Discover the transformative power of equine leadership intelligence with The Wisdom of the Horse. In today’s fast-paced, tech-driven world, human connection is crucial for collaboration and innovation. Our equine-assisted learning (EAL) program offers leaders and teams a unique way to gain insights and enhance personal and professional growth through interactions with our equine partners.

Do you bring "play" into your leadership? You’ll usually hear me talk about how important it is that leaders stay calm under pressure and regulate emotions to avoid unintentional negative impacts on relationships and results. I call it the Power of Presence.

Recently I was invited as a guest of Murray Wright on his Leadership Moments Podcast to have a conversation about conscious leadership. I thought I would share an extract from the transcript where Murray asks me how horses have shaped my own approach to leadership, as this is often a question people ask me when we first meet.

Today’s blog has been written by Marion Leger after her experience of the 6 week leadership development coaching program. Marion was a delight to work with as a client, so curious, so open to challenge herself and her typical ways fo thinking and behaving. If you would like to learn in this way, please contact me for details of our coaching programs which we offer in the Northern Rivers NSW and Sydney for both leadership and personal development.

Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” Jon Kabat-Zinn

We spend so much of our time worried about the past or anxious about the future. We can’t change the past and the only place we can affect the future is from the present. The present in the only place we can actually ever be.  

The following is a chapter in a new book called NOT DOING, by Diana Renner and Steven D'Souza. My chapter is called PRESENCE and shares a story about my own personal experience of learning about myself by being with the horses. I think it illustrates the tension we all feel to 'do' and how this causes us to overlook the innate power in just 'being'.

The tranquil countryside together with the wisdom of the horses created the perfect space for a small group women to come together to relax, restore and reconnect with themselves. 

The Biggest Loser Transformed! Yes I was thrilled to be invited to facilitate an Equine Assisted Learning segment for the nine contestants. 

Gordon feels most at home in corporate boardrooms and city wine bars. It was a big leap of faith for him to try out my Equine Assisted Learning Executive Coaching program. And here he now was standing in a field in Byron Bay surrounded by four horses who were completely ignoring him.

I was talking today with Holly, who came along to a group Equine Assisted Learning session specifically for women that I co-facilitated last year in Byron Bay. I asked what she remembered about the day and if it had bearing on her life since.

Trust lies at the heart of a functioning, cohesive team and only happens when team members are willing to be present and authentic with one another. In this case, it didn’t happen ... so there were valuable lessons to be learned by everyone.

It was “Kate’s” first Equine Assisted Learning experience and she had little previous contact with horses. During the safety briefing she admitted she was feeling a little uncertain but wanted to use the session to explore a theme in her life: she was saying yes but meaning no.

Being present is the greatest gift you can give yourself and those around you. Yet research shows that for the majority of our day we are not focussed in the present moment. Our mind wanders. We get distracted by things happening around us and by our thoughts and feelings about the past or future.

I’ve just returned from the most amazing working holiday in France, travelling with a herd of 50 semi-wild horses through the Pyrenees mountains. It was a personal journey of self discovery, of trust, of deep listening and curiosity. 

In my last post I began the story of Inga and Alhandro. Inga, with whom I had my first individual session, is an experienced horse person. But for people inexperienced or fearful of horses, I would normally take time to familiarise them with horse behaviour and safety guidelines.

During my training at the Equine Psychotherapy Institute, I discovered that the horse will teach us what we need to learn in that moment, regardless what expectation or hopes the client or I had beforehand.