In our work with both horses and people, recovery, resilience-building and compassion are key. This course will equip you in using trauma informed techniques, reducing risk of exposure to trauma by creating safe, supportive, and inclusive environments and offer strategies to buffer against impact when exposure happens for staff, clients and volunteers. Trauma-informed approaches have become increasingly cited in policy and adopted in practice as a means for reducing the negative impact of trauma experiences and supporting mental and physical health outcomes. They build on evidence developed over several decades. However, there has been a lack of consensus of understanding in the equine industry on how trauma-informed practice is defined, what its key principles are and how it can be built into services and systems. Trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as harmful or life threatening. While unique to the individual, generally the experience of trauma can cause lasting adverse effects, limiting the ability to function and achieve mental, physical, social, emotional or spiritual well-being. Trauma-informed practice is an approach to health and care interventions which is grounded in the understanding that trauma exposure can impact an individual’s neurological, biological, psychological and social development.