LIFE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
Life Skills Development with Horses
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What are life skills? Life skills, at their most basic level, are interpersonal communication skills - social or "soft" skills. Although we may believe that we are proficient with a certain life skill, but until a horse tell us so, there is always room for development and improvement. Each session is centred around an objective, a life skill that will be developed and built upon as the program progresses. Horses and humans have many life skills in common such as effective teamwork, fair leadership, clear intention, creative problem solving, integrity, boundaries, trust, and more.
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Herds to horses are like team to humans. Each member of the herd as a job to do towards to common goal - for a horse, the common goal is herd safety. With human teams, we work together to achieve a common goal - whether that goal be a school project, a work assignment, or making the championships, everyone has a task to complete towards the goal. Another similarity between herds and teams, is that both require fair leadership. However, fair leadership does NOT come by dominance; something that has been studied in both herd and human life. Fair leadership comes from appreciating each team members strengths and understanding their weaknesses. Horses seek leadership in order to feel safe. When they do not receive that type of leadership, they will take the leader role. However, being a leader does not mean you have to be the CEO of a company or the Principle of a school. What being a true leader means, is being able to answer the questions, "Where do I want to go?" and "How am I going to get there?" That is the type of leadership a horse is looking for and they will respect, trust, and admire you when you give that to them.
In a horse's world, teamwork is respected and it is expected - everyone has a job to do towards the common goal.
Our BuildingBlock Curriculum Program
Our BuildingBlock(TM) Curriculum Program is approved by the progressive and innovative Calgary Board of Education and was the subject of a 5-year scientific study conducted by the University of Regina, the University of Saskatchewan, and the University of Calgary, along with other organizations and community partners. The result of the research concluded that our program has irrefutable results - because you cannot fool the teacher! Horses as teachers has been proven to, not only develop life skills on an individual basis, but also develop interpersonal communication skills with team members such as peers, co-workers, family members, friends, etc. Read the research paper below for more information: "The Helping Horse: How Equine Assisted Learning Contributes to the Wellbeing of First Nations Youth in Treatment for Volatile Substance Misuse."
Our Unique Programs, Events, Workshops, & Retreats
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Gully's Learning Ranch is proud to offer a variety of programs for both youth and adults. Workshops, events, programs, and retreats are available for women's empowerment, youth life skills development, family fun, leadership development, couples' date night, corporate team building, and more! All programs include refreshments.
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Single Workshops offer participants one objectively-driven arena session with our horse teachers.
Double Workshops offer participants two objectively-driven arena sessions with our horse teachers.
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4-, 6-, 8-, or 12-week curriculum programs are offered for extended learning. The curriculum program has a BuildingBlock(TM) of skills learned each session. These skills are developed and built upon each week - by the end of the program, participants are challenged to use all skills developed during the curriculum program. The session each week is objectively-driven to help develop skills such as effective communication, fair negotiation, leadership, teamwork, creative problem solving, and more! As always, lessons taught by our horse teachers are paralleled to every day life to achieve ultimate learning retention.
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Be You Youth & Teen Workshops offer a unique experience to spend the day working with horses, building essential life skills, and learning more about themselves. Country lunch is provided.
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Authentic You Women's Workshops, which are run either as a single-day workshop or a two-day "retreats", our women's empowerment workshop leads you down the path of self discovering and finding your authentic self. Country lunch is provided.
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Professional Development, including Corporate Team Building Workshops, Leadership Development Events, and Future Planning Workshops, are offered to improve team effectiveness and communication, as well as improving leadership effectiveness. Country lunch is provided.
Life Skills Development Program Directory
