March/April 2010
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Partner Profile
For thousands of years horses have survived in the wild. Their simple, but effective system of communication management, combined with a keen sense of intuition, contributed to their successful existence in an environment of predators and extreme weather conditions. We human beings, having evolved with a more highly developed brain and have created a world filled with devices and instruments designed to make our lives easier, more convenient and keep us in contact with friends, family and workplace in all parts of the world. Like horses, our world is, at time, filled with predators and extreme weather conditions. Interestingly enough, most of us find ourselves with more pressures and busier than ever before, struggling to keep up the pace to maintain connections and relationships … and to just keep up. HorseSense is a workshop where we step out of our “highly evolved” world and step into the world of nature … the world of horses in particular. It is a quick study in horsemanship and “horse whispering”. The horses share their highly effective methods of communication. They desire “natural leadership” from those who work with them. They provide immediate feedback and allow the people the opportunity to feel the positive energy of simple and effective communication. Developed in late 1990’s as a way of helping people develop self confidence, HorseSense has since evolved into a dynamic workshop, appealing to a large cross section of people. Businesses, community groups or sport teams come for a team building experience, leadership or communication development. The program has served people of all ages … HorseSense for Teens, HorseSense for Seniors, HorseSense for Couples & Relationship Building, HorseSense Leadership Training and HorseSense Communication. Many groups come to just get away for a while and have fun. The workshop itself presents a fresh approach to inter-personal communication, leadership and life skills development. Sessions feature interacting with horses on the ground (no riding) doing simple and safe activities in a clean and natural indoor facility, utilizing the horses’ basic system of communication. The strength of the program is that the horses provide immediate feedback. If the handler communicates effectively they are rewarded with the exhilaration of having the horse respond to their every move (and sometimes thoughts). An amazing fact is … the basic communication system of the horse is very similar to our basic communication system. As humans, effective communication takes place through - 60% body language, 35% the tone of our voice and 5% the words we use. Horses communicate much the same. They do not understand words … in their natural herd environment they respond to body language and the texture of sounds. When working with the horses we are “forced” to communicate in a way that they can understand us – with body language and specific textured sounds. When we do that the horses respond immediately. A horse will never lie. We can use this experience to create awareness of how we communicate with the people around us. It will be through our body language and the tone of our voice, and how we say the words we use, not necessarily the words themselves. (“It’s not what you say, but how you say it that matters”) that will allow us to become more effective in the way we communicate with other people. Another reason we use horses to be effective teachers is that the horse helps people relax their defenses and the walls they build around themselves. This helps to open the relationship between oneself and others. Horses are a bridge to self-esteem and emotional strength, establishing bonds of trust that overcome fear and aggression. This bond tends to inspire productive behaviour, caring attitudes and a philosophical orientation to life. The horses also encourage responsibility, trust and positive relational skills. When people come into the “barn”, the horse’s environment, they are forced out of their asphalt and concrete world in to a natural, safe place. The “barn” encourages people to be relaxed and creative and discover or re-discover the importance of respect, boundaries and resulting freedom that comes from reconnecting with nature. As much as each workshop session intends to focus on a specific area … communication, leadership, team building etc. ... the experience is always personal and meaningful for each individual, depending where they are in their lives, relationships or careers. It is a very exhilarating experience for all. Horses are not only beautiful creatures to be with, but they offer a gift of love and healing, no matter what our situation or circumstances, and completely without judgment. They live in the moment ... their only concern is what is happening right now. That is the only thing they can control … things that are happening right now … and are they safe. We can learn volumes from this feature alone. The format and structure of the workshop is flexible. Many groups will meet at a local hotel for a gathering and a preparation session on the HorseSense program. The Union Bank Inn, a boutique hotel in Edmonton has long been a favourite meeting spot for pre-session conference, breakfast or lunch in the library. There have been sessions where stretch limousine service to the barn creates a special day that people don’t soon forget. Meals, snacks or refreshments can be provided at the barn for after the sessions. HorseSense provides a venue that is extremely flexible to needs of each and every group. A common expression heard from many people after the session is ... “I feel like I’ve come alive ... I can really feel this”. My favourite expression is ...“There’s lots of horse sense in the world today ... it’s just that the horses have most of it.” Gary Millar HorseSense Millarcom Inc. Tel. 780-499-9219 Email: gary@millarcom.com
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