AAHEP - Association for Animals, Horticultural & Equine Practitioners

The Register’s Framework of Professional Standards exists to ensure that practitioners create and maintain appropriate, effective, and ethical standards in the delivery of Animal and Equine Assisted Services, Horticultural/Nature-based therapies and Social Farming.

It incorporates both general best practices from health and social care and specific considerations relating to the engagement of animal, horses and nature into those processes.

The aim is to ensure that clients and service users are able to engage safely, freely, and effectively, progressing towards their personal needs, goals, and aspirations. Practitioners must act in ways that facilitate feelings of safety and trust, supporting a positive service user experience.

Membership of the Register represents a serious ethical commitment. In addition to the Ethical Principles, practitioners must adhere to the following Framework of Professional Standards.

1. Ethical Behaviour and Respectful Approach

Practitioners will:

• Act at all times with sound ethics and morals.

• Prioritise and acknowledge the needs of service users.

• Recognise and respect the uniqueness of individual human experience, including personal feelings and emotions.

• Recognise and acknowledge the needs and experiences of the horses involved.

• Ensure all service user support or treatment decisions are made ethically.

• Maintain appropriate care and attention for all animals and equines involved in sessions.

• Respect all protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010.

• Provide a clear, accessible process for raising complaints or concerns.

2. Professional Practice

Practitioners will:

• Maintain a physically safe space for all service users, both when interacting with horses and when onsite generally.

• Be able and willing to undertake or demonstrate any activity requested of the client.

• Maintain a range of grounding and settling techniques to support service users during activities.

• Ensure privacy is maintained for service users throughout their sessions.

• Engage in regular professional supervision.

• Ensure that a physically safe and protective space is maintained for clients engaged in any of the registered practices.  

• Maintain up-to-date legal checks and clearances relevant to their role.

• Keep professional practice current through CPD, personal learning, development, and self-care.

3. Facilitation of Interactions

Practitioners will:

• Create and maintain a safe space for all participants — clients, colleagues, horses, and any supporters or volunteers.

• Properly contract sessions or groups of sessions, clearly explaining structure, scope, and limitations.

• Maintain service user focus and respect throughout all sessions.

• Respect client observations and questions about the animals, plants or environment.

• Adapt exercises where necessary to respect a client’s comfort level.

• Recognise when either the service user or animals engaged are approaching the limits of their comfort or capability.

• Work only within the boundaries of their professional competence and publicly offered services.

• Maintain a list of appropriate signposting or referral options for service users.

• When working in horticultural or farming spaces ensure that appropriate safety briefing and on-going is engaged around the handling of tools or chemicals.

• When working with herds, maintain awareness of herd behaviour and agree on safety protocols in advance.

• When working with groups of service users, ensure all participants are supported whether with the horse or not.

• Consider having additional support for the horse in arena or sand-school environments.

4. Due Care and Respect for Animals

Practitioners will:

• Understand the psychological and physical impacts of all aids, materials, and exercises used with animals.

• Maintain awareness of the animal’s physical and mental wellbeing at all times — not just during sessions.

• Avoid working animals that are unfit or unwell.

• Recognise behavioural and communication signs of discomfort or fatigue in all animals.

• Avoid and discontinue any activities that cause the animals distress.

• Respect the animal’s choice in all interactions.

• Monitor and respect each animal’s capacity and time limits for work - during a session, over the day or through the week.

• Be prepared to change animals or stop their work during sessions if appropriate.

• Be mindful of the effects of human energy and behaviour on animals and keep interactions within reasonable limits.

• Ensure that animals have access to water and feed if kept away for extended periods.

• Provide appropriate recovery options for animals after sessions, ideally in a where appropriate quiet or familiar spaces, or where appropriate in social environments fitting for the animal, (i.e. in a herd with other horses).

5. Client Information and Record Keeping

Practitioners will:

• Monitor and record service user progress during treatment.

• Maintain clear, appropriate, and securely stored session records.

• Record and respond to service user experiences in ways that improve service quality.

• Protect confidentiality and privacy of all service user data and personal information.

6. Promotion of Services

Practitioners will:

• Set clear expectations with service users about offered activities and potential outcomes.

• Make only honest, accurate, and justifiable claims about service benefits.

• Set service pricing that is fair, reasonable, and reflective of the costs involved.