New times require new approaches                      

   How many times have you or members of your organization been subjected to a powerpoint presentation in a conference or hotel meeting room?  How much of what was said in that training program was retained past 24 hours? According to research, information provided through lecture, reading and/or audiovisual methods results in only up to 20% of the information being retained past 24 hours.

   Training that involves discussion, actively participating, and immediate use of the learning results in a retention rate of up to 90 % beyond 24 hours. At Horse Inspired we use demonstration, observation, practice by doing, participants teaching one another, and group discussion.  
                                                                                                                                           
   Taking people out of their normal environment allows for new ideas and perspectives to arise. Being mentally as well as physically engaged in an activity, the learning becomes a fun experience that has a greater potential of forming those traits that are the core of successful businesses and organizations.                                              

 Smart CEO magazine March edition:
click on link https://viewer.zmags.com/publication/d000a1b8#/d000a1b8/29
Read how companies are finding a corporate seminar that "bucks the trend"

                                                             What you can expect
    
    Participants will be asked to participate in activities with the horses on the ground. No riding or previous experience with horses is required. Activities will be set up by the facilitating team that are designed to elicit natural responses and patterns of behavior. The facilitating team will be asking questions of the participants while observing them in action. Because horses will "mirror" the behaviors of those around them, the participants will be given immediate, honest feedback.

   

Group Services                                                                                   Individual Services

Full & Half Day Retreats Include:                                                       60 minute sessions
In office assessment to determine your goals for the retreat                   90 minute intensive sessions
Half Day = 3 hours
Full Day =  6 hours (catered lunch option at additional cost)
Post retreat written reports and recommendations

Specializing in women owned businesses and career issues.                                       

Now offering a 30% discount for retreats scheduled in 2010. Limited dates remaining

Corporate Rates for 2010

Non - Profit Companies                                             For - Profit Companies
    
Half day $2,000  $1,400                                             Half day $3,000  $2,100                             
Full day  $4,000  $2,800                                             Full day  $6,000  $4,200   

 Testimonials

"There were a number of things that immediately come to mind about the experience."

"First, just working with the horses was a fascinating challenge in itself. It required a particular sort of attention that I think we could, perhaps should, but frequently do not pay to our colleagues and co-workers. Despite having had a bit more experience with horses than the average person, the challenge of working with them without touching them, and with a distinct goal in mind, felt like an entirely new one. It required recognizing that I had to undertake a rapid learning process, and to establish a new method of communication with my “respondent”. I suspect that I could establish better communication with the people with whom I work if I employed similar thinking. In particular, I think that keeping myself in learning mode, maintaining a conscious awareness of my own need to constantly learn about by colleagues, and to strive to maintain a more observant posture at all times. Working with the horses and the people at the same time put me in a “fresh” state where these things came as a natural response to the challenge, and I was able to observe my own responses more clearly.

Another thing that comes to mind is the unusual way in which the focus on the horses put me in a more natural, and intuitive mode of relating to the other humans, as our mutual focus was on achieving our mutual ostensible goal of cooperating in manipulating the horses to the desired state. I am only just now noticing that that put me in an interesting state of a having a balance or blend of both outcome and process orientation at the same time. I usually think in terms of serving only one of those at a time. More to think about there…

Lastly, I really appreciated the emphasis on learning about how we seem to assume restrictions on our behavior and methods, when such restrictions have not actually been placed. Again, nutritious food for thought."

"Thanks very much for including me!"

 Jim Lobell
 Senior Systems and Electrical Engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

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“I had no idea what to expect when I signed up to participate in an Inspired Presence session, although I was eager to explore a new way of learning.  The experience was incredibly rewarding and it surpassed my expectation of what the day’s session could reveal.  Through the exercises I did with my group members and the horses, some key attributes of my style and thought process as a leader and communicator became more evident to me – I have a new level of awareness that will be beneficial as I go forward in my interactions with other people and my own business decision making.  In addition, there are some broader observations from my experience:    

• Effectively communicating as a team does not happen seamlessly; true communication takes active participation and using all senses  

  ·       Appreciate that with a team you can generate a great amount of creativity to actively solve problems;  trust and embrace new and fresh ideas (and your team members)

  ·       Real world situations are filled with unpredictable events; in the exercises we did, the horses created that level of “uncertainty” that is a part of all problem solving and decision making; this live dynamic being forced a level of energy and proactive responsiveness and communication among all team members that would transfer well to real-world business situations. 

 

 

 This was a wonderful learning opportunity.  It was a unique way to learn about myself and team dynamics in a very physical, dynamic environment. "

Senior Operations Leader with an international professional services firm

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"What I liked best was that you allowed the group to explore solutions on their own while you observed.  The feedback that you provided as an observer was very helpful!  Having grown up around horses, I really enjoyed the opportunity to be able to work with them again".

Lisa McMurtie
Assistant Director
St. Pauls Plus
Brooklandville, Maryland

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"Experiential learning is the most effective tool in meeting the challenges businesses face in developing their people. Leadership requires not only the ability to think, but also emotional intelligence, the ability to sense emotions in oneself and others and to create environments of trust and strong relationships that are driven by purpose and meaning. The Horse Inspired Growth & Learning Center Inc. team creates an environment that builds self-awareness that includes time to reflect and practice through a collaborative and fun approach providing the greatest impact to truly change the way employees engage one another." 

Alicia Rodriquez
International Executive Leadership Coach
Founder of Sophia Associates Inc.
Severna Park, Maryland  

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 I do have experience with horses, so I knew ahead of time that it could interfere slightly with my learning. However, that was not the case! Instead, while I worked with the small group I absorbed critical knowledge about myself. After each task, during the re-cap, Robin and Pam asked each of us questions about our experience first, then gave their professional observations. This was very effective for me. My experience was fresh in my mind, and it didn't get cluttered up by anyone else's observations. By Pam and Robin following up with their observations, I could process what they saw, and integrate it into my learning.

The third task involved all nine of us working to complete a task. This was effective for me, too. I realize I don't speak up in larger groups when I should!!! The task itself (for me) was not a challenge, the challenge was trying to figure out "who is guiding this bunch?". That was a huge learning experience for me!! In addition, Pam had mentioned we had 35 min left...so I felt the time pressure, another invaluable insight to myself.

Dot Stevenson
Flight Attendant
American Airlines 

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I had a remarkable learning session with Robin, Pam and Alicia and the beautiful horses! Working in a group of people where I didn't know anyone and was unsure of what I was doing was definitely outside my comfort zone, and I was astonished at how the horses and the facilitators picked up on that. The learning and communication was immediate, thoughtful and valuable the fact that it was also fun is a big plus! I wish we had a longer time to spend. Even in a short session, though, I learned a lot and I will definitely plan to bring a group here for some experiential learning and horse therapy.

Joan Schramm
Career Coach & Social Media Strategist
Founder, Momentum Coaching
Annapolis, MD
https://www.achieve-momentum.com/