Programs
One methodology, three delivery channels: a live instructor-education program, a dog-assisted practitioner program, and professional development delivered under partner organizations' names.
RISE with Horses
Every riding lesson is full of moments that teach more than riding. A rider meets frustration when the horse won't cooperate, has to plan ahead and make decisions, and learns to read another creature and adjust. This course trains riding instructors and trainers to recognize those moments and use them on purpose.
Students learn the RISE Framework, built on five pillars of lesson delivery: structure, observation, feedback, regulation and integration. They also learn how each pillar develops specific social-emotional competencies from the CASEL framework used in American schools. The course combines online learning with an intensive weekend in the arena, where students practice the method with horses and riders.
RISE is education, not therapy. It is designed for instructors teaching regular riding lessons, from beginners to riders preparing for competition. Graduates leave able to teach better riding lessons that also build skills riders take home, to school and into everyday life.
RISE with Dogs
A career-formation program in dog-assisted, social-emotional practice: twelve months of online study with an in-person Colorado intensive, building toward a two-tier credential, RISE Trained and RISE Certified after supervised practice hours.
Professional development & partner-delivered courses
Courses designed and taught by OKOYA's founder, delivered under partner organizations' names — the Israeli precedent: a trauma-support course for AAI professionals delivered with Retorno, among roughly 200 students trained under partners' names. This is the model offered to US colleges. CE Partnerships →
