Equiano workshops takes team and leadership development away from conference rooms and Powerpoints and into dynamic and experiential learning environments. Equiano applies principles of Equine-assisted Learning (EAL), working with horses to facilitate hands-on and immediate insights that can help build trust, communication, leadership and teamwork. We have combined the deep knowledge and extensive experience of horsewoman Stacey Tolley with the leadership and management consulting expertise of Dr Clare Harding and Marylou Verberne to create a unique experience for C-Suites, leadership groups, operational and strategy teams. Leaning into the strong evidence base of horses acting as powerful bio-feedback and learning tools, we have designed an inclusive workshop that allows participants to gain insights into both their own and other colleagues' leadership and team relational styles. This is enabled by participants having direct contact with a team of specially trained horses, in a safe and supported environment.
2. EAL is a unique approach to experiential learning, where clients are offered safe experiences with specially trained horses for the purposes of personal development, social-emotional and relationship skills building and professional skill development (leadership and team building). Whilst horses have supported people to grow personally, relationally and spiritually throughout the ages, EAL is a relatively new and emerging field in Australia. With a growing evidence base of its effectiveness, EAL, this notion of horses enlightening humans about themselves is a relatively new one. Over the past two decades, the emerging field of Equine Assisted Activities (EAA) has seen explosive growth worldwide. There are more than 1,000 centres in the United States providing some type of EAA program and the field is rapidly growing in Australia. EAL is distinctly different from equine therapy. They may look similar in some of the shared activities but EAL does not provide treatment for mental or behavioural healthcare issues nor are these serviced in our workshop.
3. Who runs the Equiano workshops? Equiano brings together the expertise of three incredible women with the majestic energy of horses to create something very special. Social impact and management consulting partners Clare Harding and Marylou Verberne had increasingly recognised that the emotional intelligence or ‘EQ’ of leaders and teams was a strong indicator of success potential when managing change and performance. Horsewoman Stacey Tolley was hearing time and time again from her riding clients how they were applying insights enabled through interacting with horses to their personal and professional lives. So, when Marylou started riding lessons three years ago with Stacey … a conversation started, ideas were shared and some big possibilities began to emerge. What would happen if you combined the knowledge and experience of two management consultants with that of a highly skilled horsewoman? Could horses be used to enable team and leadership development, away from conference rooms and PowerPoint, which was relatable, impactful and powerful? Stacey, Clare and Marylou believed it not only possible, but necessary! After a year of digging deep into their respective areas of expertise, exploring the strong global evidence base of equine assisted learning and then developing, testing and refining their own unique model, Equiano came to be. At the heart of Equiano is a shared belief that ‘EQ’ is an essential ingredient in making teams tick, in creating solid culture and securing great performance. An Equiano experience is all about providing experiential learning to raise awareness of EQ and the important role it plays, bridging the arena and corporate life with the science and practice of behavioural change.
