Quite simply, all of us have a comfort zone that is the area in which we feel safe and secure. In this area this is where we do the kinds of the activities we do each and every day. We are quite comfortable doing them and no fear is involved. The problem is that if we don’t move out the comfort zone we never grow and learn.
Once we step out of our comfort zone, we move into the growth and learning zone that is the Stretch Zone. Here we acquire new skills, develop and effectively we expand.
Finally there is the fear zone. This is the area where we go into panic and get stressed, which is why we are hard wired to avoid it. You never learn anything in the fear zone as you are so focused on survival nothing else matters.
You can imagine the comfort zone as being comprised of three concentric circles:
Inner ring is our comfort zone
The next ring is the learning zone
The outside ring is the fear or panic zone
But for many of the clients coming out actually coming out and being with the horses is massively out their comfort zone, particularly if they live in their town actually even coming out to the countryside is massively out of their comfort zone.
So we have to make sure that when people come out to the horses, I create an experience where they end up in that learning zone and not in the fear zone. This is why one of the first exercises I do with clients is actually without the horses. I do this just to make people feel comfortable in the environment they’re in.
And then once they feel comfortable in the environment we’re in, then we can start introducing the horses. God forbid if the first thing they did was come out and I put them in In my arena with a five or ten horses running around rearing and bucking. That really high energy that would just send people into that paralysis fear space.
So the horses for me and the experiences with the horses are a great metaphor for teaching people about how to lead through uncertainty. It’s about stepping out of their comfort zone and coming to do something different because most people have never experienced being out with the horses and being up close and personal with them.
So the horses are a great leveller in helping people expand that comfort zone. And then, of course, once they’ve expanded that comfort zone, people can begin to grow and take the skills that they have learnt back to the workplace. This is what makes the experience so very valuable, as the experience is easily transferrable to daily life for people.
If you are interested in exploring whether Horse Assisted Leadership Transformation (HALT) is for you and your team, then please reach out to us for a friendly conversation.