The Adaptable Leadership Experience with Horses
Build adaptable, resilient, high-performing teams, even in a chaotic world.
As Featured in Austin Monthly's Top 4 Animal Adventures in Texas This Summer
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As Featured in Austin Monthly's Top 4 Animal Adventures in Texas This Summer 〰️
Why Adaptability is Critical
Adaptability isn’t optional — it’s the EQ skill that determines whether teams survive and thrive in change. Research shows:
70% of employees report high stress due to unclear expectations or poor communication. (American Psychological Association, 2023)
Teams with strong EQ are 25% more productive and 21% more profitable. (Harvard Business Review, 2022)
Organizations prioritizing social-emotional learning see significant improvements in engagement, collaboration, and innovation. (McKinsey & Company, 2021)
Adaptable leaders and teams can:
Stay composed and make clear decisions under stress
Read emotional and relational cues in real time
Adjust quickly without losing trust or authenticity
Model steadiness that naturally inspires others
Adaptability -The #1 EQ Skill Your Team Needs
Inspiring healthy, high-performance cultures today is harder than ever. Throwing more money or people at the problem, increasing pressure, or expecting employees to just “figure it out” isn’t working.
Employees are facing unprecedented stress, uncertainty, and burnout. Remote and hybrid work has introduced communication challenges and isolation, while socio-political tensions and blurred work-life boundaries amplify pressure.
Leaders are asking:
How do you motivate employees who are increasingly intolerant of pressure?
How do you bring enthusiasm back to work, bridge generational divides, and get teams rowing in the same direction?
The root issue: social-emotional intelligence (EQ) skills — the foundation for collaboration, resilience, and engagement — weren’t taught to today’s workforce.
Adaptable teams know how to:
Stay composed and make clear decisions under stress
Read relational dynamics in real time
Adjust quickly without wasting time and money
Model steadiness that others naturally follow
The Cost of Missing EQ Skills
Teams lacking EQ skills often display:
Conflict Evasion — sidestepping issues until they escalate
Finger-Pointing & Excuse-Making — eroding trust and team cohesion
Rumor Milling — fostering negativity and distraction
Concealed Struggling — masking stress, risking burnout
Disinterested Drifting — disengagement and lost productivity
Stress Magnetism — spreading tension throughout the team
Explosive Tension — sudden outbursts destabilizing collaboration
Distant Leadership — leaders disconnected from employee realities
These patterns compromise productivity, morale, and ultimately, the company’s ability to compete.
Why Experiential Learning Matters:
Adaptability can’t be taught in a slide deck — it has to be experienced.
To develop it, leaders must practice staying grounded and flexible when things don’t go as planned, reading subtle feedback, and adjusting in the moment.
That’s why experiential learning is so powerful: it moves concepts from the head into the body. Leaders don’t just understand adaptability — they embody it. And that’s exactly what happens when they work with horses.
Why Horses?
Horses are masters of adaptability.
Their survival depends on sensing change, regulating stress, and recalibrating instantly. When leaders engage with horses, they experience these same dynamics — not in theory, but in real time.
Horses respond only to authentic presence and congruent energy. They reflect exactly what we bring — confidence, tension, clarity, or confusion — offering immediate, honest feedback that no classroom can replicate.
This creates a powerful environment for leaders to practice the essential elements of adaptability:
Self-awareness — noticing internal states and how they impact others
Emotional regulation — calming the nervous system to stay effective under pressure
Cognitive flexibility — experimenting, adjusting, and trying new approaches
Authentic connection — leading through trust, not control
Proven Results
Gretchen Fox Palmer’s EQ programs have delivered measurable impact:
87.5% of participants cite EQ @Work as critical to cultural shifts
85% report improvements in personal well-being
94% gain confidence in managing tough conversations
76% feel greater company support post-program
Participants consistently describe a renewed sense of belonging and connection, even in remote teams
Powerful, profound breakthroughs in one day.
Master Group Facilitator
Gretchen Fox Palmer is a Culture Change Strategist, high-stakes communications expert and published author who helps leaders and teams deliver transformational change. With two decades guiding Fortune 10 companies, Silicon Valley startups, and global brands, she combines deep EQ expertise, crisis navigation, and experiential learning — including equine-facilitated coaching.
Proven Results
Gretchen Fox Palmer’s EQ programs deliver measurable impact:
87.5% of participants cite EQ @Work as critical to cultural shifts
85% report improvements in personal well-being
94% gain confidence in managing tough conversations
76% feel greater company support post-program
Casual Environment
Participants are able to learn individually while connecting with their peers in a casual, tranquil, nature-based setting.
You can’t learn adaptability from a book. You have to feel it, practice it, and live it.
Working with horses develops leaders who stay steady through change, communicate with clarity, and create psychological safety in any environment.
Adaptability isn’t learned in theory — it’s lived on the ground.
Date: Week Day & Weekend Options
Time: 10 AM - 4 PM Central
Lunch options available
Investment: $1,200 per person
Location: Kenshō Stables
FAQ’s
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The purpose of equine facilitated learning (EFL) is to expand our personal awareness through a series of equine guided experiences.
These experiences allow us to enhance our abilities to notice and learn from our emotions and feelings as well as those of other sentient beings (animals and humans).
The EFL exercises are designed as building blocks to open new neural pathways in our mind and our body by stretching our ability to feel the presence and intention of others through using our entire bodies as a sensory device.
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Yes! Equine facilitated learning exercises are done on the ground guided by a trained coach and horse professional. Horses are always in controlled environments (behind a fence or in a halter with a lead rope). These are non-riding experiences.
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All horses will be under control in a fenced paddock or on a lead rope in every horse experience. In addition, you may refrain from being around a horse as much as you choose. We encourage everyone to explore fears like fear of horses, safely with professional guidance.
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Absolutely not, you may choose to do whichever sessions you want; however, sessions build upon each other and so it is advantageous to complete them all.
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Our workshops are intimate experience with group size capped at a maximum of 8 participants.
Still not sure if our workshops are right for you?
We want to ensure a positive and vibrant group experience for each participant at each event. You can schedule a 1:1 call with Master Facilitator Gretchen Fox Palmer to see if this event is a good fit for you.