WHY HORSES?

• because they are pack animals and have a natural need for a leader to follow – a leader who can provide security and who knows clearly where to go.
• being prey animals, horses have developed a strong survival instinct, becoming capable of perceiving even the smallest change in their environment and reacting promptly to it.
• because they are sincere animals, who don't know the title or position we may hold and cannot flatter us in order to be rewarded. They react to us exactly the way we act in their presence, mirroring our behavior: "Look, this is the way you are, when you have to influence others or lead".

 

EQUINE FACILITATED DEVELOPMENT

This is an experiential learning program, where all the activities are designed to simulate possible job situations. Through each exercise, participants have to convince the horses to follow them on different tracks with obstacles. The horses will react exactly in the same way participants have acted, reflecting their leadership style and the way it is perceived by the others.  

Almost all the activities take place on the ground, previous experience with horses not being necessary.

All the exercises are recorded on video cameras and observed using behavior charts. During the debriefing sessions, the notes taken are analyzed together with our facilitators, each participant having the occasion to get a complex feedback – from the horses, from all the colleagues and from our facilitators.

This way, the lessons learned in the presence of horses can be transferred to the professional life and can determine a positive change in behaviour.

To be effective in this program, participants are split in groups of maximum 10 people. Each group works separately with a facilitator, a horse instructor, a cameraman and the horses. The exercises take place in an indoor facility or outdoors, depending on weather conditions.  

In order to ensure the safety and protection of participants and to encourage their trust:

• at the beginning of the program we present a set of rules for safely working with horses;
• and during the activities, participants are carefully watched by the horse instructors.