As part of their ongoing collaboration with the Human Equine Interaction Register (HEIR), NEWC Director, Dr Carol Hall, attended the forum held on 13th March 2023 at Saddlers' Hall in London on behalf of NEWC.

The forum was held as an acknowledgement of a successful first year for HEIR following their launch last March, with almost 70 organisations/individuals working in Equine Assisted Services (EAS) now registered with HEIR - including several NEWC members. HEIR has been developed as a national U.K. register and is moving towards being a self-governing charity (Equine Assisted Services Partnership).

As part of NEWC's work to update its member standards, a first draft of standards that aim to protect the welfare of equines participating in EAS has been compiled by a NEWC working party of current EAS providers. This work has been carried out in collaboration with HEIR and reference to these standards will be included on the HEIR website (a summary of these is currently available).

The NEWC stand at the forum generated considerable interest and provided an opportunity for future links to be made with other organisations working in this area.

The event was attended by HRH Princess Anne, who highlighted the importance of the medical profession acknowledging the positive health benefits of human-equine interactions and that HEIR was an essential start in raising the profile of this approach and demonstrating how many practitioners were changing lives for the better.

For more information on the UK HETI Human Equine Interaction Register (HEIR), visit: hetifederation.org/heir-info