Business Coaching
What head-driven people can learn from even bigger minds
Horse-supported interventions in human resource development
An innovative learning method that touches people.
Horses have been successfully used in seminars and coaching on the further education market for the past 15 years. It is a well-founded concept based on proven theoretical foundations that gives each individual the opportunity for constructive inner growth.
From a scientific standpoint, horse-supported seminars belong to the group of experiential seminars and are based primarily on experience, self-knowledge and the subsequent transfer to everyday life.
horsewisdom4you
The experiences and insights gained in the seminar, some of which are very intense, remain in the memories of many participants for years and are thus extremely sustainable.
Benefits of horse-supported seminars and areas of successes include:
Humans and horses share the same dependence on teamwork and a well-functioning herd. Social skills are (super-) vital for both. In the interaction with the horse we can find numerous parallels to professional skills needed in today’s workplaces, and it can enable participants to clarify and strengthen values such as respect, understanding, kindness and discipline.
Coaching and training with horses are particularly suitable for working out one’s own strengths and potentials. The complexity of a situation can be mapped in a “micro-world with horses” and new behaviour can be tried out. This format is particularly suitable for managers who want to deal with topics beyond a purely cognitive approach, enhancing learning by experiencing, doing and acting.
Learning with head, heart and hand
Business & Leadership Coaching
Leadership skills
Do you want to lead your employees with a mature awareness of values?
Natural leadership is a very rare and precious skill. Alexander the Great, Buddha, George Washington, Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan are examples of influential, charismatic leaders who developed their leadership skills through time in the saddle.
They were all dedicated and, in some cases, exceptional, riders. But they also stand out because they were able to transfer some of the skills they used to lead horses to the human environment.
Dealing with horses demonstrates key leadership skills in a simple, natural, and real way. Horses are herd animals that are used to leading and used to being led. Anyone who studies leadership will encounter the essential fundamentals of effective leadership when building a relationship with horses.
On our estate, the complexity of leadership can be explored and experienced holistically in contact with our horses. Leadership can be experienced directly and purely, because leadership work is relationship work.
Authenticity
An influential leader has the courage to be “real”. That involves meaning what you say and acting accordingly. It also means admitting to mistakes, being straightforward and having integrity.
People like to confide in such a person; they believe in them and are convinced of their competence. Horses are wonderful teachers to allow us to practice this. They perceive us as a counterpart only when we are congruent, i.e. when our inner attitude and thoughts match our outwardly visible attitude and actions. Experiencing this with horses is a powerful way to examine your authenticity and leadership skills.
Emotional Intelligence
The ability to “connect with another being” is one of the key skills that makes us successful leaders. Developing a deeper awareness of how to connect with another being, especially a horse, can increase and improve a leader’s level Emotional Intelligence and increase their effectiveness.
Partnering with horses for this work is powerful because a horse’s body functions much like a receiver or amplifier. The “emotional volume” is turned up much higher in the body of a horse than in a human, which means that no matter how well you try to hide something from yourself or others, you automatically broadcast it on a frequency that horses are particularly good at receiving.
Communication and Leadership
Knowledge alone is not enough – the ability to communicate it is essential for leadership.
Psychologists have proven that only about 10 percent of human communication is verbal – about 90 percent of the messages we convey to each other are non-verbal. We receive little training around this communication.
Horses are true masters of non-verbal communication, sending messages among the herd silently. Their reactions are immediate, clear and unambiguous. Working with a horse, one can explore, learn and refine the skills essential to effective non-verbal communication.
As a human, we cannot “not communicate” at any time, but we can learn to be aware of our posture, inner attitude, breathing, the non-verbal messages behind feelings, etc. Doing this allows us to build trust with another person, in professional and personal scenarios. Working with horses, you can try out these techniques in real-life to explore how leadership works on a non-verbal level.
Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) is a widely recognized, innovative way to quickly develop a variety of tools for overcoming challenges in life and business contexts. Experiential workshops with horses can have a profound impact on participants.