Facilitating groups with horses is not an expanded version of one-to-one work.

It is exponentially more complex.

Group nervous systems interact.
Emotional contagion spreads.
Power dynamics emerge.
Projection intensifies.
Horses respond to the whole field — not just one individual.

This stand-alone module trains facilitators to work safely, ethically, and skillfully with collective nervous systems, herd welfare, and  professional program design and delivery.

Why This Training Matters

The field is growing.

Organisations and communities are increasingly discerning. They are looking for facilitators who can:

• Navigate group dynamics confidently
• Understand autonomic nervous system responses at a collective level
• Design psychologically safe, outcome-focused programs
• Protect herd welfare under pressure

Short courses and online certificates introduce concepts. This training develops competence.  In group settings you must track:

• Individual nervous systems
• The group nervous system
• Emerging hierarchy and power
• Emotional contagion
• Cultural dynamics and identity influences
• The horses’ thresholds and responses

You will learn how to regulate the space without suppressing it — and how to use the herd as a mirror for systemic patterns.

What You Will Develop

• Advanced Facilitator Presence
• Grounded relational authority
• Clear boundaries and containment
• Strong social engagement skills
• The ability to stabilise group activation quickly

Trauma-Informed Group Practice

• Recognising sympathetic escalation, shutdown, and functional freeze in groups
• Managing emotional contagion
• Supporting regulation without singling participants out
• Designing experiences within safe learning windows
• Understanding how culture shapes participation, expression and safety

Group Process & Energy Tracking

• Reading group energy and adjusting in real time
• Working with conflict, competition and resistance
• Using questions that deepen insight rather than create exposure
• Tracking the trauma loop as it plays out in systems

Human Development & Learning Design

• Age-appropriate facilitation
• Cognitive and emotional readiness
• Learning styles and engagement capacity
• Structuring programs for corporate, community, education, and development settings

Herd Dynamics & Welfare

• Ethical integration of horses into group work
• Monitoring thresholds under group pressure
• Understanding how herd coherence influences human regulation
• Making welfare decisions in real time

Safety & Risk Management

• Practical risk assessment processes
• Professional documentation
• Clear contracting
• Organisational compliance requirements

Practical Tools Included

You will leave with:

• Program design templates for multiple group types and durations
• Extensive equine experiential activity frameworks
• Intake, contracting and consent templates
• Waivers and feedback forms
• Real-time practice and feedback
• Post-training mentoring support

You will design, facilitate, observe, adjust, and refine across five immersive days with an experienced herd.

Who This Is For

• Practitioners expanding into group work
• Corporate facilitators integrating horses
• Educators and community leaders
• Equine professionals ready to work at organisational level
• CEEL graduates deepening scope of practice

Certification Requirements

All five days must be completed in person.

Certification requires demonstrated competency in:

• Theory and knowledge
• Program design
• Safe facilitation and delivery
• Ethical decision-making

About the Trainer

Before founding CEEL, Cindy Jacobs built and led a change management and organisational design consultancy with over 40 staff, working across oil, mining and transport industries with workforces ranging from 150 to 4,000 employees.

She later transitioned into executive coaching across private, public and government sectors.

Over the past 20 years in equine experiential learning and therapy, she has facilitated a wide range of group programs, including work with:

• Exxon-Mobil
• Telstra
• Powercor
• TAC
• Bristol-Myers Squibb
• Master Builders Association Victoria
• Surf Coast Shire
• Neami
• Stepping Up program for recovering addicts
•  programs for Steiner School students
• Capitol commercial builders

This module integrates corporate systems intelligence with trauma-informed equine practice.

Investment

$1,750
(CEEL Individual Pathway graduates receive 20% discount.)