I’m really amazed at the effect of using horses as a “tool” in coaching. Having participated myself in a certified training programme and tested the learning with own clients, it seems that one could save quite a few coaching hours when horses are introduced into the coaching programme (oops, less income for me!).
From what I have seen so far, some clients reach conclusions he or she would usually need more time to do, and some have instant reactions. Three examples of immediate actions as a result of the coaching;
- one person said she went back to her husband having a difficult conversation that she had postponed the last six months
- another said she set a boundary (with kindness) to a family member the day after the coaching – a boundary she had had difficulty to clarify and communicate for a long, long time
- one person, afraid of horses, suddenly didn’t feel scared and even touched a horse at the end of our 2-hour session (this was a ‘side-effect’, not the goal of the exercise – I’m not a therapist!)
People have been using horses and dogs in therapy for quite some time, but it’s a relatively new field to work with horses in coaching, team building, communication and leadership programmes. I’m still too fresh in this territory to understand why the clients move into action so quickly, but it certainly is exciting and something I will develop and expand on.
Watch this space! And do contact me if you want to try for yourself…
