Equine Assisted Coaching - Why Horses?

I've recently been asked about how equine assisted coaching/development could help with a number of specific situations, such as to help kids who have been, or are about to be excluded from school. I've had a similar enquiry from a Youth Offenders programme. It's also great with leadership skills, confidence building, eating disorders, people with autism.... the list goes on!

Just thought this might give you a taste:

For me, the interaction with ponies, almost as a third party, takes the pressure off the learner (client) by diverting attention away from them and resolving behavioural issues in a much less confrontational way. For example, I'm aware that a lot of kids who have been or are about to be excluded from the education system suffer with ADHD and don't understand the impact that their behaviour has on other people.

Ponies respond only to what they see and feel at any given point in time. So, if they are presented with someone with ADHD they will pick up on the high energy levels, as well as the physical behaviours and are likely to become unsettled and distracted themselves. This presents a great opportunity to ask the learner to think about how they can help the pony to become calmer and more settled by bringing down their own energy. The pony will usually respond to this very quickly and become much calmer. Initially, the learner will see that they have 'helped' the pony. However, we would then go on to talk about how they could work with this new skill (calming themselves down) to help in other situations. Indirectly, we have helped the learner start to acknowledge and address their own behaviour issues, without becoming directly confrontational.

This is just one example of how EA learning can be used as a support tool.

Coach and Horses!

As a life-long horse lover, I'm really excited this week to be training in Equine Assisted Coaching. This is going to be such a fantastic addition to my coaching business because it gives me the opportunity to work in a very different and unique way, by using horses as a medium for developing leadership skills and working on communication and confidence.

Equine Assisted Coaching, Horse Assisted Development, call it what you will, is wonderful for working with a wide range of people, but has been shown to be particularly effective with teenagers with eating disorders; autism/ASD; team development; leadership skills and so much more.

As there's no riding involved, clients don't even need to be horsey-types to get involved and make real changes.

How does it work? Well, horses respond purely from their natural instincts. They don't judge you by what you're wearing, or how many qualifications you hold. You can't make a horse do something just because you think it's a great idea! You have to use natural, animal-based communication to win the horse round and develop it's trust. Once it sees you as it's leader, you will be amazed at the things you can achieve....

Last week, whilst working with my favourite pony at my local riding school (ironically she's also called Heidi - and quite a grumpy mare she is too!), I built up enough of a bond with her that she would follow me around the arena at a trot, with no lead rein, stopping instantly the moment I stopped jogging around, with her nose just at the side of my shoulder for the whole time. It might not sound like much, but I can tell you it was a very moving experience.

So, watch out for my next blog, when I'll be telling you how I got on with my formal training.... I'm also looking out for someone to work with as a case study, so do let me know if anyone springs to mind.