About The Lead Horse

Leadership training using horses is not the result of a philosophical notice, it comes from practical experience

The Lead horse was developed from our own personal experience that horse-human interactions can provide a model for best practices in the business world.

Several years ago it became clear to us that our therapeutic riding program was consistently our most successful program. Our employees were engaged and enthusiastic, and client satisfaction was extremely high. Over 50% of our original clients were still with us after nine years.

On reflection we realized this success was a result of using ‘natural horsemanship’ principles with both our equine and human employees. Natural horsemanship training incorporates empathy, respect, trust, clear communication, realistic expectations and ongoing feedback. We applied these leadership principles in our other programs and almost immediately noticed improvement in employee commitment and performance.

We bring to our workshops many hours of training and research in equine behavior, psychology and human leadership. We bring years of experience as entrepreneurs, facilitators and members of the corporate world. Most importantly however we bring first-hand knowledge that interacting with horses can teach our participants to be stronger, more effective leaders in their professional and personal lives.

Laura Hunter, Director and Lead Facilitator

As a small business owner for thirty-three years Laura provides leadership and life skills education to approximately 200 clients yearly.

She consults to educational groups in southern Ontario including the Toronto Board of Education, the York Region Board of Education and various private schools.

She is a certified Life Skills coach through the Toronto YWCA.

Laura has extensive experience in group facilitation and is a strong proponent of experiential learning.

She studied horse psychology and behavior for many years with international natural horsemanship experts and has used this knowledge to train her own herd of twenty horses.

Brett Marshall, Facilitator

Before trading in his business suit for a tractor, Brett spent 25 years in the corporate world working for international computer companies in various management positions. He brings this experience to The Lead Horse workshops as a facilitator.

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."
Dwight Eisenhower