EAL Learning Library

Gehtmane-Hofmane, I., & Nimante, D. (2016). Equine Assisted Interventions: History, development, types and models of practice. In L. Daniela, & L. Rutka (Eds.), Selected papers of The Association for teacher education in Europe: Spring Conference 2015 (pp. 292-307). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Equine assisted interventions (EAIs) are recently facing an increasing popularity, and are characterized by a wide diversity of practices. However, information on the welfare of animals involved in this kind of activity is often lacking. Horses are highly susceptible to work stressors related to physical constraints and/or to the need to control emotions while interacting with humans. Considerations of the emotional state of horses involved in EAIs have multiple valences: for the safety of humans and animals involved, for the quality and efficacy of interventions, as well as for ethical reasons. The aim of this unsystematic narrative review is to summarize the different approaches used for the evaluation of horses’ stress responses, investigate their application in the context of EAIs, and discuss some methodological considerations for researchers and practitioners involved in EAI. The sources of information are mostly based on electronic databases (i.e., Medline, Scopus and Google scholar), as well as on hand searches of the references of retrieved literature, and discussions with experts in the field. At present, a few studies have investigated horses’ stress responses during EAIs, and further studies are recommended, with the final aim to derive a reliable multidimensional method for assessing a horse’s reaction during therapeutic programs, ultimately helping professionals to better develop interventions by taking into consideration the animal’s perspective.

The assessment of stress-related behaviors in horses participating in EAIs, together with more objective measures to substantiate interpretations of equine behavior (e.g., physiological assessment), has both ethical and practical applications. Identifying signs of discomfort in horses represents a first step toward a more objective means of evaluating the subjective experience of horses involved in EAIs and minimizing stress during these interventions. This may contribute to promoting healthy and safe relationships between humans and animals, and avoid responses that can pose a danger to both [6,114]. Combining data from a subjective questionnaire assessment (e.g., by experienced caregivers), and objective behavioral observations and testing, can also help in assessing individual differences in adaptation strategies, and selecting horses more suitable for EAIs, as well as searching for the optimal match between the human subject involved in EAIs and the horse.

Elif Bilginoğlu. (2021). Equine-Assisted Experiential Learning on Leadership Development. International Journal of Organizational Leadership, 10(Special Issue 2021), 3. https://doi.org/10.33844/ijol.2021.60532

In today’s fast-paced business world, where there is a need to develop divergent thinking and a wider range of skills, organizations seek original ways to be successful. Accordingly, leadership development has seen several uncommon approaches. Equine-assisted learning programs which involve innovative, underutilized, and motivating techniques and strategies, provide a dynamic process of building and developing leadership skills through horse-human interactions. In this paper, after the history of horse-human relationships and interactions are examined, a literature review is conducted on developing research and using equine-assisted leadership development programs. Although the extant research shows that equine-assisted leadership development programs promote skills critical to being an influential leader, the present paper provides an insight into equine-assisted experiential learning on leadership development, provides an overview on what happens in a typical equine-assisted experiential learning session, and suggests practical implications for researchers and organizations.

This paper offers an introduction to the theoretical foundations of equine-assisted leadership development. This relatively new and increasingly popular approach provides a unique learning experience by incorporating human-animal interaction into educational settings. As a result, skills that can be difficult to acquire in more traditional settings are developed and enhance and complement leadership skills.

While the human-horse bond can enrich and inspire learning, the equine-assisted learning workshops allow the participants to view problems differently and get new sights. They help to revise the behaviors, cognitions, and unconscious processes. Although some people claim that drawing analogies between horse management and human leadership is dangerous (Rickards, 2000; Selby & Smith-Osborne, 2013), the workshops obviously include all of the discussed processes in the leadership development literature, such as how goals are established, how decisions are made, who will make them and who will implement them as well as topics such as team development, conflict resolution, task management, communication, and relationships.

Previous research reveals that participants understand from their equine-assisted experience related to their style and organizational structure. Through the horses’ modeling and teachings, they are encouraged to acquire new interpersonal skills and decide how better leaders should behave and treat others (Hagen, 2007; Hesse & Capitao, 2012; West, 2015). Based on recent theoretical and empirical literature on equine-assisted learning, it can be claimed that working with horses can help to experience the power of the horse to teach critical life skills such as trust, respect, honesty, open communication, and to enhance a person’s self-awareness. Previous research also provides evidence that the confidence developed through equestrian experiences makes leaders more eager to face difficulties and take on new challenges. The assertiveness learned through handling horses is useful in getting co-workers to accept the leadership (Fransson, 2015). In the workshops, participants experience and practice effective communication, willing partnership, shared vision, skillful action, and thoughtful decision- making (Naidoo, 2009). To sum up, corporating equine-assisted learning in a leadership development program may be a proven, highly effective, and rewarding way to hone or discover the skills critical to being an influential leader. The findings of the present study are consistent with the claims of Pentecost (2017, p. 23) that horses are a natural model for leadership and with the claims of Lyle and Schlamb (2017, 10 Elif Bilginoğlu p. 4) that the human-horse relationship constitutes a creative exemplar that teaches leaders to be attentive to behaviours, needs, actions and reactions of those with whom they engage. Since the participation in the equine-assisted learning programs seem to have a primarily positive impact on teaching responsibility, caring, communicating as well as patience, empathy, trust, respect, confidence, attentiveness to others, conflict resolution through development in creative arts of persuasion, better communication skills (Keaveney, 2008), several emotional intelligence competencies (Grootveld, 2015), social skills, perceived sense of mastery, optimism, self-efficacy (Bouchard, 2014), self-awareness, self-confidence and team-building (Gehrke, 2009; Selby & Smith-Osbourne, 2013), there is no doubt that the skills the leaders develop in equine-assisted programs impact an organization’s bottom line.

Leadership development programs can be an organization’s top tool to maintain a visionary, strong leadership team. Since they are critical to the long-term success of organizations, they constitute a competitive advantage (Fulmer & Goldsmith, 2001; Weiss & Molinaro, 2005). Organizations can maximize the impact and benefits of their leadership development programs by creating out-of-class learning opportunities. To this end, the present paper presents the case for a new framework for leadership development programs. Based on our extensive work and research in this field, the present paper shows that horses provide a strong metaphor for human leadership. Thus, by mindfully relating to a horse, leadership skills can be developed. Equine- assisted leadership development programs constitute a unique, eye-opening, and profound leadership learning and development experience. Although the workshops may be relatively costly (Koris, Alalauri, & Pihlak, 2017) and logistically difficult because they can only take place in rural and urban settings (Adams-Pope & Stedman, 2014), they motivate the participants by offering a new environment, an unusual challenge, immediate feedback and chances to practice skills learned right away (Meola, 2016). The findings of the present study are consistent with the claims of Bjönberg (2015) that equine-assisted learning may be the next frontier in experiential leadership development. As Hagen (2007) claimed, very few leadership development programs can compete with this one for hands-on, experiential learning, and flat- out-fun. The findings are also consistent with the claims of Felton (2012, p. 200) that they constitute an innovative way to bring a different perspective to leadership development programs while they are really effective and the return on investment is significant as personal breakthroughs can be achieved in minutes compares to months of traditional coaching.

It is recommended that equine-assisted leadership programs are offered to individuals who work in leadership positions. In addition, the universities that provide leadership training and development programs include equine-assisted leadership development workshops to their agenda.

It is crucial to note that the legitimacy of an equine-assisted learning program depends on the successful transfer of learning from the workshops on the farm to participant’s personal and professional life (Dyk et al., 2012). To maximize results and improve future workshops, it is suggested that at the end of the workshop, the participants asses their own learning and evaluate the workshop to provide feedback to the facilitators. It is also suggested that a report is created which includes a summary of what learning goals are achieved from the workshop, the debrief notes from each session, noteworthy experiences that occurred, evaluation results, and next steps for development (Equine Experiential Education Association Marketing Committee, 2018).

International Journal of Organizational Leadership 10(Special Issue-2021) 11 It should be recalled that there are discussions on equine-assisted leadership development that different management styles may lead to experiences of bullying and abusive behaviors. However, this helps the participants draw fine distinctions between being tough, being assertive, being supportive, and being soft (Rickards, 2000). Furthermore, since the equestrian community is shifting from fear-based leadership to respect-based leadership, the participants discover how the horses react as humans do to intimidating leaders (Kaplan, 2015).

Equine-assisted programs are beginning to find their way into the literature (Perkins, 2018, p. 299). However, despite the powerful anecdotal and descriptive evidence that supports the beneficial psychological outcomes associated with the use of horses as an integral part of a coaching session with humans, scientific research on this topic is scant (Andersen, 2009). The management has a crucial role in orientation to learning (Gutiérrez Gutiérrez, Bustinza, & Barrales Molina, 2012). This paper is a road map for executives and human resources leaders considering how to develop leadership for competitive advantage, taking it more seriously and giving it the investment of time, money, and rigour that it deserves. The researcher hopes that the literature review and the recommendations compiled in this paper will stimulate further research on the effects of employing equine-assisted learning on leadership development.

Kelly. (2014). Horses for Courses. Journal of Management Education, 38(2), 216–233. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562913489027

This article draws on insights taken from Lacanian psychoanalysis to rethink and resituate notions of the self and subjectivity within the theory and practice of experiential leadership development. Adopting an autoethnographic approach, it describes the author’s own experience as a participant in a program of equine-assisted learning or “horse whispering” and considers the consequences of human–animal interactions as a tool for self-development and improvement. Through an analysis of this human–animal interaction, the article presents and applies three Lacanian concepts of subjectivity, desire, and fantasy and considers their form and function in determining the often fractured relationship between self and other that characterizes leader–follower relations.

This article has considered what it might be that the animal other in the training space sees when it looks back at its human training partner. One answer to this is that of course we cannot know. After all, the horse does not know that it is participating in a leadership development course and it may not be interested in making humans better leaders, or more coherent subjects, yet it is in this unusual setting that the horse temporarily coexists alongside the human as a fellow training participant: a subject–object of leadership discourse that itself may demand further critical and ethical consideration in future studies and evaluations of experiential leadership development. A second answer to this question is that in the reflection of its gaze, the horse projects back to the human the lacking subject of desire and the lacking object of leadership as empty signifier. The task of join-up and follow-up may not have been a self-affirming experience and it may not even help one become a better leader in the traditional and normative sense, yet in experiencing this fracturing of subjectivity, the exercises described here may enable the subject to learn to live with lack (Driver, 2009, 2010) and this in itself may be a valuable leadership quality. Similarly living with lack may be more bearable if we learn to confront the limits of our objects of desire and the fantasies that sustain us and them. Indeed, perhaps the most important lesson to take from our group experience, and from this article, is that a more ethical kind of leadership development program may be one that actively produces lacking subjects, examines desire, and interrogates the seductive, but impossible fantasies of leadership into which both human and animal subjects are thrown.

Maziere, & Gunnlaugson, O. (2015). A case for developing spiritual intelligence in leaders through equine facilitated learning. The Journal of Values Based Leadership, 8(1), 97.

Introduction and purpose
Self-efficacy is defined as an indicator of what a person thinks they can do in various circumstances (Bandura, 1997). The present study examines whether participation in Horse Assisted Education workshops dedicated to the development of leadership competencies contributed to changes in the perception of self-efficacy.

Materials and methods
This study uses the GSES along with the LSES scale, which was constructed for the purposes of this study to measure the perception of self-efficacy within four leadership functions (Griffin, 1984). The 24 study subjects participated in Horse Assisted Education leadership competency development workshops. Measurement with the use of questionnaires was carried out three times – prior to the workshop, after the workshop and two weeks after the workshop.

Results
No changes in terms of generalized perception of self-efficacy were shown in the first and the second measurement, whereas the third measurement showed a significant increase. Measurements performed with the LSES questionnaire showed an increase in the perception of self-efficacy in performing leadership functions immediately after the workshops. A detailed analysis of changes within each of the presented leadership functions showed growth in the perception of self-efficacy in the second measurement with regard to motivating skills, and in the third measurement – in relation to planning and organizing work, with no changes in terms of controlling skills.

The results of the present study show that Horse Assisted Education can be used as an effective tool to strengthen the perception of self-efficacy in leadership skills. It is necessary to conduct research that takes into account replication on a larger population, and to test the effectiveness of the method in other applications.

Kendall, Maujean, A., Pepping, C. A., & Wright, J. J. (2014). Hypotheses about the Psychological Benefits of Horses. Explore (New York, N.Y.), 10(2), 81–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2013.12.001

Background: In the last few decades, therapeutic horse- riding has become recognized as a progressive form of therapy, particularly for people with disabilities. Although there is a substantial amount of literature that supports the physical benefit of therapeutic riding, only anecdotal evi- dence exists in relation to its psychological benefits.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to develop hypo- theses about the mechanisms by which therapeutic riding might have a beneficial psychological effect. These hypoth- eses can then be tested, leading to a more detailed knowledge base. Data Sources: PsychINFO, MEDLINE, PROQUEST, Sco- pus, Web of Science, and CINAHL.

Study Selection: Data sources were searched for studies that (a) were related to the psychological effects of therapeutic horse-riding, (b) focused exclusively on therapeutic horse- riding, (c) described, explicitly or implicitly, the mechanism by which therapeutic riding had a beneficial psychological effect. Studies were limited to those published between 2008 and 2012.

Data Extraction: Data were extracted by two authors independently.

Data Synthesis: Thirty articles met the inclusion criteria. Three potential hypotheses emerged from the literature, namely, (1) the psychological benefits of therapeutic riding are actually unrelated to the horse, (2) the horse provides a particularly positive context within which psychological gains are facilitated, and (3) the horse itself has specific therapeutic qualities that bring about unique changes not otherwise likely to occur.

Carlsson. (2016). A Narrative Review of Qualitative and Quantitative Research in Equine-assisted Social Work or Therapy – Addressing Gaps and Contradictory Results. Animalia An Anthrozoology Journal, February 14.

This article reviews the published literature narrative about equine8assisted or equine8facilitated social work or therapy, a growing area of interventions. The purpose is to shed light on gaps and contradictory results in previous studies between 200082014. The goal is to assist practitioners and researchers, identifying and providing perspectives on complicated issues when results of interventions are pointing in different directions. In total, 55 published articles and 15 dissertations were analyzed thematically. Excluded are studies focused on therapeutic riding for the physically disabled or hippotherapy benefiting from equine movement, as well as studies focused on individuals’ riding goals or horsemanship skills. The implications for further research address gaps in the literature on the process in equine assisted or facilitated work. The process need to be described from professional affiliation, the purpose of the intervention, theoretical perspective, the intended role of the horse, ethical approach both concerning the client and the horse, plan to prevent risks as well as describe risks in relation to possible outcomes both for the client and the horse and finally a description about how the intervention are evaluated. Standardization of terminology and language used to communicate interventions, methods, and theories is recommended. The analysis suggests a need to use a variety of research methods in interdisciplinary research groups. This allows different paradigms of participatory, as well as constructivism or post8positivism, to capture the complexity of social work or therapy facilitated or assisted by horses. This article does not critically review each specific investigation, but focuses on how the process has been presented in previous research.

Sudekum Trotter, Kay. (2012). Techniques That Focus on Social Skills and Communication Out of the Starting Gate: A Practical First Approach. In Harnessing the Power of Equine Assisted Counseling (pp. 183–250). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203802038-12

This chapter presents both a general and an activity-specific approach to conducting equine assisted group activities. For those of you new to this work, it offers some general remarks about the initial setting and kick- off stage of your program. It then introduces an outline for preparing, implementing, and processing an equine assisted activity. This template is a practical way of organizing our team’s thoughts and coordinating our efforts. For those of you well seasoned in this work, the description for- mat has proven especially useful for conducting programs with cofacili- tators who have not previously worked together. It provides a focal point for getting everyone synchronized on expectations for how the activity will run. The activity outline also provides organizing principles for new activities as you conceive of and experiment with them. At the end of the essay, there is a sample activity that follows the outline. The activ- ity is drawn from The Manual of Medicine and Horsemanship—Transforming the Doctor–Patient Relationship With Equine-Assisted Learning, Version 2.0, a Stanford Medical School-based equine assisted learning (EAL) curricu- lum for medical students and health-care professionals (Kane, 2011).

Todd Nelson. (2011). Horsing around works for consulting firm; "Equine-assisted" learning plays a key role in team building and professional development programs at OnTrack for Life. Star Tribune, 2.

"EAL provides the opportunity for the development of the human factor as well as the organizational processes needed to enhance a team's ability to function at a higher level," said [Patricia Wagner], also a certified EAL facilitator. "This is the one methodology that brings both of those out together, simultaneously."

"It allows you to engage in looking inwards as well as looking at how you interact with others in a very non- threatening way," [Kim Popkin] said. "You're engaging with the horse, seeing how you react and how your behavior impacts other people in a way not directly related to the work environment. That helps teams learn more about one another and their styles. It's so interactive and you're so engaged with the horses, you retain things more. Because of the hands-on, active engagement ... you do tend to hold onto it more and take it to heart more." The expert says: Mary Maloney, assistant management professor at the University of St. Thomas' Opus College of Business, said research done to gauge the effectiveness of such programs has produced mixed results. An analysis of team-building studies found the activities are more likely to have a positive effect if facilitators help bring the lessons back to the workplace. "What people are saying is it's the translations to the workplace that are more relevant,'' Maloney said.