Gerhard Jes Krebs about their journey to HorseDream and EAHAE International
Karin and I had been self-employed since 1983 in the IT world, working around the clock. In 1989, we decided to go on a riding holiday. I was nearly 40 years old when I climbed a horse for the first time, and since then, I have not looked back. We bought our first horse three months later and then our second one. We went through the so-called typical German riding education for one year and eventually left this scene because of the treatment of the horses. We continued learning on our own for the next two years. The priorities in our daily lives have changed entirely. Our IT business customers were also interested in what we did with the horses, and instead of inviting them for dinner, we asked them to go to the horses.
The reason to develop a horse-assisted education program
At the end of 1995, one of our employees suffered from stress hormones and wanted to leave the company. We offered her a six-month sabbatical but asked her to accompany us to the horses once a week. She agreed and worked with us once a week without a concrete concept, and three months later, she felt fine again to get back into the IT business. This experience was the reason we developed a horse-assisted program for corporates.
We started with test seminars with our business friends and their families and went to the open market at the beginning of 1998. From the very beginning, we did nearly everything on our own—with the help of lots of books and horses. The name of our educational product, HorseDream, stands for two facets of leadership: management and personal development.
Reality and vision
The Horse is a very present, genuine being, always living in the here and now. That makes people working with horses in Horse Assisted Seminars learn about 100 % presence, responsibility, self-confidence, awareness, and all necessary to develop leadership skills.
But the Horse, with its historical and mystical background, is also a Dream. It opens horizons, changes belief systems, and empowers people to think outside the box.
So HorseDream means exactly what is needed in modern business life: reality and vision—both concepts are incorporated into this name. Today, our partners and I live this dream: to establish Horse Assisted Education as a standard way of further education in companies, organizations, and for personal purposes.
We founded the EAHAE in 2004
In August 2004, we founded the EAHAE, the “European” Association for Horse Assisted Education. The vision was to establish and develop Horse Assisted Education (HAE) as a general form of personal and professional development in enterprises, organizations, institutions, societies, and for personal purposes.
Therefore, we collected all sorts of trainers and people interested in HAE without looking for quality standards. The tasks were to connect all the participants, publish the activities on the Internet platform, and organize a yearly conference.
Everybody who provided HAE in Europe could become a full member. An associated member could become someone who provided HAE outside Europe or who was not yet providing Horse-Assisted Education but wanted to cooperate with a full member or support the work of the association.
Development to a new level
The 4th Annual Conference held 14 – 16 November 2008 at Sielanka Farm, near Warsaw, Poland, brought the organisation’s development to a new level. Stepping into the next period meant focusing on quality. Since 2009, a new member can only become one who first attends an EAHAE-authorized Train The Trainer seminar. Before participating in this seminar, new members can be associated as “EAHAE Friends.”
Five categories of hands-on exercises with horses
At the qualifying seminar, participants experience five categories of hands-on exercises with horses:
– watching
– leading
– communication at distance and nearness
– goal orientation
– teamwork
They learn about three fundamental categories of transfer models:
– leading positions
– team atmosphere and company culture
– personal development
A one-day and a two-day concept
Participants get a one-day and a two-day concept, and handouts are included. An EAHAE member is allowed to use these concepts and adapt them to their own opportunities, such as the number of horses, participants, facility, etc.
The easiest and least expensive way to learn about our concept is the 12-lesson online course, which covers “The Art of Leadership” and “Reaching Goals—Overcoming Obstacles.”
Contact
Name: Gerhard Jes Krebs and Karin Krebs
EAHAE and HorseDream Founders
Country: Germany
Address:
Fabrikweg 4
D-07619 Schkölen
Phone: +49 170 327 8181
E-mail: gjk@gerhardjeskrebs.com
Websites:
www.eahae.online
www.horsedream.com
www.gerhardjeskrebs.com
www.paddocktrail-schkoelen.de
