Wellness & Leadership THROUGH Horsemanship & Riding - for Teens & Young Adults

Provide fun & challenging experiences so students may intuitively discover their beliefs and values that are most important to them. Through experiences, reflection, coaching and time spent with the horses students gain a more conscious and intentional approach to understanding what is happening within your internal and external life.  We are ultimately looking to answer the questions:

• Who are you?
• What do you want in your life (health, relationships, career/mission, lifestyle, religion/spiritually)?
• What does happiness and joy look like to you?
• Become more aware of your thoughts (mind), feelings (emotions), and actions (behaviors).

WEEKLY TOPIC with DESCRIPTION and DESIRED OUTCOMES

Week 1: CHOICE & CURIOSITY

• The choices we make in our lives will determine our future experiences. Being curious allows our mind to reserve judgement and openly ask questions to understand the many options available to us and others. Neuroscience has shown that our brains are more receptive to learning when we are curious. You are more likely to ask questions and actively seek out answers.
• Working with horses creates a natural environment for us to tap into our curiosity. These experiences teach us to be more aware of our body & thoughts allowing us to understand our emotions better - and the horse is our teacher.
• In High Performance, curiosity is a component that helps with our confidence  [Curiosity * (Competence + Congruence + Connection) = Confidence].  With more confidence we start to feel better and take actions to live more fully into our true self.  Be More Curious!  
• The desired outcome is for students to understand they have choices to direct their own energy, attitude, behavior, thoughts and actions.  We instill the value of curiosity & practice having an open mind.

Week 2: CONTROL

• When we are able to recognize we have personal control over how we perceive and act in situations, we gain so much freedom in life.  You will learn what it takes to control a horse with your energy, body language, and clear explicit communication.  This experience will create more clarity on how you can control your emotions, behaviors, and thoughts as you look towards the future.  
• Start to develop an awareness and understanding of the right amount of control that is appropriate & necessary - JUST RIGHT - to accomplish your goals and feel energized, engaged, and enthusiastic (living a charged life).
• We can only control the quality of person to be, our actions, and what and how we contribute & engage with the world. So ask yourself - Do your actions reflect the quality of person you want to be and can be?
• Develop a sense of control (through regulating & influence) over their inner world (conscious experience, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors) and outer world (reactions they get from their relationships and others).

Weeks 3 & 4: COMPETENCE & LEARNING ABOUT OUR CHARACTER STRENGTHS

• Competence requires us to understand and successfully perform and master our world. Leveraging the High Performance habit called "Competence ↔ Confidence Loop", you will recognize that to be more competent you have to take risks, try new things and step out of your comfort zone to gain more confidence.
• Working with the horses will challenge you to step out of that comfort zone in a fun and exciting way. and to do anything you put your mind to.  Through experiencing these activities you will develop a sense of accomplishment and develop more confidence in yourself.
• Recognizing COMPETENCE comes from trying new things and pushing through your fears to build up our resilience in taking risks and being vulnerable. These exercises build the muscle memory & habits to persevere and build one's confidence and competence.  Once students have the confidence to Understand, Perform, and Master life’s challenges, they will feel competent in reaching their goals.

Weeks 5 & 6: CONGRUENCE & PUTTING OUR CHARACTER STRENGTHS INTO ACTION

• Congruence is behaving in accordance with who you perceive yourself to be. By week 4 you have learned a lot from the horses and you are starting to recognize how your behavior affects the horses. They read your body language, energy, and facial expressions and respond and mirror back what they are sensing. This is a real eye opener and gives you a clearer perspective on how to behave.
• You are starting to build up the competence and confidence in reading your horse's mood, energy, and learning how to respond from a self-regulated state. You are developing clarity in what you love about being with horses, what makes you feel good, and what your horse is feeling. You have to be honest with yourself to stay consistent and communicate well to continuously be in flow with your horse.
• Starting to develop a more positive image of themselves and develop ideas on how to live more in alignment with that positive self image.  Gain awareness of how they think about themselves and what habits, thoughts, actions, & behaviors support that positive image on a regular basis.  
• [Curiosity * (Competence + Congruence + Connection) = Confidence]

Week 7: CARING

• Caring isn't given the attention it should be given when it comes to living a more fulfilled life, and is key to feeling more connected with ourselves and others. Caring for ourselves includes being able to ask for help and having the capacity to accept help.This will enable us to get ahead faster and feel a greater sense of wellbeing and opportunity in life.
• It's things like paying attention, validating, accepting, sympathizing, respecting, adoring, and showing affection. Caring is a human strength that allows us to demonstrate love, empathy, kindness, consideration, and forgiveness. Caring for horses provides positive feedback that shows how powerful it is to care for someone.
• We will look at your willingness to accept the caring support of others and developing habits that will support your long-term best interest.  The desired outcome is for students to recognize the importance of caring for oneself, others, and the joy and benefit that comes from caring for others. It's important to develop a deeper understanding on how to self-regulate and monitor progress toward a goal, checking outcomes, and redirecting unsuccessful efforts, along with being aware of your thought process and how to motivate yourself.

Week 8: CONNECTION & CELEBRATION

• Journey Walk with your horse will allow you to experience the life you plan for yourself.  Throughout the program you will learn about your STRENGTHS, VALUES, GOALS and EMOTIONS and your journey walk will take all these pieces and allow you to take a test drive into living more intentionally with your goals/mission in life.
• This is a time when you are trying to figure out who you are as an individual and discovering who you are without comparing yourself to others. As you are figuring out what your future will look like, also think about who is there to support you in your journey and how you can nurture those relationships?
• CELEBRATE & Connect with your future and how you are going to achieve your Passion and Purpose in life.  The ability to create deep and empowering bonds with family, friends, partners, and your peers is so important to feeling content and connected. A sense of belonging is what our brain craves (dopamine, oxytocin, vasopressin) and is what gives us purpose in life.  To develop these relationships we must intentionally make connections that elevate us, make us happy, and amplify our best self!  So what does that look like for you?
• Once we have clarity on what those ideal relationships look like, we can actively cultivate those friendships and deepen the connections we have.