Day Retreats & Experiential Workshops
Join us for a transformative, evidence-based approach to stress resiliency and leadership development through equine-facilitated experiential learning. All activities are conducted from the ground, with no riding involved. Led by Suzanne Coleman and myself, our retreats combine the wisdom of horses with proven strategies for effective, socially intelligent leadership and enhanced awareness.
Here are five key takeaways you can expect from each of our day retreats:
1. Heightened Nonverbal Communication Skills: Learn how to communicate nonverbally and build trust and rapport with others, using horses as your guide.
2. Navigating Complex Interpersonal Dynamics: Discover how to embody empathy and expand your awareness in various situations.
3. Emotional Intelligence and Intuition: Through experiences with horses, you’ll learn to recognize, feel, understand, and manage your emotions as well as those of others.
4. Confidence and Authenticity as a Leader: Gain skills that apply broadly, improving your success in personal relationships, career, and parenting.
5. Clearing Obstacles and Expanding Awareness: Experience the transformative power of presence through interactive activities and guided exercises with our equine partners. You will learn how to guide a thousand-pound sentient being using mental focus and clarity of intent.
We guarantee that you will leave feeling clearer, more resourced, and ready to tackle your goals and challenges. Join us and discover the power of equine-facilitated learning.
While our public events have concluded for the season, small group bookings are still possible as long as the weather allows. Please view our programs below and reach out to discuss how we can create a transformational personal development experience for you.
Best regards,
Lisa & Suzanne
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2024 Day Retreats
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Past Event
Empowered Boundaries
June 22nd, 9:30-4pm
This workshop is crafted for the woman who nurtures everyone else’s dreams, often at the expense of her own. It’s a haven for the empathetic leaders, the passionate care providers, and the unsung heroines who stand at the forefront of change yet find themselves on the cusp of burnout.
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Past Event
Leading with Presence Sept 21st 9:30-4pm
Are you ready to tap into your innate leadership potential and become a more influential leader? Discover the power of equine-facilitated learning. Our unique approach combines the wisdom of horses with proven strategies for effective leadership, inspired by Linda Kohanov's ground-breaking book, "The Five Roles of a Master Herder".
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Past Event
Grounded in Presence
Oct 19th 9:00-1.00pm
​Has your passion for impact and leading change left you feeling depleted? Come to our nature-immersed retreat to find clarity, rejuvenation, and inspiration. Guided interactions with the horses will expand your awareness and restore agency and balance. Process pent-up stress and emotions, renew your resilience, and cultivate self-compassion. Treat yourself with the same care you give to others and rediscover the vibrant, influential leader within. Join us to start your self-reconnection journey!
2024 Pricing
9.30-4.00 pm =$299 + HST per person.
9.00 - 1.00pm =$200 + HST per person
Take the first step towards embodying presence, expanding your influence, and reigniting your passion for leading change.
Cancellation policy: A full refund is available until seven days before the event. A 50% refund will be applied to cancellations within seven days. This is a rain-or-shine event.
Where?
Where? Horse & Hands Equine Therapy & Wellness Farm is located near Lynden, Ontario (1 hour from Toronto).
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All materials and light refreshments are included, but please bring a water bottle, protective footwear, &weather gear,
Who can attend?
Anyone who desires to balance the intelligence of their mind, heart, and body to develop greater levels of awareness, trust, and rapport and to lead with confidence and authenticity.
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​All interactions with the horses are done from the ground; no riding or previous experience with horses is required. However, you must sign a waiver and attend a safety talk before interacting with our equine partners.
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Why horses?
Numerous studies have shown that horses are incredibly efficient at drawing attention to the feelings, intentions, and perceptions behind our words. Through specially designed activities, you will deepen your awareness of personal challenges, core feelings, and areas of bodily tension that inhibit your ability to reach your true potential.
Wisdom Beyond Words
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It's now commonly recognized that only ten percent of human communication is verbal, yet we've been conditioned to ignore the nonverbal dimension of relationships. How often have you asked for space in a relationship, and someone becomes even more invasive? How often have you seen that the so-called boss isn't in charge of a situation, no matter how logical or intimidating they try to be?
Understanding what we're saying to each other is icing on the cake compared with everything else we're communicating through our tone, body language and energy. Imagine a supervisor asking us to complete a project with only 10 percent of the information available, or if our schools were only committed to teaching 10 percent of what we would need to succeed. And yet that's precisely what's happening as we overemphasize the spoken and written word in business, education and relationship.
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​True empowerment, involves engaging that "other 90 percent," that dimension of nonverbal intelligence so grossly underdeveloped in modern society. And horses are remarkably efficient at drawing attention to the feelings, intentions, and perceptions behind our words.
Through a series of specially designed activities, participants deepen awareness of personal challenges, core feelings and areas of bodily tension that inhibit their ability to reach their true potential.
For example, a tremendous boost in self-esteem and confidence comes from learning to establish boundaries and direct a thousand-pound equine through mental focus, presence, and clarity of intent. These skills, which can be challenging to teach in a conventional classroom, business coaching, or counselling session, have far-ranging applications linked to increased success in personal relationships, career and parenting.
Evidence for a "Herder" Leadership Model
Linda Kohanov's "The Five Roles of a Master Herder" presents a widely accepted and implemented leadership development model by organizations and leaders worldwide. The model emphasizes critical components of effective leadership, such as emotional intelligence, social intelligence, and embodied presence.
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Dr. Wendy Goldband and Dr. Sandra Waddock used the "Five Roles of a Master Herder" as the basis for a leadership development program for MBA students, and their research found that the program significantly improved the students' emotional intelligence, leadership skills, and ability to work collaboratively and communicate effectively.
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Kohanov and colleagues also conducted a study that found equine-facilitated learning, which incorporates the "Five Roles of a Master Herder" model, led to significant improvements in emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and leadership skills among participants.
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