Why to team up with a Horse in coaching?

We all have issues and crave the wisdom of what can be done to improve ourselves in life and have fulfilling relationships.

Wisdom that increasingly gets through by "have to do's" to be happy, principles, diagrams and tools on the internet. Its a first step of course. For many of us it's still intimidating to reveal oneself, to show vulnerable. The backdrop of online self-development or self-coaching is that there is no feedback and for most of the time it always remains very, very abstract and conceptual. The effects are short-lived. And we go back to consume and to consume more personal development content without really seeing concrete, tangible results and the long desired profound change in our lives.

Working with Horses is something very different, exquisite and unique. Why ? They provide us immediate biofeedback and are neutral in reflecting on relationship patters.

I explain. Any of our behavior or attitude displayed in their presence will automatically trigger a reaction. Horses are 'cabled and wired' to be connected with their surroundings, because their very survival depends on it. A bit like us no ?

They cannot ignore potentially inconsistent or threatening signs, or signs that don't make sense. It raises their curiosity and concern. They must constantly check, verify and make sense out of what is happening in their environment. Is it reassuring, safe, or strange, incongruous ? When it is puzzling, they will have to check if it's okay or not. And so each human behavior, up to the increase in heart rate, the change in the breathing, the smell of perspiration is an indication for them. They will act as a very subtle and non-verbal feedback on our attitudes and our real felt sense.

Coaching with a horse allows to accompany people in a subtle way, without necessarily verbalization. Interaction with a horse often allows the person to measure the impact of his/her behaviors, thoughts, emotional states, and physiological states on the other, the horse. The feedback to the client's inner experience is direct and immediate in a form of non-verbal cues from the horse that may - in return - affect the client's physiological (decrease of heart rate, relaxation), emotional (feelings of sudden joy, sorrow, deep emotional insights), mental (AHA moments), cognitive experience (acceptance) in the moment. Beside of the subjective experience lived by the person the horse reflects back on how that impacts the relational context. Our very human issues are often enmeshed and show up in relationship complexities.

The horse, according to my experience, acts as a 'reflecting screen'. I dislike the expression 'mirror' because, it bring us to think we are seeing ourselves. The horse will not always and solely reflect our thoughts and feelings but the effect it actually produces in the relationship. The exquisite power of coaching with Horses lies in the feedback from a neutral relational partner regarding our internal and external behavior patterns.

Would you give a try ?

For more info and a unique experience with Horses please contact me or check out our offers for 2025 in collaboration with Juliette Collinet La Ferme de la Colline at https://www.lafermedelacolline.be/evenements