Horses as Courses

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The group set a common goal of getting in touch with their inner manager, a serious exercise in which strawberry roans, pintos and buckskins would be broken down into mere corporate tools. "I saw one of the founders of the Home Ranch work with a wild mustang a few years ago," recalled Mickey Connolly, co-founder and CEO of Conversant, whose clients include much of the FORTUNE 500. "The techniques he used to calm fear and replace it with trust and partnership struck me as crucially important to managers and executives. Horses and cattle are ideal to work with because they give you immediate, obvious feedback when you're trying to get them to do something."

After being introduced to his or her horse--an awkward process a lot like meeting a blind date--a Conversant greenhorn leads it around the corral on a rope and conducts a few other maneuvers so they can get used to each other.

On the second day, the trail rides begin. The horses are as slow as molasses, but who would complain about a meander under snowcapped Hahn's Peak amid the golden aspens rustling in the early-autumn breeze? Work seems far away, but that morning's Zenesque classroom lessons are giving form to action. Double down on vanquishing the fear, arrogance and ignorance that can mar communication. Practice patience and a soft touch to elevate your horse's confidence in your judgment. Maintain a relaxed awareness of all around you.

The third and fourth days are a cattle call. First we push around 20 or so longhorns as a herd, and then we cut one or two dogies from the group, just as they used to do in the old western movies. Akin to separating a school of fish with a rake, cutting takes patience, balance, hard focus and a strong rapport with the horse. Not everyone gets it. Some riders want to go too fast; others fumble with the reins. But those who understand what's happening? "Using these horses is a terrific way to drive home what seems to be the essential point of the week: Give your horse all he needs to get his job done but nothing more. Then try to do less each time out," says Lou Parisi, treasurer of Dolce International in Montvale, N.J., who wouldn't let saddle-sore hips stop him from finishing out the week. "That's easy to say when dealing with humans, but training with a horse gives you a true sense of the concept."

Some experts question exactly what it is that Parisi and the thousands of others who participate in the $13.2 billion management-training industry each year get out of it. Since the forces thrashing business today--globalization, technology's swift pace, demographic shifts and consolidation--show no signs of easing, it would seem imperative that management take training seriously.

But time-pressed executives may be able to steal only a day or two away from their jobs and then pray that whatever they carry back from a program will make a difference in the office. So the question becomes, Is there long-term value in one-, two- or even five-day courses that may be nothing more than drive-bys or Band-Aids?