Equus Coaching for Teams & Organisations
Equus coaching is a way of working with horses to help teams develop their natural and self leadership qualities while encouraging them to work together more effectively and build a stronger, more collaborative group.
Horses have a unique ability to help people show up more honestly, become more self-aware, and get in touch with what they are truly thinking and feeling in a way you just can’t get anywhere else.
These unique timeout-from-the-office coaching sessions help each person in your team learn how they can best move forward as a leader, coworker and colleague. The guided interactions with horses create the opportunity and the invitation to reflect on what is going on within each individual, and to make the changes that help them to show up more fully as who they are and, ultimately, become a more effective team player.
Certified Equus Coach Joanna Shipley has coached teams of senior leaders from schools to family run businesses as well as individuals in academics, retail and the British Army. And she can create a custom equine-guided, outdoor coaching experience for your team, too.
What is Equus Coaching?
Equus coaching uses simple interactions with horses to help us learn to see patterns in ourselves (and our teams) in a way that is so deeply visceral that it breaks right through our blind spots and gives us immediate clarity about what’s going on.
Team members are guided through a range of simple but tailored activities (all “on the ground”, no riding) that require each person to work collaboratively with their horse.
As they practice communicating, directing and responding to their horse, what’s going on “under the surface” for them reveals itself in a way you can’t see in the workplace. Often the horse is unbridled, at liberty, to choose how it wishes to respond to the human which allows for great feedback. Breakthroughs and insights come fast, and participants are always amazed at how it deeply changes the way they see themselves and others.
Equine-guided coaching creates a uniquely personal way to build trust and collaboration between members of a team, improve group dynamics, and increase the leadership presence and emotional intelligence required for any group to thrive together. The lessons we learn from collaborating with horses translate directly into our everyday lives.
Horses are extraordinary animals that respond only to what’s real. They can read us perfectly, picking up on the subtle cues we give them that we don’t notice in ourselves. Their natural curiosity, desire for teamwork or a herd, and comfort with setting boundaries cuts through all the noise and helps us quickly see what’s going on inside ourselves and our teams. They are also (probably!) the most non-judgemental partners and trainers we will ever experience learning with.
Unlike people, horses don’t respond to hierarchy or job titles. They respond to clarity, leadership and relational presence, which makes them perfect for opening our eyes to what’s truly at the root of issues in our teams, revealing personal strengths that may have not yet been noticed.
Why Organisations Choose Equus Coaching?
Horses respond to an individual’s strengths and areas for development equally, creating fast, honest feedback loops that people can learn from immediately.
This allows teams and leaders to see dynamics in minutes that would otherwise take months to surface in the workplace. And it creates a politics-free environment for team members and leaders to discover what they need to personally work on (as well as giving them a chance to practice it in real-time).
This makes Equus coaching ideal for organisations that want to:
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Improve leadership presence, self-awareness and emotional intelligence
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Build cohesive teams with stronger communication skills
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Strengthen decision-making skills and resilience under pressure
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Improve collaboration and trust within a team
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Uncover unspoken group dynamics
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Navigate organisational change more effectively
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Open up meaningful conversations about what the organisation needs most
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Bring clarity and set a healthy context for start ups
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Introduce or enhance radical wellbeing and mental health in the workplace
What clients say about our work together
Meet Joanna Shipley, Your Equus Coach
Joanna Shipley is a Certified Equus Coach and Martha Beck Wayfinder Master Life Coach who has worked in leadership and transformation for nearly 30 years to help people achieve real, lasting shifts in how they walk in the world.
She believes that better teams need a better sense of self-awareness as individuals and as a group in order to collaborate most effectively. And that when barriers to authenticity are brought down, every person begins to connect with their own natural capacities for leadership, teamwork, cooperation and empathy, unlocking their capacity to thoughtfully manage their own issues, be fully present and support other team members during times of challenge.
Joanna will bring her coaching experience and expertise with a wide range of proven coaching tools to help your team get in touch with the best, most authentic versions of themselves, so they can bring a better version of themselves to the workplace.
The impact of Equus coaching always relies on the experience of the coach. As a certified Equus Coach and Master Life Coach, Joanna will bring a depth of experience to your sessions that you won’t find anywhere else.
Best Fits for Equus Coaching With Joanna
Due to the deeply personal nature of this work, Joanna works best with purpose-driven organisations who want to make the world a better place, and genuinely care about the social and environmental impact of the work they do.
Part of Equus coaching is being immersed in nature and the natural world, as it helps us to reconnect with what matters to us, and the impact our businesses have on the world (and future generations). By reconnecting with ourselves and our teams, we get to develop and feel good about the work we do as we align it with our shared values.
Whatever shape your organisation takes - startup, school, corporation, charity or social enterprise - this work is best for values-led groups wanting healthier cultures for the people within them.
It is especially good for teams asking the deeper questions: How do we grow without losing our values? How do we create trust and collaboration during uncertainty? How do we develop emotionally intelligent leaders who lead humans, not just outputs? How do we prevent burnout and disconnection - and build healthy cultures people genuinely want to belong to for longer?
If your organisation or team resonates with these questions, then Equus coaching with Joanna will be an excellent fit for you.
What Your Equus Coaching Can Include
All Equus coaching packages are bespoke, and Joanna can answer all your questions and discuss options that will work for your team’s availability, budget, and goals.
Simply book a free 30-minute Explore Call to find out more. Joanna will help to scope what it is that you are looking for with your team. You can discuss how much time you have (a half day, full day, or 2-3 day event), or whether you would prefer a regular event, such as once a month or once a quarter.
You may have a particular goal in mind for your team - to improve trust, cohesion, mutual understanding, or to overcome impact of uncertainty and sudden changes (and the grief which often goes unrecognised in an organisation). You may want your group to bond and team build, or deal with dysfunction or conflict.
Joanna can also discuss more measurable outcomes, such as combining Equus coaching with 360 degree feedback, Via strengths and the Kolbe index. If there is a particular model or coach your organisation works with, this can also often be accommodated.
She also offers The Resilient Leaders Development Programme (which offers 1:1 online training in leadership, making it a longer term training option. This programme also tracks leadership strengths through The 4 Elements of Leadership, giving quantitative data on your team’s abilities, strengths and areas for development). This option gives you a quantitative read on your team’s current performance vs post-Equus (and post RLDP performance, should you wish), as well as a bespoke 360 degree feedback tool.
Joanna can also bring in consultants in particular tools should you want them so everyone can speak in a shared language.
On your Explore Call, Joanna will talk through all of your wishes and desires for your team in confidence and create a bespoke, on target, on budget, workshop to best meet the needs of you and your team.
Joanna will handle the setting up and booking of the facilities (unless you have somewhere local in mind), and set up signposts to your accommodations if needed. Meals and snacks can be taken care of. Pre-session zoom calls can also be arranged with the group or 1:1 if needed, to help everyone understand what's needed. She will arrange and sort out relevant pre-session information, questionnaires and permissions (such as photography) and any necessary paperwork (in line with insurance).
Additional aspects can also be incorporated, such as team photos or individual headshots, specific trainers or training if needed (i.e., collaboration with other coaches or trainers new or familiar to you).
Find Out How Equus Coaching Can Work For Your Team
Breakthroughs that lead to transformation can happen in a single moment. One key realization can unlock an evolution for your team and help them move forward with stronger skills in leadership, collaboration and resilience.
Equus coaching can help you unlock those breakthroughs in the most natural way possible. Get in touch to learn more about how to get started.