Make Yourself Herd: Communication & Deep Listening with Horses at Ember Ridge Equestrian Center in Moss Beach

A horse always knows when you’re not really listening. So does everyone you work with. The difference is the horse will show you in about four seconds, and your team has been too polite to mention it for years.

Here’s the uncomfortable part. You think you’re a good listener. Almost everybody does. And almost everybody is wrong. You nod, you wait for your turn to talk, you start loading your response before they finish. That is not listening. That is taking turns making noise.

It costs you more than you think. The conversation that goes sideways for no reason. The instruction you gave twice that still got done wrong. The person on your team who went quiet three meetings ago and you never noticed. You keep repeating yourself and wondering why nothing lands.

You cannot fix that by trying harder. The problem is not effort. It is that you cannot see your own pattern, and the people around you have learned to work around it instead of naming it. That is where the horse comes in. Horses read energy, not words. They respond to who you actually are in the moment, not who you are performing to be. That makes a 1,200-pound animal the most honest communication coach you will ever stand in front of.

What happens on July 20th: You’ll spend three and a half hours at Ember Ridge Equestrian Center in Moss Beach, working with horses on the ground, not riding them, on the two skills that decide every relationship you have at work.

• Read anyone in the room. There are four communication styles, and once you can spot them you’ll never un-see them. The Driver who wants the bottom line. The Expressive who needs the excitement first. The Amiable who agrees to your face and never tells you it isn’t working. The Analytical who won’t commit without the facts. The skill is knowing your own default, recognizing theirs, and flexing so they can actually hear you.
• Listen so well people trust you. A simple three-step practice: tune in and kill the distractions, get genuinely curious instead of assuming you know, and reflect back what you heard so it lands. It sounds basic. Almost nobody does it. The ones who do are the people everyone wants to work for.
• Take it to the horses. This is where it stops being a concept and lives in your body. Your style and whether you’re truly listening show up the second you walk up to the animal, reflected back with zero judgment and zero ego.

No horse experience needed. Zero. The horses do the teaching.

You’ll leave with: the ability to read anyone’s style and adjust on the spot, a deep listening practice you can use in your next conversation, real insight into how you come across under pressure, a printed take-home workbook, and a morning spent doing what most people never will, alongside a small group of professionals who showed up to do the work.

This is for leaders, managers, and business owners who are tired of repeating themselves and want their words to land the first time. It is not for people who want a fun petting-zoo morning, or anyone who already knows everything about how they communicate.

Your investment: $129 Early Bird, $149 after July 6th. Includes three and a half hours of guided coaching and hands-on horse work with two facilitators, a printed workbook, coffee, tea, snacks, and all equipment.

Only 6 seats. We cap it on purpose. This work doesn’t happen in a crowd. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

Facilitated by Ranger Kielak (Within Range Coaching) and Joan Brennan (Leading with Horses). Questions? Ranger@WithinRangeCoaching.com or 650-479-4398.