Why Horses?
What makes us different?
At Leading Change Experiences, we don’t just offer conventional training programs—we create transformative experiences, and what sets us apart are our co-facilitators: the Horses. Our training ground is not confined to four walls; it’s an immersive, nature-based arena where the horses themselves become your trainers. These extraordinary animals serve as diagnostic mediums, helping individuals and teams uncover blind spots, communication gaps, and leadership challenges in real time uncertainty.
Horses are unparalleled in their ability to read human energy and behaviour. They respond instinctively, providing immediate, honest feedback, which reveals the underlying behavioural patterns that may not surface in a traditional meeting room. They not only identify these gaps but also facilitate deep, personal transformation through hands-on interaction, creating a powerful catalyst for change.
"Horses Teach Us A Lot. Very Little Of It Actually Has To Do With Horses".
- A. Lothian
More About Partnering With Horses
Horses are a prey animal and are acutely attuned to their surroundings. There is no pulling around a 500kg prey animal! To effectively complete our programs, participants learn to adapt their leadership ability and communication styles. Horses are incredible teachers because they exist in the moment and are consistently responding to stimulus provided by participants (behaviour, skills, attitudes, energy, communication and intent).
The honest and immediate feedback to individuals and teams of people that work together is a rare window of opportunity for personal evaluation and self-reflection, and uncovers what skills and attributes the participants would benefit from developing, both personally and professionally. Horses provide feedback that parallels our own behaviour, skills and attitude.
Some of the joys associated with working around horses are - they don't judge, but they constantly assess. Their feedback is an amazing insight into which life skills the participants need to strengthen.
Horses are hard-wired with in-built herd behaviours. These require us to strengthen attributes such as trust, respect, understanding, team work and communication in order to achieve the objectives and work successfully with the horses.
Learning to listen to what horses have to say is powerful and can spur the answer to individual change. By including horses in specially designed educational exercises, equine-assisted facilitators have greatly multiplied the participant's rate of success to self-discovery.
How?
Horses are remarkable at magnifying an individual’s leadership gaps and growth areas, offering immediate and honest feedback. In our equine-assisted leadership programs, horses challenge participants’ behaviours and leadership capabilities, prompting them to step into an authentic, trustworthy leadership role. They don’t overthink or judge motives but instead respond instinctively to behaviours and energy, making them exceptional partners for leadership development.
In our leadership experience without horses, we still dive deep into what horse culture can teach us. Horses thrive through collaborative leadership, maintaining authenticity, and ensuring each herd member’s contribution leads to a functional, harmonious group—principles that directly translate into team dynamics and leadership in the workplace.
A horse herd's natural leadership system is built on trust, safety, cooperation, and respect. Just like the Lead Mare guides her herd through change, uncertainty, or danger, participants in our workshops must strengthen their leadership skills to step into this adaptable and confident role. Horses, in turn, seek this authenticity and confidence in their human partners.
Equine-assisted learning (EAL) exercises create a controlled environment where horses respond to participants' behaviours—whether it's confusion, frustration, or assertiveness. These interactions offer a unique opportunity for participants to evaluate their own feelings, attitudes, and behaviours, aiding in emotional growth and self-awareness.
At Leading Change Experiences, we believe in empowering individuals to develop emotional intelligence, embrace self-leadership, and strengthen their personal skill sets. Participants build resilience, enhance problem-solving abilities, take greater responsibility for their outcomes, and lead with authenticity and vulnerability.
Put a team of people with a horse, and you've found the catalyst for profound personal and team transformation.
"Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things." - F. Lewis
- F. Lewis
Leadership with Horses is an equine-centered leadership development initiative that connects individuals and teams with horses to develop a deeper awareness and practical skills for more effective collaboration and leadership. Research shows that experiential learning, particularly through interactions with horses, enhances leadership skills by up to 76% more than traditional classroom-based learning (Source: Human Capital Institute).
These programs are grounded in the principles of emotional intelligence (EQ) and social intelligence (SI), which are proven to be critical for successful teamwork and leadership. In fact, 90% of top performers possess high emotional intelligence (Harvard Business Review), which directly contributes to improved workplace satisfaction and team performance.
Conventional training methods often fall short in cultivating these essential qualities. However, real-time learning and application through horse-assisted experiences can profoundly improve leaders' ability to grasp EQ concepts and translate them into actionable outcomes, far outperforming traditional training.
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