Lessons Leaned. (From the ring to employee and leader) - Team Building and Relationships

Team Building and Relationships

It’s often said, “There’s no greater bond than that between a person and their horse.” Or at least, it’s something I’ve often heard growing up in the horse world, but I think it has some merit to it. There IS something special about the bond you form with a 1,200 pound animal with strong flight instincts. The amount of trust that must be built for you to be confident the horse isn’t going to harm you and for the horse to trust that you’re not going to put it in a dangerous situation is astounding. This relationship, like any other relationship, takes time, effort, and energy. Our trainer often tells clients with new equine partners it takes two years to build a solid relationship that will make their team unstoppable. I can attest to this. While Eli and I did well at shows in our first year together, the amount of growth and the changes we’ve experienced throughout the now three years we’ve had together can certainly be seen in the show pen from those that know us best. It’s the little things like consistency on the rail, loping off slow and correct, and nailing our transitions in patterns that come from building a trusting relationship (or in Eli’s case, coming back to me after he’s randomly spooked and jumped away at some small, inconsequential thing *facepalm*). 

This bond is built over time spent together and working together to accomplish goals - the very definition of teamwork. I spend hours every week (at least when the weather and other commitments allow) in the saddle, grooming, and hand-grazing Eli to build the trust and teamwork we need to be successful in the show pen just as I spend hours every week with my work team to develop our goals, build trust, and create a department that serves our students in the best way possible. Just as new teams participate in team building events to get to know one another and create trust among the group, natural horsemen use a technique called “joining up” to bond with new equine partners. This team bonding experience requires the horse and person to learn each other’s communication style, build trust, and knock down any feelings of domination from the horse - they become accepting of you as a leader and willing to trust and follow you - through a process of sending the horse off along the rail at a pace and watching for signs of comfortability and engagement from them (lowered head, licking, inner ear turned towards you to listen, etc.) while they go around before stopping and allowing them to come to the center of the ring where the person is standing. If they accept you, they’ll willingly come in softly and stand near you; if that trust isn’t there yet, they will usually turn their butt toward you, in which case, you send them off trotting or cantering around the rail again until you see the communication signals you’re looking for and try letting them into you again. This trust building exercise may take several days, just like building the trust of your work team; it doesn’t happen overnight. 

Besides the parallels in building trust, equines make the most honest team members. They all have their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses, just like your human team members. One difference though? They don’t care about your status, title, background, differences, etc. - they’re going to give you honest feedback no matter what. They can read your emotions and will act accordingly. In a bad mood? Feeling tense? Your horse is going to react the same way. Feeling relaxed, confident and comfortable? Your horse will feel the same. In fact, they are so great at reading emotions that the University of Kentucky did a two year study with nurses using equine assisted learning to improve the emotional intelligence of the participating nurses! Why? Again, because they can read your emotions and mimic them back to you, increasing your awareness of your own emotions and reactions. For those who want to be successful leaders, an increase in emotional intelligence may be the thing that sets you apart; at least, according to Daniel Goleman, a leader in emotional intelligence research. Horses are so great, actually, at building soft skills in teams that equine assisted learning is becoming a popular form of team building for corporations! What could be more fun than adding a 1,200 pound member to your team with a mind of its own to help you problem solve? Nothing that I can think of.

While horses are great at partnering, building trust, communicating, and improving emotional intelligence, I think the greatest aspect of them as a partner or team member is the amount of confidence they can build in a person. Every day, trainers and parents get to see the magical ability a horse has to boost the confidence in a rider. In all my years around horses, I’ve witnessed timid people around horses go from not getting within 10 feet of the horse, afraid of its size, to petting and brushing the horse, to putting a foot in the stirrup. I’ve watched young riders who let the horse take charge (AKA, stand in the middle of the pen not moving or head to the side of the ring to grab a little snack of grass) because they were too nice to be in charge gain the confidence to tell that horse what to do and demand it listen, earning that horse’s respect. Do you think if a little girl isn’t going to let a large animal bully her, she’s going to let a person bully her? No. She’s going to have the confidence to stand up to anyone who may try to bring her down. What more could a parent ask for their child? That confidence will go a long way for them as they move through grade school, college, and into the workplace. There will always be someone who is trying to outdo others or tear others down to build themselves up. An equestrian won’t let that happen. And this is why, horses make the best teammates.