Evidence-based Research

Articles About TeachingHorse

Organizational Dynamics, January 2017

This article is about a study of working with horses to develop shared leadership skills for nursing executives.

Author: June Gunter, et al.

The complexity and uncertainty of twenty-first century business environments diminish the effectiveness of traditional, hierarchical approaches to leadership. To create an adaptive, agile organization, capable of both noticing and responding to emerging trends and customer needs, leaders are increasingly required to act interdependently and share leadership. According to Pearce and Conger, authors of Shared Leadership: Reframing the how’s and whys of leadership, shared leadership is a dynamic, unfolding, interactive social process among individuals, where the objective is to lead one another toward the achievement of collective goals and results in improved performance. The author shares the results of a study with nursing executives encountering horses in a leadership development experience.

Articles About Leadership Development With Horses

Internal J. of Learning and Change, December 2023

This article is about how horses help develop skills and mindsets relevant to organizational challenges.

This study examines the long-term effects of equine assisted learning by interviewing experienced professionals who participated in programs conducted in different centers. Results indicate that participants perceived equine assisted learning as an effective approach to nurture interpersonal skills, initiating changes at individual and group level. A model emerged from the analysis: 1) the context of interacting with horses, facilitated by coaches, influences; 2) participants’ perceived awareness (of themselves, others, and how to lead); 3) behavior in terms of non-verbal communication, relationships, and leadership. The model supports instructors and researchers in understanding how interacting with horses sparks changes and developments of skills and mindsets relevant to organizational challenges.

International J. of Organizational Leadership, 2021

Incorporating equine assisted learning into leadership development may be a highly effective and rewarding way to hone the skills critical to being an influential leader, such as trust, respect, honesty, open communication, and self-awareness.

J. of Experiential Education, 2021

This study considers the use of animal-assisted interventions (AAIs), specifically horses, in an educational setting, which has received minimal attention in the human–animal interaction research. The use of AAIs in educational programs may provide students a living, active metaphor for what they need to do in their own leadership lives, question boundaries, and gain a sense of self as a future system leader.

J. of Education, Health, and Sport, 2019

Wojtkowska. A., Kaczmarek, M., & Gazdowska, Z. (2019). The influence of horse assisted education on the perception of self-efficacy in people holding leadership positions, Journal of Education, Health and Sport.

J. of Corporate Responsibility and Leadership, 2018

Rajfura, T. & Karaszewski, R. (2018). Horse sense leadership: What can leaders learn from horses?” Journal of Corporate Responsibility and Leadership 5.1 (2018): 61-83. 

Dissertation: The Effect of Equine Assisted Leadership Programs on Perceived Professional Development Outcomes, September 2017

American businesses spent more than $170 billion dollars on leadership-based curriculum, with the greater part of those funds spent specifically on leadership training (American Society for Training and Development, 2012). The problem is that most leadership courses are perceived to be ineffective and a waste of resources (Williams, 2013). The results of this study identified equine assisted learning leadership programs as being effective in meeting the needs of its participants.

Participants in this study have perceived gains in professional development outcomes after the completion of the equine assisted program. The results in the study revealed that equine assisted leadership programs are key in promoting the right attitudes, increased levels of motivation, reinforcing commitment, building confidence, and improving the levels of communications among participants on the programs.

J. of Management Development, April 2016

Organizations are striving to stay on top of the transitions occurring with the influx of younger generations in the workforce. Managers are challenged with building relationships with younger employees and understanding what motivates them to be effective workers. Equine assisted learning (EAL) programs are an effective training tool that many organizations are using to bridge this gap between older managers and younger employees. These programs also fulfill a need younger employees seek in on-the-job soft skills training.

J. of Values-Based Leadership, 2015

Maziere, C. & Gunnlaugson, O. (2015). A case for developing spiritual intelligence in leaders through equine facilitated learning. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 8, 10.

J. of Experiential Education, April 2014

Equine assisted learning is experiential learning that stays with people. It is active. It is learning by doing. Participants learn the language of horses, and horses reflect participant communication, which includes actions, behaviors, feelings, and energy. This space with humans and horses is open to outcome, with no judgement, no right or wrong, and accomplishing activities in the participant’s own way.

Experiential learning occurs when carefully chosen experiences are supported by reflection, critical analysis and synthesis.

Experiences are structured to require the learner to take initiative, make decisions and be accountable for results. Throughout the experiential learning process, the learner is actively engaged in posing questions, investigating, experimenting, being curious, solving problems, assuming responsibility, being creative, and constructing meaning.

J. of Management Education, 2014

Kelly, S. (2014). Horses for courses: Exploring the limits of leadership development through equine-assisted learning.” Journal of Management Education 38.2 (2014): 216-233). 

Herd Dynamics, 2012

This peer reviewed research from 2012 is an exploration of the core dynamics of business leadership through the metaphor of equine herd leadership. Far from leadership being something leaders “do” to followers, this research from Edinburgh Napier University suggests that leading is something followers permit and empower leaders to do.

Simplified, the process identified in natural leadership is as follows:

• A confident, experienced socially-dominant individual has a vision or need and decides to take action.
• They become a leader only when a quorum of other socially-dominant individuals choose to follow them.
• When the quorum of social dominants start to follow, it triggers consensus focussed decision-making by the remaining team.

The process is effectively ‘team appointed’ leaders being ‘primus inter pares’ (first amongst equals in the socially dominant group) with the strongest dynamic being the choice to follow not the choice to lead.

J. of Social Work Practice, March 2011

Because it is a prey animal, the horse has developed highly effective communication systems based primarily on body language, and is finely tuned in ‘picking up’ on human emotions and intention. Horses have strong social bonds, and herd behavior is based on a co-operative form of living, with each horse having a ‘place’ but with a leader, rather than a boss, who is usually an older, wise mare. Participants in equine assisted activities may identify with the horse’s inherent fear and need for security and safety, thus, providing a metaphor for how they may feel themselves.

Additionally, in order to work effectively with horses, it is necessary to model behaviors to which the horse will respond positively — qualities such as calm, confident and fair leadership — and this can provide opportunities for learning new forms of behavior and feelings of self-efficacy.

Innovative Teaching, 2009

Gehrke, E. K. (2009). Developing coherent leadership in partnership with horses—A new approach to leadership training. Innovative Teaching, 2(1), 222–233.

General Articles About Equine Assisted Learning

PERIODICALS / MAGAZINES

Non peer-reviewed Periodical Articles

Forbes, March 2024

As organizations shift from creating diverse teams to cultivating cultures that nurture belonging and innovative thinking, psychological safety is becoming increasingly important as a leadership capability.

Cultivating a culture of trust requires leaders to recognize and relate to the emotional states among their teams.

Empathetic leadership is particularly acute when organizations are facing crises and uncertainty. As empathy is gaining attention as a leadership attribute, the paradox lies in this trait being viewed as a weakness for leaders, arguing individuals who demonstrate this behavior are viewed as submissive and placing emotional interests over rational, wider organizational needs.

In leadership education, experiential programs are creating a stimulus for transformative change. Equine assisted learning takes the experiential development element to a completely new level.

In equine assisted learning, individuals and teams participate in ground-based exercises with horses to understand the power of empathy and trust.

These exercises are guided by certified professional facilitators who connect the experiences with horses to relevant organizational issues. This helps participants gain a better understanding of themselves and others.

Equine assisted learning is based on biomimicry, which is “a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges.”

Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, 2024

Sebalj, M., Lakhani, A., & Grindrod, A. (2024). Equine-assisted services for people living with dementia: a systematic review. Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy.

Books

Haraway D. J. (2008). When species meet. University of Minnesota Press.

Gunter, J. (2007). TeachingHorse: Rediscovering Leadership. Author House.

Irwin, C. (2005). Dancing with your dark horse: How horse sense helps us find balance, strength and wisdom. Da Capo Press.

Kohanov, L. (2003). Riding between the worlds: Expanding our potential through the way of the horse. New World Library.

Roberts, M. (2001). Horse sense for people: Using the gentle wisdom of join-up to enrich our relationships at home and at work. Penguin Books.

McCormick, A., McCormick M. (1997). Horse sense and the human heart: What horses can teach us about trust, bonding, creativity and spirituality. Health Communications, Inc.

Strozzi, A. (2004). Horse sense for the leader within: Are you leading your life or is it leading you? AuthorHouse.