What is Personal Development with Horses (Horse Assisted Education)?

It is an training where horses are in role of trainer. This is learning through experience, analysis and self-reflection. Horses are not tools but they are active partners in seminars and in the process of training the people.

 

How does the training process go through during seminars?

By analyzing the behavior of horses and their reactions to the specific attitudes of the participants. Observing how horses react or do not react to human behavior, we can better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the participants. Through discussion, analysis and reflection it can be concluded which attitudes and behaviors would be more effective in different life situations.

 

Who conducts the training?

The Horse Assisted Seminar is run by a professional facilitator and horse psychology expert who can best judge how to assist individuals or groups in the seminar process.

 

What is the role of the facilitator?

The trainer/coach supports the educational process and helps transfer the experience gained into working life. The coach, however, is in the shadow of the process and only helps the participants see themselves and the feedback they get from the horses.

 

What does participation in the seminars gives?

The model enables each person to get to know each other better and deeper by participating in horse exercises, followed by an analysis of emotions, behavior, discussion of results and their successor. Identifying best practices and how they relate to our behavior at work and at home. The study is based on individual experience and experimentation, coupled with reflection, analysis and insight into how best to learn in everyday life and work.

 

How does this method differ from other forms of education?

Its value and effectiveness comes from adding a living element - the horses - to their diverse personalities, attitudes, motivations and moods - just as with people with whom we live and work.

 

How effective is this method?

Experience shows that it is much faster and more powerful than other forms of training. 1 or 2-day seminars allow for similar changes in participants' behavior and attitudes that can be seen after a few days of traditional learning. As a result, this method is more economical because it saves time and budget for training.

 

What is the reason of such efficiency of this method?

Such a high efficiency of the method is due to the fact that it is an emotional process. Knowledge itself does not change people's behavior, so no noticeable effects of changes in attitudes and behavior can be expected if science is not related to experience and strong emotions. Changing behavior is only influenced by a change in self-beliefs and the effectiveness of attitudes and patterns of behavior presented.

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From where is coming the change of belief during the seminar?

Seminars are emotional and can be combined with a change in beliefs. This change is the result of receiving immediate and objective feedback. The particular advantage is that the feedback is not provided by the coach, it is not a subjective assessment of another person who has his own filters and beliefs. The feedback is objective, clear and unambiguous provided by the horse. It does not have its own hidden goals and lives only in the present, "here and now" refers directly and exclusively to the present situation and what the participant has in mind.

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Is it possible to transfer these experiences to our day-to-day work, relationships with others?

An important element of the seminars is the transfer of experience in our working and everyday environment. Experimenting with the new situation, with different attitudes and behaviors, participants more quickly than other learning methods discover new ways of behaving and have the opportunity to assess their effectiveness. Participants are well aware of this experience because it is related to emotions. Discussion and reflection that takes place after every exercise allows you to perceive new experiences. As a result, participants are strongly motivated to make changes in their behavior at work. In other words, after the seminar people not only know but also want to change their behavior more effectively and more efficiently.

 

What are the other benefits?

An additional advantage is the integration of teams into a common, positive goal, which usually happens when people go through emotions. Such seminars can save extra training to cope with emotions, go beyond the comfort zone, build self-esteem, overcome fears, as they are an integral part of the seminars. Horse activities provide the maximum combination of thought - the body - and the feelings that underlie a well-developed emotional intelligence that is the key to our effectiveness in personal life and careers.

 

Why to use horses to train people?

There are many reasons why horses should be used in the upbringing of humans. These seminars offer a unique thing that no other program can do. It is a great, living, breathing and repellent to human being that creates a constantly evolving and developing environment following man and his experience.

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What makes horses suitable for coaches?

Horses are extremely sensitive to what is happening in their environment, they keep a constant awareness of the changes around them and react to them. This is an absolute condition for them to survive. The horses are so different, individuals, physically defined and limited, as people working with them. Most important, however, is that they give an immediate and absolute objectile feedback that makes us understand what we need to change in our attitudes and behaviors in order to achieve the partnership needed to achieve a particular task.

 

From where does the horse take information about human abilities?

The partner - a horse perfectly and precisely senses the level of trust of a person to himself, his self-esteem, knowledge of the situation and interpersonal skills. Horses are completely free to recognize what needs to be changed to succeed in our personal and professional relationships.

 

Why can seminars with horses be more effective for employees than other forms of training?

You can take a look at these training seminars in companies and corporations. It often happens that workers taking part in training with their manager do not feel comfortable enough to make full use of their experience. For horses, no matter what position, status or car you are driving! They notice and react to that which is happening HERE AND NOW, they are completely honest in their answers and have no hidden motives. With horses you can feel completely free and safe to be yourself.

 

Should the participants have experience with horses before the seminars?

Training is by no means tied to horseback riding. There is no need to experience contact with a cone. None of the exercises are performed by the horse's back. Seminars are suitable for non-experienced participants as well as for those who have regular contact with horses.

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Many people are afraid of horses, can they participate in training?

The majority of people are respected by horses, even those who have been working with them for years. This is a normal and healthy expression of our concern for ourselves. However, the magic of training with horses is just entering the zone of comfort. A professional coach will give you a chance to gradually adapt to the situation and safely overcome fears or limitation

 

Are the horses used for the seminars safe?

Seminars and training include only trained, relaxed horses who like to work with people.

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Why will horses want to be our training partners?

The horse can be a partner in achieving the goals we set. However, as in human relations, a professional and personal goal can be achieved only after good relations have been established. Good, lasting partnership based on self-awareness and understanding of the other side's point of view. The horses perfectly reflect this dynamics and motivate the participants to work on it. Horses provide immediate and objective feedback, which has shown very clearly and precisely what needs to be changed in order to achieve good, strong partnerships that enable the implementation of the plan and achieve the goal.

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Why are horses a good mirror of human emotions?

Horses can not ignore the real emotions, feeling a mismatch between behavior and emotions, and because they can not lie, they show the truth. Their sensitivity to non-verbal signals, which is the result of evolutionary evolution, gives them an incredible ability to read and reflect the emotional state of the one they are at the moment. Their reaction and response are physical and therefore very clear and easy to understand for people. As horses, horses provide very valuable information about the dynamics and roles played by individual members of the team or group

 

In which cases these seminars can be used?

The inclusion of horses as part of the process of self-knowledge and personal development is particularly effective in the process of team building, promotion of group co-operation, problem solving, leadership development, communication, relationship building, self-awareness and construction self-esteem, overcoming fears and limitations. Working with horses during a seminar constantly provides new experiences and opportunities for discussion, analysis and reflection. A key element of the development process is the transfer of experience in the professional environment.

 

What exactly happens during the classes?

Participants conduct a series of horses exercises conducted from the ground to individual interaction with horses. Tasks allow you to identify and focus on the challenges and problems that a participant has to solve at a given moment.

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What is the role of the fact that the horse is a herd of animals?

The behavior of the horse is also due to another important aspect, namely the social intelligence stemming from the "herd mentality." The horse is a running animal, its only protection is to escape, but to be in a herd is conditional for its survival. The herd has a complete protective role, providing the comfort and security of individual horses. Through the domestication process, the horse is ready to accept man as a member of his "flock" and react to his behavior as he will react to the behavior of another member of his flock. This behavior causes the horses to be a great medium that reflects the slightest change in relationships.

 

What is the main task for participants in the seminar?

For the participants the most important experience is the experience itself - what do I do in my relationship? Why does the horse react in this way to me and my behavior? The behaviors and attitudes of the participant in the seminar are reflected in the behavior of the horse. Changing human behavior immediately leads to a change in the behavior of the horse. This gives you the opportunity to explore and experiment with new behaviors as well as changes in self-retirements.

 

Is feedback is provided only from horses?

Objective and immediate feedback is derived from the behavior of the horse, but an important element of the seminar is the observation of other persons as well as the information transmitted by the other participants in the tasks. They give the opportunity to experiment with their own behavior, but also to learn from others.

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During seminars people are put away from their everyday context, why can these experiences be translated into everyday life and work environment?

Observations confirm that the attitude of humans to horses is consistent with their attitude towards humans. We are what we are and we work on the basis of studied patterns and reactions. These patterns are perfectly revealed in a stressful situation arising from working with a stranger, a great animal. The same habits and attitudes people use with their colleagues, clients and family members.

Developing the ability to communicate effectively through horses provides skills, knowledge and experience, and this leads to a significant improvement in addressing the challenges in life, tasks and people we face on our path. We are all members of our own human flock, and we must do this to work efficiently and improve our quality of life and the consequences of our actions.