Horses are intuitive and heavily reliant on their highly tuned instincts to survive. As herd animals who are tuned in to the slightest inconsistency in their environment, they will naturally follow the leader – but only if they think you are a leader. They have an excellent innate gauge of how the alpha horse behaves. They expertly apply their ability to sense how a leader behaves to all their interactions with human beings.
Unlike people, horses have no investment in the outcome. They don’t lie, they have no egos or agendas. Horses simply are who they are, clearly, purely, without any need for things to be right or wrong. That’s why the information they give us about ourselves is so powerful. If you are calm, they will be relaxed, if you are hesitant, they will be nervous and if you try to push them around, they may back away but they may also push back!
People have been working with horses since the beginning of time but it is only in recent years that horses are being used specifically for human development. Horses have long been used in rehabilitation for people struggling with addiction, as well as to help children with autism or Asperger’s syndrome develop social skills. Only recently, have the animals talents been applied in the field of leadership training.
Managing Director of a large multinational bank and Vincere Coaching Client on overcoming fears
“I must admit that I was very scared and apprehensive on that day. It is amazing that GG (the horse) could see right through me and sense that emotion and my nerviousness. As I relaxed, he was far more accepting of me.
I relate the experience to the way I interact with the members of my team. The same fear and apprehension comes about there when I have to give an update at a senior managment meeting and during public speaking engagements.
It was a very enriching experience for me. I have been talking to my friends and collegues about it ever since.
Thank you very much.”