HALT ™ (Horse Assisted Leadership Training)

HALT ™ is horses and humans working together to build high performance leaders and teams.

The Mission and Purpose of HALT ™

The mission of HALT ™ is to develop leadership skills and build high performance teams through hands on experiential learning activities using horses, facilitated by an Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) certified team. The purpose of HALT ™ is to help people connect with their God-given gifts, talents, abilities, personality as well as training and skills in such a way as to encourage and equip them to make a positive influence on the world in which they live, work and play.

HALT ™ Clinics

HALT ™ clinics are:

customized for faith-based, non-profit, and corporate groups.
1/2 day, 1 day or 2 days long for groups and individuals.
divided between arena time and classroom time.
targeted toward adults and older teens with a special emphasis on teams.
currently can accomodate up to 32 people.
facilitated by a learning specialist and an equine specialist.
currently are being held at one of five regional partner facilities throughout Virginia and North Carolina. (see listing below)
based on experiential/transformational learning principles.

Horses are used as tools for emotional growth and learning. Encounters with horses require people to engage with them emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually, creating a dynamic experiential learning situation for both human and horse. Horses will mirror their handlers emotionally and therefore provide invaluable feedback to those who are receptive to learning from them.

Under the direction of the Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) team, learning comes through processing/feedback/debriefing from hands on activities with the horses that address leadership, team work and life issues. Activities with the horses are 95% done from the ground. No riding or horse experience is necessary or recommended. Activities are designed to enhance problem solving skills, communication, awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses as well as those of teammates. Activities can help people overcome fears and life patterns that can be road blocks to overall performance. HALT is designed to enhance a group or corporation's vision, mission, communication, cooperation, and motivation leading to an overall higher performance.

HALT ™ Leadership Team

Barbara Robbins is developer of HALT ™. She is certified through The Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association, Level I, for equine assisted learning. She manages their family equine businesses located in the Shenandoah Valley. Barbara holds a Master of Divinity in counseling and is a graduate of the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Click here for Regional Partner HALT ™ Facilities.

For more information, e-mail HALTclinic@verizon.net.

No horse experience is necessary!

Testimonial

Jeremy Jackson, Director of Camp Piankatank, had this to say about HALT ™: “The HALT ™ training was a big part of our focus during leadership staff training and it prepared us to communicate effectively…the training has been invaluable…Our teams’ ability to solve problems together grew out of the HALT ™ program.”

Below is an article about our HALT program that appeared in the Daily News Record on 1/12/2013!

To Lead, Managers May First Have To HALT

By: Samantha Cole of the Daily News Record

On a crisp January morning, Barbara Robbins makes the daily rounds at her Linville farm - scooping food to the cats, dogs and horses that nicker and shift in the cold.

"There are aspects about the horse that make it really powerful," she says. "How you approach them can either draw them into you, or they'll retreat from you. It's the same with people."

At Rocky Hill Stables, Robbins relies upon this unique equine-emotional connection through the HALT - Horse Assisted Leadership Training - program.

Living, Breathing Leadership

Launched in 2004 as a result of a combination of Robbins' background in conflict transformation studies at Eastern Mennonite University, her consulting work for strategic planning organizations and she and her husband Alan's passion for the stables, the program aims to serve groups seeking a change from the daily grind.

Groups of six to 16, such as church communities and camp staff, attend "clinics" spanning from a half-day to two days full of sessions. They participate in exercises in the arena and then in quiet reflection, focusing, with the horse's help, on individual personalities and strengths.

"The horses are equal participants in the process," says Robbins. "Our goal in working together is to bump up, a few notches, their quality of teamwork."

As herd animals, horses not only have instincts about good leadership, but can also "mirror" human emotion.

"The dynamics are similar to high ropes courses," says Robbins, "But, rather than dealing with challenges that are fixed - like a wall - this is a living, breathing animal that gives responses back." Horses offer feedback through body language and nonverbal cues "on the spot about what's going on within you," she continues, "Whether it's fear or confidence."

Harnessing Skills

As groups from varying backgrounds and experience levels participate in HALT, Robbins says she often sees Equine Assisted Learning coax natural strengths and weaknesses to the surface.

Working through activities, such as blindfolded leading, catching and haltering, helps teammates discover the gentle nurturer or high-morale motivator among them. Who is a big-picture visionary? Who keeps their focus on the tasks at hand.

"It helps teams think differently about how they can maximize their gifts," she says.

The horses also teach when to lead, and when to give a push from alongside: intuitive skills essential to working as a team.

Robbins recalls an especially profound teaching moment for one of their participants, whose competitive nature left him chasing his horse around the arena long after his teammates had finished.

"He finally threw the harness down and just petted her," she remembers. Robbins said it was about making the connection, not winning the race. "As soon as you put the halter down and let her know you're her friend," she told him, the problem solves itself. "That so happens in the workplace; we're always saying ‘Get this done, get that done,' that we forget to say, ‘Hi, how are you doing today?' "

For more information, visit rockyhillstables.com or call (540) 833-8604.

Contact Samantha Cole at 574-6274 or scole@dnronline.com.