How It Works
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All activities take place on the ground - no riding is involved
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No prior horse experience is necessary
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Individuals participate at their own comfort level
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We meet with you before the session to determine what your goals are for yourself or your group. We will then design appropriate activities with the horses to address these goals. We will have a reflective time of processing after each activity to determine what learning took place and come up with an action plan for practical application. We will schedule a follow up visit with you or your group to evaluate the effectiveness of the session(s) in achieving your professional or personal goals
Why Use Horses?
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We are predators and horses are prey animals, therefore horses provide the perfect "mirror" for our behavior, presence and communication skills. Since studies have shown that 90% of our communication is non-verbal, it is essential for successful business and personal relationships that we develop an awareness and increased mastery of it. Horses provide an excellent, non-judgmental method for doing this.
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Because they are prey animals, horses have certain inherent attributes that make them invaluable to us as facilitators:
-They are extremely sensitive to their environment and to those within it - their safety and survival depend upon accurately reading whether an object or person is a threat or benefactor.
-Horses cannot live in a constant state of stress, therefore they provide a perfect model for properly
handling conflict: they feel the emotion; they seek to analyze the message behind the emotion; they take
appropriate action; they return to grazing. Horses live "in the moment", they do not carry emotional bag-
gage. What transformation would occur if we could learn to do the same!
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Horses are herd animals - they depend upon each other for survival and will always try to assimilate "new-
comers" (people or other horses) into their herds. This trait provides the real-life simulation for our learning
sessions.
We have developed and implement the B-R-I-D-L-E approach which we use in each of our sessions:
B - Begin self-assessment
R - Realistic goals (set)
I - Identify options
D - Develop a plan
L - Live it out!
E - Evaluate the effectiveness of your plan
*This process is cyclical and continuous.
A bridle is often thought of as a means to "control" a horse, but if a solid relationship does not exist before applying a bridle, no amount of pressure or severity of bits can "make" a horse obey. On the other hand, a skilled horseman sees the bridle as a tool to refine and be more specific in his communication with his equine partner, accomplishing astonishing feats of harmony which are a beauty to behold.