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In This Issue
Sponsors
A Chance to Win!
Compliance Q&A at Conference
Instructor Compliance
Instructors to Interview
Equine Tips
PAC in TV Segment
VA Grant
Disaster Relief
Field Test Standards Electronic Vote
SmartPak
Workshops and Certifications
Quick Links
Join our list
Donate to PATH Intl.
PATH Intl. Sponsors
If you have questions about sponsoring PATH Intl. or exhibiting at the 2015 PATH Intl. Conference and Annual Meeting, please contact Kaye Marks
 
Title Sponsor - $20,000+ 
 
the official feed of PATH Intl.
 
Gold Sponsor - $10,000+  
 
Silver - $7,500+   
Adequan  
 
Pewter - $2,500+   
WESA     
 
Copper - $1,000+
 
In Kind Donors and Media Partners
Equicizer  

Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International

Title Sponsor: Purina, the official feed of PATH Intl.

October 20, 2015  

A Chance to Win!
You asked for it, and the salary survey is here! PATH Intl. is excited to be conducting, through an independent research consultant, a confidential survey among member and non-member centers and equine-assisted activities and therapies professionals, and we need your help! This survey will be our first professionally led initiative documenting earnings, benefits, staff structure and hours worked in our field. The resulting report will be a resource for you and the entire industry. 
 
If you have any questions regarding the compensation survey or if you have not yet received the email with the survey link, please contact Kevin Whorton. Our research consultant, WM&R, will protect the privacy of your individual responses. In appreciation of your participation, WM&R will conduct a random drawing to give one survey respondent registration in the online Instructor Training for PATH International Equine Services for Heroes® (a $200 value!).
Compliance Questions? Get Answers at Conference!
Friday, November 6th, at the 2015 PATH Intl. Conference in Cleveland, OH, 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Continuing Education Update Q&A

Bret Maceyak, PATH Intl. Certification Coordinator, will give a detailed presentation on the updated continuing education requirements for annual instructor compliance going into effect January 1, 2016.  A question and answer session will be included.

No registration required; just show up! Check your room locator onsite for the location. 
Updated Instructor Compliance and Continuing Education Requirements
If you haven't already familiarized yourself with the updated requirements for instructor compliance and continuing education effective January 1st, 2016, please take a moment to review the comprehensive update booklet. Additional information about the continuing education activity categories will continue to be provided in PATH Intl. eNews throughout the remainder of the year.
Wanted: Instructors to Interview
Seeking PATH Intl. Certified Instructors or instructors-in-training to interview for an upcoming article for PATH Intl. STRIDES. The subject of the article is instructors utilizing distance education for certification and to fulfill continuing education requirements. Please email Karen Brittle if you meet any of the following criteria and would be willing to be interviewed for this article:
  • Have taken an on-line or distance education course to complete requirements for instructor continuing education (Examples might include webinar offered through PATH Intl. or a remote university course on autism for educators or a distance learning course on equine nutrition)
  • Have been mentored "remotely" toward certification or advancement by a PATH Intl. mentor located in another place, using phone, video, etc.
  • Have served as a mentor "remotely" and worked with instructors-in-training at a distance or with an instructor working on advancement
  • Have trained "remotely" with an instructor/ trainer to work on riding or horsemanship skills using video/ phone
If you'd like to comment on this article, please email Karen.
Equine Tip From the PATH Intl. Equine Welfare Committee
What to Do if Your Horse Is Stolen
By Molly Sweeney, PATH Intl. Equine Welfare Committee member

The best thing you can do before your horse is stolen is take precautions NOW to help prevent horse theft from ever happening. Read more  

The PATH Intl. Equine Welfare Committee is making a commitment to refine and deepen our perspective of equine well-being to include the physical, mental and emotional well-being of our wonderful four-legged partners. Join us on this journey. Please add your thoughts on the PATH Intl. Community Connections page. It is our desire that these tips start a further discussion on Community Connections. Any thoughts? We appreciate hearing from you!  
PATH Intl. PAC Spotlighted in Television Segment
The J.F. Shea Center, a PATH Intl. Premier Accredited Center in San Juan Capistrano, CA, was recently featured on Mission Viejo Television. Click here to view the segment. We are proud that our centers are "making a profound difference in the lives of families"!  
PATH Intl. Receives VA Grant 
PATH Intl. is pleased to announce that it has received a $176,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for direct service and training for veterans and wounded service members to receive equine-assisted activities and therapies. This grant is part of a total $8 million that was awarded to national governing bodies for adaptive sports. PATH Intl. was one of 89 awardees.

"We are pleased that our award was increased from last year's amount," said Sam Albrecht, PATH Intl. Director of Membership and Programs. "We had direct service and training requests that greatly exceeded our available funding last year. This year's award will allow us to serve more disabled veterans and service members."

With last year's grant of $100,000, PATH Intl. trained more than 30 individuals in a three-day intensive workshop on the military and veteran culture, safety and how centers can best partner with equines in a therapeutic horsemanship program for veterans. More than 100 veterans were directly benefited with therapeutic horsemanship sessions. Equipping PATH Intl. Centers with saddles, lifts and ramps provided indirect benefit to another approximate 100 veterans.

Click here for information on the VA Adaptive Sports Grant.
PATH Intl. Disaster Relief Fund
It is a scary world out there sometimes, and sometimes a center might need some assistance in dealing with the scariness. The PATH Intl. Disaster Relief Fund can help. Its purpose is to assist PATH Intl. centers with an immediate need in funding expenses not normally covered by operating insurance after natural or man-made catastrophic disasters. Hurricane Joaquin counts. If you are a center in need of assistance, click here to begin the process. If you would like to help fellow PATH Intl. centers, make a donation here
Field Test Standards Electronic Vote
The first year of the electronic voting process for standards was a success!
 
In an attempt to make the voting process available to a wider reach of members than those typically present at the annual meeting held at the international conference, the membership and programs and standards oversight committees discussed a change in the voting process for standards in November 2014. An informational webinar was launched in March of 2015 and it was viewed by approximately 300 members. Comments and feedback were solicited a number of ways including at region conferences, the field test standards community connections page and a survey from which 44 comments were received. At the close of the vote, 383 member votes were received.

From the votes received, all field-test standards were passed. After the vote however, concern was raised regarding FTS 6. It was pointed out that the standard had not been in field test for two years, as was written in the original explanation of the standard. For background, the explanation was added to the standards manual in the 2014 edition to give members a brief context and history of the standard's development. After field test the explanation is dropped and is not included in the manual. The explanation for FTS 6 states that this standard will be in field test for two years. A two-year field test is not required and the PATH Intl. Accreditation Committee saw no reason to delay the vote, and therefore it was included in the 2015 vote. However, after review by the PATH Intl. Strategic Initiatives Review Committee, the standard will now go back to field test for an additional year. For questions about FTS 6 or other questions regarding the PATH Intl. standards, please contact Jeff Kelling, PATH Intl. Programs Manager.
SmartPak Horse of the Month
Congratulations to Doodle Bug, the SmartPak Horse of the Month for September! Doodle Bug makes his home at Banbury Cross Therapeutic Equestrian Center, a PATH Intl. Premier Accredited Center in Oxford, MI. Click here to read his story. Doodle Bug will receive SmartCombo Senior Pellets in his SmartPak.

SmartPak is looking to choose the next Horse of the Month, which will receive $100 of SmartPak products for a month. Nominate your horse for a chance to win! Photos are highly encouraged!
  
PATH Intl. Events Calendar

Unless otherwise noted, contact Bret Maceyak at (800) 369-7433, ext. 114, with questions. All dates are subject to change. To register for an event, please contact the host site directly. You can locate contact information under Find a Center on the PATH Intl. homepage or on the PATH Intl. events calendar.

For a full list of events, including onsite workshops and certifications, visit the PATH Intl. events calendar.  
  
Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning  Workshop and Skills Test 
Calvin Center Therapeutic Riding Program 
Hampton, GA 
October 22-24, 2015 
Healing Reins Therapeutic Riding Center 
Bend, OR 
October 29 - November 1, 2015 
High Hopes Therapeutic Riding
Old Lyme, CT
November 20 - 23, 2015
Equine-Assisted Therapies of South Florida, Inc.
Coconut Creek, FL
January 8-11, 2016
 
EQUI-KIDS Therapeutic Riding Program
Virginia Beach, VA
January 28-31, 2016
 
High Hopes Therapeutic Riding
Old Lyme, CT
April 21 - 24, 2016
 

Advanced Instructor OSWC 
High Hopes Therapeutic Riding 
Old Lyme, CT 
May 24 - 26, 2016 
 
Driving OSWC 
Fieldstone Farms Therapeutic Riding Center
Chagrin Falls, OH
Driving Demo Only  
November 2 - 3, 2015
 
 

Please direct correspondence about this newsletter to PATH Intl. eNews coordinator. PATH Intl. eNews is a benefit of Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International membership. No portion of this publication may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, scanned or electronic process without written permission from PATH Intl. PATH Intl. reserves the right to reject, accept and edit submitted material. PATH Intl. eNews is intended as an information exchange and an opportunity for communication for members in the field of equine assisted activities. The opinions, practices or products presented in PATH Intl. eNews do not necessarily reflect PATH Intl. policy, imply PATH Intl. endorsement, or comply with PATH Intl. standards.

 

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