As a leader, you understand the importance of a strong, cohesive team. You've tried team-building exercises, retreats, and workshops, but are you seeking a truly transformative experience that fosters deeper connection, hones communication, and reignites your team's spirit? Look no further than equine-assisted team coaching.
What is Equine-Assisted Team Coaching?
Unlike traditional team building activities, equine-assisted coaching utilises the unique power of horses to facilitate self-discovery, communication, innovative ideas and collaboration. Horses are incredibly intuitive creatures, responding authentically and non judgementally to human emotions, intentions and behaviours. This creates a safe space for individuals to explore their leadership styles, self-beliefs, communication patterns, and team dynamics.
Benefits for Your Team:
- Enhanced self-awareness: Through interaction with the horses, participants gain a deeper understanding of their strengths, limitations, and emotional triggers.
- Improved communication: Horses act as mirrors, reflecting back non-judgmental feedback on how team members communicate and interact.
- Stronger team bonds: Sharing new experiences and challenges create opportunities for connection and empathy, fostering a more supportive and collaborative team environment.
- Renewed motivation and focus: Stepping away from the daily grind in a natural setting allows for reflection, re-evaluation, and a return to work with renewed energy and focus.
What to Expect in our "Rest and Restore" Team Away Day:
- A tranquil environment: Immerse yourselves in the calming atmosphere of our beautiful facility, surrounded by nature and our herd of experienced therapy horses.
- Expert guidance: Our specialist coaches will facilitate exercises and discussions, ensuring a safe and insightful experience.
- Tailored interactions: Engage in activities designed to build trust, authentic communication, and leadership skills through interaction with the horses. Each Away Day is designed according to the needs and goals of the team with a mix of experiential learning exercises focused on self and team development objectives.
- Reflective sessions: Process your individual and collective experiences as a group, gaining valuable insights and actionable takeaways that can be applied as soon as you get back to work.
Testimonials from Recent Away Day Participants;
- "It allowed me to connect with some of my deeper emotional challenges, which in turn, impacted on my ability to truly empathise with my colleagues." - Caroline El-Semman, Founder & Director
- "The day has clarified the importance of having space and time to sit with things, to not always be pushing ahead." - Eloise Robinson, Team Leader
- "The team building exercises and the one-to-one moments with the horses...When I finally let myself go, I got a perception of their healing power and restoring abilities." - Vanessa Silva, Team Leader
From the Horses Mouth; an Interview with Tarek El-Semman, CEO of Little Jungle, after attending an Away Day with his senior team of educators, all the way from Peckham.
WHAT DID YOU GET OUT OF COMING TO TRACK CLINIC?
It felt like a day of awakening. Listening (with all your senses) to how empathetic another species is towards you is totally mind blowing. Things in my head slotted into place, I understood far more deeply what is important, what isn't and how to ultimately let go of all the junk in my head, and focus on the small amount of stuff that's actually important. It sounds bonkers, but it happened. I blame the horses..and the alpaca!
WHICH PARTS OF THE DAY DO YOU FEEL YOU BENEFITED FROM THE MOST?
Sharing this experience with my team, seeing how open they were and how they all experienced their own unique journey on the day was amazing and very enlightening. I loved that although we all got something slightly different out of our experience with the horses, we found each other, shared what was happening and the sum of our experiences seemed to build an overall stronger connection and team bond. Barriers were blown away and empathy for each other and our cause seemed to thrive.
WHAT WILL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY OR HOW WILL YOU THINK DIFFERENTLY AS A RESULT OF ATTENDING?
I would like to spend more time reflecting as a team, focussing on what's important, ignoring what's not, and fostering this new found empathy for each other. I feel like we understand each other far better as individuals, our own individual needs and strengths (faaaar beyond skill sets etc).
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE EXPERIENCE TO A COLLEAGUE WHO HASN’T EXPERIENCED EQUINE ASSISTED COACHING BEFORE?
I think I would say that horses and other herd animals are intrinsically connected at a much deeper level. You can't really understand the concept of empathy, unless you understand herd dynamics. So by observing and being accepted by a herd, you get a glimpse into what empathy is, how to support others and ultimately harness the power of a group / team to become far stronger than the sum of the individual parts of that group / team. I won't lie it's hard to explain, and it needs the audience to have a base sense of openness to listen.
ANYTHING MORE GENERAL, POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE, THAT YOU’D LIKE TO ADD OR QUESTION
I loved every minute. The centre is perfect, it's humble, it's safe, you served delicious food, you listened intently, you broke barriers, it was clear how much care and curation goes into what you do. And you all take such great care of the animals in your trust. I have done plenty of therapy myself in various guises, but nothing has ever come close to unpicking some of the stuff I have going on. Thank you!
Ready to invest in your team's success?
Contact us today to learn more about our Team Away Days and Flow Activation programmes and once we've learned more about you, we will tailor a programme to nurture the needs and address the goals of your team. The rest is up to the horses!
For more about the work of Track Clinic, testimonials and footage of the herd in action: