Instructor Mentorship Pathway

Part of The Center for Equine-Assisted Services mission is to educate: we can do this through supporting growth in the Intermountain West of qualified equine-assisted services professionals. Those who are interested in pursuing professional certification as an equine-assisted services professional may contact us to begin the process! Typically 2-3 candidates are accepted per USU semester, which aligns with our programming sessions.

PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor
Adaptive riding is an activity in which the student with a disability performs mounted and unmounted work on or around the horse. CTRI's help build participants’ skills in and out of the arena through careful planning of lesson structure, horse selection, and adaptive techniques to match. USU Equine Experience provides structured opportunities for CTRI candidates to obtain necessary portfolio elements for the CTRI application, which can be viewed [here]. 

Candidate Requirements
Candidates must be proficient at riding the walk, trot, and canter independently as well as have a basic understanding of riding technique (no matter the discipline). A video submission of the candidate riding walk, trot, and canter will be required. Current students of USU's Equine-Assisted Services Institutional Certificate of Proficiency (ICP) can work with instructors to get a video at our facility. 
Candidates must also have a valid Adult and Child CPR/AED certification before beginning - online course certificates are accepted. No prior lesson instruction experience is required of a candidate, but is highly recommended.
Candidates who have already completed Part I, Part II, and Part IV of their CTRI portfolio are preferred.  

Candidate Expectations
Candidates will be provided the opportunity to gain their 25 hours of teaching adaptive populations through our program - this program requires a dedicated candidate who can take 10-15 hours per week for lesson planning, lesson execution, and meetings to discuss progress, as well as study for the CTRI exam. To get 25 hours of teaching, you can expect to teach about 50 lessons, as grooming, saddling, etc., doesn't count for PATH Intl. teaching requirements. Weekly riding lessons are also provided to candidates to develop their personal riding skills. 
Candidates will also gain access to USU Equine Experience's online test-prep module. There are weekly modules to be completed and study for in order to succeed on the PATH Intl. CTRI exam. 

Cost
The cost of this program goes towards paying for utilizing the horses for candidate lessons and taking the video for submission to PATH Intl. as part of the portfolio. There are opportunities for scholarships and grants through PATH Intl to help pay for instructor certification.
For 2026 and 2027, USU Equine Experience has a grant that will pay up to 100% of your application costs! 
Candidates who are current USU ICP students will pay $300 course fee.
Candidates who are not current USU ICP students will pay a $450 course fee.

Candidates who are interested in applying to be part of the Instructor Pathway can email equine.experience@usu.edu to start the application process. Applications must be received a minimum of 3 weeks prior to adaptive riding sessions starting - please see the adaptive riding session schedule to get an idea of when our sessions are offered.

Contract
View the instructor-in-training application for the Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor here: CTRI APPLICATION 


PATH Intl. Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning
Coming Spring 2026!