Corporate Leadership From The Horse’s Mouth

Using horses as teachers is the foundation of the program offered at the Beaver Creek Ranch and Horse Centre, located near Lumsden. The ranch provides skills training using an approach called
Equine-Assisted Learning.

"Your reaction with the animal is the same in your approach to people," said owner and instructor Brenda Clemens. "We use horses as a barometer to tell what a person's energy is like, and then to help people understand that if they change their approach in handling the situation, it can lead to a better effect."

Clemens and co-instructor Lisa Larsen are both Certified Equine-Assisted Learning Specialists, a designation earned through a course offered at the Cartier Equine Centre in Prince Albert, which is the first of its kind in Canada. The program puts participants in direct contact with the horses on the ranch, and through their interaction, the participants learn how they are being perceived by others.

"Horses are really intuitive," said Clemens. "They are really sensitive to someone who maybe is approaching them under false pretenses, or who isn't authentic."

The focus of the Beaver Creek Ranch and Horse Centre is on providing innovative solutions to enhance team effectiveness in the workplace. Clients are using the centre to help develop leadership skills.

"Horses look for leadership," said Clemens. "So you could be awfully nice to the horse, and pat them, and say please do what I ask, but the horse still won't move. You have to be appropriately assertive. So that becomes a metaphor for the workplace. If you were nice to everybody in the office, would they co-operate? You have to be assertive but you can't be a bully."

The corporate training sessions normally involve two-person teams that work with an individual horse.

"First we explain that we're going to guide the people through the exercises, and, after the exercises, we talk about how they reacted to the horse, how the horse reacted to them, and how they worked as a team," Brenda Clemens explained. "The beauty of it is that it involves you in a real-life situation, rather than a lecture."

Team building takes place as participants work together with their horses to achieve some simple objectives. They are encouraged to do things like unifying their efforts, working as allies and sharing available resources to break down the barriers that can prevent people from working together.

"All of the exercises are team-oriented, and can be as simple as catching the horse with someone else," said Clemens. "The last exercise will usually involve the whole team, so everyone is in the arena at the same time."

Corporate clients that have used the Beaver Creek facility include the Saskatchewan Communications Network, the law firm McPherson, Leslie and Tyerman, and Athol Murray College at Notre Dame. The equine-assisted learning program provides a bonding experience for the groups, which usually consist of no more than 16 people.

"At the end of the day, we'll have supper, or sit around the campfire and have a round-table discussion about what they think they learned from the horse, and how they can apply those lessons to the workplace," said Clemens.

The Beaver Creek Ranch and Horse Centre also operates a bed-and-breakfast, and holds western-themed group dinners on their property. As well, Brenda Clemens and husband Barry are working ranchers, running about 150 head of cattle.

Complete information on the Beaver Creek Ranch learning programs is available on their website, at http://www.beavercreekranch.ca/.

For more information, contact:
Brenda Clemens, Certified Equine-Assisted Learning Specialist
Beaver Creek Ranch and Horse Centre
Phone: (306) 731-2943
E-mail: bbclemens@beavercreekranch.ca
Website: http://www.beavercreekranch.ca/