ensure that applicants have demonstrated skills and experience handling equines. 

This part has two options. The applicant meets the requirements of this part by providing documentation of either option on the CTRI application.

Option A:  
Thirty (30) hours of acceptable equine handling experience, whether paid or as a volunteer, under the supervision of a PATH Intl. Certified Instructor (therapeutic riding, driving or interactive vaulting).

Guidance:  
The applicant should already have well-established skills and experience working with equines. The instructor who attests to the applicant’s skills is attesting that they have directly supervised the applicant handling equines for 30 hours or more, AND that the applicant has consistently demonstrated those well-established skills and experience. 

Examples:  
  1. Two hours per week as a horse leader: grooming, tacking, leading in lessons, and turning out equines; for fifteen (15) weeks.  
  2. Bringing in/turning out equines, feeding, grooming and exercising equines as part of the volunteer or paid barn staff. Hours spent directly handling equines count toward this requirement; other chores (for example, sweeping the aisle) do not.

Who approves:
Documentation of Part I: Option A can be signed by any PATH Intl. Certified Instructor, which includes riding instructors, driving instructors and interactive vaulting instructors. (At this time, individuals holding only an ESMHL certification may not verify this requirement.) The verifying instructor must hold a current, compliant PATH Intl. certification during the time the applicant is being supervised. 

Option B:   
Significant past experience and participation as an active member of a recognized equestrian organization, within the past ten (10) years, during which the applicant directly handled equines (for example, leading, grooming, riding or training). 

Guidance:
This option provides an alternative for an applicant who may not have the opportunity to volunteer or work at a therapeutic riding program but has well-established skills and experience working with equines . 

To meet this requirement the applicant must provide signed documentation, including contact information, from an official (trainer, coach, manager, leader, etc.) of a recognized equine organization (see below), detailing specific activities in which the applicant participated that demonstrate well-established skills and experience working with equines. The person signing the form must have directly supervised the applicant during the activities listed on the application . 

Who approves:
Documentation of Part I: Option B can be signed by a trainer, coach, manager, leader, etc., of a recognized equine organization who directly supervised the applicant’s participation in the activities listed on the application. 
For the purposes of this document, a recognized equine organization is one that maintains a training and certification process for the people who participate in or lead its local programs. 

Examples:
  1. Breed associations (such as American Quarter Horse Association, American Morgan Horse Association, Appaloosa Horse Club, etc.)
  2. Equine sports organizations (U.S. Dressage Federation, U.S. Equestrian Federation, U.S. Eventing Association, National High School Rodeo Association, etc.)
  3. Youth organizations (4-H, U.S. Pony Club, etc.) 

Part II: Equine Management Skills
Purpose: This portion of the application is intended to document that the applicant has demonstrated a breadth of knowledge of equines and their management and has demonstrated specific skills in the handling of equines in a therapeutic riding program.  

This part has two options. The applicant meets the requirements of this part by providing documentation of either option on the PATH Intl. CTRI application.

Option A:
Complete the PATH Intl. Equine Management and Handling Skills Checklist with a PATH Intl. Certified Instructor (therapeutic riding, driving or interactive vaulting).

Guidance:
The applicant should review the PATH Intl. Equine Management and Handling Skills Checklist with a PATH Intl. Certified Instructor (see more requirements below). The applicant and instructor do not have to complete the entire checklist at one time—but the applicant must correctly answer and/or demonstrate each of the requirements on the checklist to the satisfaction of the instructor. 

Who approves:
Documentation of Part II: Option A can only be signed by a currently certified and compliant PATH Intl. Therapeutic Riding Instructor. The instructor must have taught a minimum of 120 hours of therapeutic riding lessons after earning their PATH Intl. instructor certification AND be currently certified. The instructor can hold PATH Intl. certification as a PATH Intl. Registered, Advanced or Master Therapeutic Riding Instructor and/or as a PATH Intl. CTRI.  

Option B:
Complete an equine management and handling course or program at a recognized college or university, or from a recognized equine organization, that covers the requirements of the PATH Intl. Equine Management and Handling Skills Checklist.

Guidance:
Applicants who have taken college or university courses on equine management or who have taken equine management course(s) from a recognized equine organization may meet the requirements of Part II: Option B if their coursework (based on syllabus and transcript) covers the same subjects as the PATH Intl. Equine Management and Handling Skills Checklist. 

Who approves:
To meet the requirements of Part II: Option B, the applicant must submit documentation (class syllabus, study guide, etc.) of the course(s), as well as documentation of successful completion (transcript(s), certificate(s) of completion). 

Examples: 
  1. Equine studies coursework at a college (2- or 4-year) or university
  2. U.S. Pony Club H-HM/H/H-A Certification

Part III: Riding Instruction and Communication of Riding Skills
Purpose: The purpose of this portion of the application is to evaluate the applicant’s ability to instruct a rider through a set arena pattern, recorded in a 10-15 minute video. 

Guidance:
A PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor has many responsibilities, but their primary role is to instruct riding skills to people with disabilities. The application provides detailed specifications of what the video must include—the successful applicant will show their ability to instruct .  

The applicant will upload a video and one copy of photo ID to the secure PATH Intl. Dropbox. Individualized access to Dropbox will be provided via email after purchase of the PATH Intl. CTRI application . 

The applicant should carefully review the video specifications in the application before organizing the lesson to be recorded, after the video has been shot, and again before the video is submitted . The specifications are detailed, and applicants should anticipate that completing a successful video shoot may take a considerable amount of time and coordination. 

Additional guidance, including example videos, will be made available by PATH Intl. and the credentialing council in the next three months . 

Who approves:
Applicant videos will be reviewed by PATH Intl. trained evaluators. They will use a rubric developed by the credentialing council to score each video. This rubric will become available to applicants in June 2019.

Part IV: Experience Working With Individuals With Disabilities
Purpose: The purpose of this part of the application is to document the applicant’s experience working with people with disabilities. 

For the purpose of meeting requirements of Part IV, the applicant can only document hours spent working with people with disabilities to whom the applicant is not related .

This part has two options. The applicant meets the requirements of this part by providing documentation of either option on the PATH Intl. CTRI application.

Option A:
Twenty-five (25) hours of volunteer experience working with people with disabilities in therapeutic riding lessons (leader, sidewalker or instructor’s aide). 

Guidance:
The applicant should have direct interaction with lesson participants, whether as a leader, sidewalker or aide. Time the applicant spends as a program volunteer but away from direct interaction with lesson participants (for example, prepping equines for the next lesson or doing barn chores) cannot be included.

Who approves:
Documentation of Part IV: Option A can only be signed by a currently certified and compliant PATH Intl. Therapeutic Riding Instructor. The instructor can hold PATH Intl. certification as a Registered, Advanced or Master Therapeutic Riding Instructor and/or as a PATH Intl. CTRI.

Option B:
Twenty-five (25) hours of volunteer or paid experience working with people with disabilities in a setting other than a therapeutic riding program. 

Guidance:
The applicant can submit documentation of paid or volunteer experience. Time reported by the applicant should involve direct interaction with one or more people with disabilities, in a recognized school, organization, residential facility or other setting.  

 Who approves:
Documentation of Part IV: Option B is signed by the supervisor (coach, manager, program director, etc.) in each setting where the applicant has volunteered or been employed. If the applicant is submitting hours from more than one, program they should submit a copy of Part IV: Option B for each program. 

Examples:
  1. Special Olympics
  2. School classroom staff, aides, volunteers
  3. Residential setting staff, aides, volunteers
  4. Personal support providers (to people not related to the applicant)

Part V: Supervised Instruction of Therapeutic Riding
Purpose: The purpose of this part of the application is to document that the applicant has a minimum of twenty-five (25) hours of experience instructing therapeutic riding lessons to participants with disabilities under the supervision of a PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor (CTRI). 

Guidance:
Of the required twenty-five (25) hours:
  • A mininum of thirteen (13) hours must involve teaching therapeutic riding lessons to two or more students in a group lesson.
  • A minimum of three (3) hours must involve teaching therapeutic riding lessons to two or more students in a group lesson, where each rider requires three (3) or more volunteers (for example, leader, sidewalkers and/or aide).

If the applicant teaches under the supervision of more than one supervising instructor, each supervising instructor must complete a copy of Part V of the application . All documented teaching hours must have been completed no more than two years prior to the date the application is submitted. 

The applicant must provide evidence of twenty-five (25) complete hours of actual teaching ; if, for example, a lesson is 45 minutes long, four (4) of those lessons will total three (3) hours. 

Who approves:
The requirements for the supervising instructor for Part V of the application are different from Parts I-IV. Applicants and their supervising instructors should review the below requirements carefully.
  1. All of the applicant’s student teaching hours must be supervised by a PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor (CTRI) who has met these requirements. Teaching time before the supervising instructor meets these requirements cannot be submitted as documentation for Part V.
  2. If the supervising instructor is currently certified as a PATH Intl. Advanced or Master Therapeutic Riding Instructor, the instructor can supervise student teaching immediately after transitioning to the PATH Intl. CTRI credential. 
  3. If the supervising instructor does not hold the PATH Intl. Advanced or Master Therapeutic Riding Instructor credential, the instructor must have accumulated 120 hours of teaching time after acquiring the PATH Intl. CTRI credential. 

Additional Requirements
In addition to Parts I through V above, each applicant must:
  1. Be 18 years of age or older.
  2. Obtain and provide certifications for Adult & Child CPR and First Aid.
  3. Complete the PATH Intl. Standards Exam with a passing score.
  4. Purchase the PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor Certification Application online.
  5. Submit a signed PATH Intl. Certified Professional Code of Ethics form. 
  6. Submit any requests for accommodation (if necessary).
  7. Successfully pass the PATH Intl. CTRI certification examination at an authorized testing center.

For Additional Information
Please contact Bret Maceyak with any questions you may have regarding the PATH Intl. CTRI credential and the PATH Intl. certification process. 

Sincerely,
The PATH Intl. Credentialing Council