If you enlist a 1200-pound coaching partner for your next session, it’s likely you’ll achieve a remarkable change in the dynamic of the coaching relationship. No, it’s not through intimidation; the method is equine-assisted coaching, working with horses to help clarify and resolve issues, heighten awareness of assumptions, develop trust and get results.

Horses are sentient beings with the capacity for independent thinking, social relationships, individual dispositions as well as physical abilities and limitations—and they make excellent partners to create powerful coaching. They have no investment in the outcome of the coaching relationship; 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 and our clients is so powerful. They are perfect mirrors for us to look at how we are creating our current reality.

In equine-assisted coaching, clients engage in a dialogue with the coach while interacting with a horse that is at liberty in an enclosed area, called a round pen. Discussing issues while the client directs the horse to perform simple activities (i.e. trot in a circle, stop, allow the client to approach) creates a dynamic that allows a coach and the client to identify and address key elements that impact the client’s effectiveness. Below are examples of how an equine coaching partner can help you understand how communication and listening can impact results.

Horses do not deal in ambiguity. When horses communicate they are not trying to please you or avoid confrontation; what you see is what you get, and they expect the same from you. Horses thrive on direct communication that keeps things clear and congruent in their environment. What you tell them is what they react to. If you are not clear about what you want from them, it becomes obvious, because they either do what they think you have asked of them, or they become anxious because of the ambiguity. Often a lack of clarity on the human’s part leads to equine reactions that are misinterpreted as ‘bad’ behavior, such as aggression or flight.

Isn’t that what often happens in the human side of life? We think we are communicating our needs clearly and when people don’t respond the way we think they should, we don’t think very highly of them. We decide they are not smart, have a bad attitude, are too uptight or just don’t ‘get’ it, and we end up not trusting them to do the things they need to do. Horses show us how much communication and trust are linked. They need us to be clear about what we want and clear about how we ask for it.

If horses learn that they can trust you to do what you say you are going to do and ask clearly for what you want, they will almost always give you what you ask for. They are simple in this way. They show us how our relationship to them can give poor or wonderful results. Whatever your goal is around a horse—that he’ll let you pet him, ride him or just walk alongside—if you have established the basics, you will achieve the results you want. Horses as partners in coaching show us the critical importance of relationship in learning and results. This type of clarity should form the basis of any human interaction, as well. When interpersonal relationships don’t work or are less than optimal, so are business results.

Are you not getting the results you want with your team or clients? See if a horse can help you progress together by learning about the basics of developing trust, and communicating clearly.

As a result of combining creative exercises with our OD interventions over the past 20+ years, MetaSystem Consulting Group has come up with a methodology for going beyond the experiential aspects of an activity and applying the information gained towards a transformation of individuals, teams or organizations.

One of the main components of this approach is that any experiential exercise can be used in the following steps. The only criteria are to create a fun experience for participants and watch what happens!*

The keys to turning an experiential activity into an intervention that can effect the development of the organization are:

We have been using the Roger Greenaway debrief and learning transfer methodology lately, reviewing exercises based on:

By using these experiences as a learning hologram, teams and organizations can develop an enhanced self-awareness that enables them to adapt to changes, self-correct, optimize opportunities, and experience more satisfaction in their work experience.

Long-term success is built upon vision, discipline, hard work, innovation, consistency and self-reinvention. Some people seem to be naturally driven and clear. Many of our clients do not fall into that category. We've developed a self-evaluation tool designed to check in, measure progress, inform action and help you to stick to your plan. If you want to become your own coach, contact us now for the tool, "Dimensions of Success", to get started.