Experiential Learning with Horses
and Nature
• LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
• TEAM PERFORMANCE
• ORGANIZATIONAL SPIRIT
• PERSONAL DISCOVERY
See our Video Page
- How Horses Can Teach Human Communication
- TEDxAkron: Live Like a Horse: Innovation Inspired by Nature
Inspirational Speaking
Ask Jackie to speak at your event.
Workshops & Retreats
for Personal Discovery & Professional Development
As our way to say to the U.S. Military Veterans "Thank you for your service" Military Veterans and their familes are invited to be our guests without fee to all our events.
Wisdom of the Generations:
A Family Retreat Guided by Horses and Nature
Sunday June 4, 2023, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Mothers, Fathers, grandparents of all ages, and kids 8-18 years old; join us for a fun, meaningful day of honest conversation around the campfire, gentle horseplay, and easygoing hiking.
Guided by horses and nature this retreat day is an opportunity to enjoy quality time together, grow your connection to each other, offer and receive support, and learn from each other as part of a community of cross generational families.
Be prepared to be safe, discover something meaningful to you and have fun.
There is no horse riding...the horseplay is relational and takes place on the ground.
Observing and interacting with horses in their herd provides a lived experience to; build on strengths, face challenge with courage and compassion.
“We can learn to be a more caring family where everyone belongs, everyone is essential, and everyone matters.” - Jackie
Facilitators: Jackie Stevenson and the Spirit of Leadership Team & Herd
For more information or to register contact Jackie at jacalynstevenson@gmail.com
View our videos
Spirit of leadership horseplay with CWRU
How Horses Can Teach Human Communication
Family Matters: Moving Forward Together
What Does Your Family Business Mean to You and What Keeps You Up at Night?
A Family Business Retreat: Guided by nature, horses, family dialogue and constructive conversation
Strengthen your family business by enhancing your foundation of trust, connection, communication, and positive relationship as together you:
Honor your past
Celebrate your present
Envision your future
June 7, 9:00am - 4:00 pm
Pebble Ledge Ranch, Novelty Ohio
Operating a family-owned business is different than operating any other kind of business and has its unique challenges and opportunities.
A herd is inclusive: Everyone belongs, everyone is essential, everyone matters.
Join Herb and Jackie and the Herd to enhance the culture of your family business by exploring what might be possible when family matters and you move forward together.
How might your family business thrive through the generations? Together we will draw from the following:
- Living and working together towards a shared meaning and purpose.
- Sharing the responsibility of co creating an inclusive safe place and a space of belonging for everyone.
- Learning to face obstacles shoulder to shoulder and face conflict with productive conversation, wisdom and courage.
- Inspiring the next generation to be engaged, resilient, present and fulfilled by their unique contribution to the success of the family business.
- Maximizing business potential, purpose, and possibility, by committing to shared values, vision, and legacy
Guided by nature, horses and your own insights and ideas you will have the opportunity to learn from the successes of each other.
Facilitators:
Herb Stevenson and Jackie Stevenson
Herb Stevenson, MA, CDP, CPC, is CEO of the Cleveland Consulting Group, Inc., where he focuses on organizations that recognize that business is more than a problem to be solved. He leads a global coaching and consulting practice. He is certified as a Board-Certified Executive Coach, Gestalt Certified Coach, Certified Diversity Professional.
Jackie Stevenson, MSSA, LISW, BCC, is CEO of Spirit of Leadership Services LLC, providing coaching, and leadership and team building retreats for individuals, teams and organizations incorporating horses and nature with solid business principles. Jackie is author of Someday We’ll Live Like Horses: Authentic Presence in Leadership and Life
Awakening the Heart
with Grace
Guided by Horses, Yoga and Nature
Thursday June 8th, 9 am to 3:30 pm
Join us for a morning of gentle movement, meaningful moments, and magic as we engage with Yoga practice, horseplay, and nature's miracles connecting body, mind, and spirit.
The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word Yuj meaning union or to join. Yoga is about connecting or joining mind, body, and spirit.
Yoga, horses, and nature can awaken our hearts with grace offering inner peace, mindful focus, embodied presence, and spiritual awareness.
We are all competent beginners learning and unlearning together with care, curiosity, and compassion. No prior Yoga or horse experience is needed to awaken your heart with grace and to journey towards harmony and human kindness.
Location: Pebble Ledge Ranch 9796 Cedar Rd Novelty, Ohio
Hosts: Jackie Stevenson, Janice Hanrahan and Spirit of Leadership
Herd and Team Price: $135
Be prepared to be safe, discover something meaningful to you, & have fun
There is no horse riding, it is about relationship.
You will bring home the gifts and messages you received from Yoga, horses, nature, and your inner nature.
Together we will awaken our hearts with grace guided by Yoga practice, horseplay, natures playground and our own unique inner knowing.
Goals of the Workshop
- Slowing our pace and quieting our mind to be more fully aware and present
- Walking at the speed you would like to live your life being here to get there
- Wandering through the forest learning the path of your life's journey
- Practicing being rather than doing, deepen your connection to yourself and others
- Exploring the relationship between the gift of breath, air, wind, and sky
- Releasing and reclaiming fire ceremony igniting passion and creativity
- Flowing with the energy of water for healing and well being
- Rebalancing our body, mind, emotions and spirit at the Native American medicine wheel
- Finding the balance between giving and receiving in our relationships bringing more joy than we thought possible
Contact Jackie to Register: jacalynstevenson@gmail.com.
The Heartfelt Nature
of Creativity
Guided by Horses, Nature and the Heart of Your Creative Spirit
Sunday June 11, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Try Something New
"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun." -- Mary Lou Cook
Join Jackie Stevenson, Kevin Charnas, and the Spirit of Leadership horse herd for a fun & meaningful day of creative expression & joyful play
- Discovering and inspiring your creative spirit
- Welcoming visions that live within your heart
- Bringing to life the images, words through creative expression, and joyful artful play
This workshop is for those with a curious nature, a love of adventure, a quest for inner knowing, a heart of creative spirit, a desire to kick up their hooves and to run free.
Location: Pebble Ledge Ranch, Novelty, Ohio
Fee: $135
For information or registration contact Jackie at jacalynstevenson@gmail.com.
Embodied Presence and Body Intelligence: A Gestalt approach to Coming to Your Senses
A workshop Guided by Nature and Horses
Co-Sponsored by the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland and Spirit of Leadership Services LLC
September 17, 2023 9am - 4:30pm
Spirit of Leadership LLC,
Pebble Ledge Ranch, 9796 Cedar Road,
Novelty, OH, 44072
Faculty: Jackie Stevenson, MSSA, LISW, BCC, GPCC™
Join a herd of horses within the wonder of nature deepening your understanding of your embodied presence and tapping into the resource of your body intelligence to be more aware of self and others and to expand your range of compassion, resiliency and inner knowing. This highly experiential workshop integrates a Gestalt approach to embodied awareness as we “come to our senses” to better navigate challenge and change and to collectively create a better world for all.
Embodied Presence is the capacity to literally use your senses, to experience your physical self, not simply your thoughts about yourself. It is intelligence, along side of cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence that provides you with a clearer awareness of your inner and outer world.
Embodied Presence is the ability to live and function more fully as an embodied being by physically sensing, registering and managing inner experience and outer experience in relation to the surrounding world so as to have greater awareness, range and choice.
Being an embodied presence as a leader, coach, facilitator, manager or educator or simply your loveable self offers you expanded perspectives and possibilities.
In this workshop, participants will increase their understanding and practice:
- Deepen your understanding of a Gestalt approach to change cycle of experience: sensation and awareness, mobilization and relational contact, and integration and assimilation through the lens of embodied presence and body intelligence
- Learn embodied practices to access body intelligence and embodied presence for self awareness and to support the awareness of the client
- Apply ICF competencies within in a Gestalt approach and embodied presence to expand professional coaching practice and competency
- Strengthen your awareness and ability to be present, resilient and ability to be an embodied compassionate presence during chaos, stress and uncertainty guided by horses and nature.
No horse riding--this is about respectful trustworthy relationship.
We practice safe physical distancing, masks required, small group gathering, we will be outside in nature.
Continuing Education (CE):
5 GPCC™; CCEs
5 Core Competency ICF CCEs Fee: $200
To register registrar@gestaltcleveland.org or call 216-421-0468
For more information contact Jackie jacalynstevenson@gmail.com
A Sacred Gathering of Wisdom: Opening ourselves to the magic & mystery of that which lies beyond
September 26-28, 2023
Pebble Ledge Ranch Novelty Ohio
• Harvesting insights from the past
• Sensing what life wants from you now
• Tuning into the brave new magical world that wants to emerge
This highly experiential workshop is designed for women that want to take some time to reflect, evaluate and make some informed choices.
Over the course of a spacious 2.5 days, we’ll allow ourselves to be guided by the magic and mystery of nature, our inner wisdom, and the wider ecosystem. Entering the sacred silent realm of the natural world, we can create a field of courageous dreams and dream our best world into being. We will learn from ancient Indigenous practices and gather as a community around the campfire, we’ll work in small groups, whilst also creating space for deep reflection and listen for our life to boldly speak.
Through an emergent process of sensing and paying attention to what needs to be looked at, we will gather our wisdom create a courageous space to cultivate the best possible conditions for breakthroughs.
Join us in This Magical Wisdom Gathering to
- Strengthen your awareness and ability to be present, resilient and a compassionate presence during chaos, stress uncertainty and life’s mysteries.
- Amplify your sensing of what the systems you inhabit need, rather than what you want from them.
- Expand your capacity for and your confidence in, your inner knowing to invite what wants to emerge and to amplify your ability to listen to the magic and mystery unfolding in your present & future.
- Come to your senses, deepening your understanding of your embodied presence, and tapping into the resource of your body intelligence, to better navigate change and to collectively create a healthier & more sustainable ecosystem.
This is perfect timing for you if you are (or the wider system is) entering a phase of transition – you may be...
- Contemplating your leadership in life for the next phase of the journey
- Preparing for a step change into new territory
- Making significant decisions from a whole life perspective
- Relishing the opportunity to step back, evaluate and make some informed choices and discover what your life is truly about.
- $2700
- Early bird pricing: $2400
- To qualify for early bird pricing, a $400 deposit is required by end of April.
- Accommodation – we’ll each have a comfortable tent to be on the land.
- All food & refreshments
- 1:1 integration call (via zoom) post event
- Group call post event – fostering the community spirit & integration.
- Tess Cope: tess@thetransformationagency.com
- Jackie Stevenson: jacalynstevenson@gmail.com
- People interested in integrating and facilitating relational work with horses in their careers and personal lives
- People interested in strengthening personal mastery in their professional practice and personal lives by engaging with horses
- Engage with horses entering the world of horse and herd as their guests rather than bringing horses into the human world
- Create a community of purpose to learn from each other and to support each other's personal mastery, visions and purpose
- Strengthen our capacity to coach people guided by horses and nature to deliver leadership, team building & personal discovery sessions and retreats
- Be guided by horses and nature in this process of expanding our personal mastery, consciousness and our own unique gift of presence and skills and with absolute care and kindness, honor and respect
- Discover quiet moments in nature and spend peaceful time
- Join a herd of seven wise horses and one courageous zebra
- Sit by a campfire or listen to the creek to reflect, dream and vision
- Stretch your body and self perception walking or climbing
- Dwell beneath 350 million year old ledges & 1.1 billion year old crystals
- Nap underneath a tree and enjoy the simple luxury of slowing down.
- Awaken through body intelligence and energetic awareness
- Sleep on the earth; under the stars, in the forest yurt or cottage
- Expand your authentic presence and life design through ceremony
- Explore the simple questions: Who am I? How am I to be? What is my unique purpose? If not now when?
- What is "embodied presence" and why is it important?
- The power of leadership presence, embodied intelligence and body language through the alignment of who you are and what you communicate
- Understanding how we and others are perceived through the map of five archetypal body structures and ways of being
- Effective decision making through embodied leadership presence
- Living more deeply in the world using the senses for genuine listening and responding
- Presence as the act of responsibly entering into meaningful dialogue, vital interactions and genuine relationship with others
- Leadership presence as the informed decisions we make and the actions we take
- Learn how to stand strong in the midst of chaos and agile in response to new ideas, diverse perspectives and unanticipated change
- Gain insight into their embodied presence and body language to better understand the non-verbal messages they are giving and receiving
- Develop a deeper understanding of their leadership presence, body language, body structure and embodied communication
- Determine a more reliable outcome between what they intend to communicate and influence and what is actually received
- Build on the strengths and explore the challenges of their personal presence to benefit in practical ways
- Engage in resonant and meaningful dialogue through embodied presence as a way to create a desired field of collaborative and cooperative influence
Pricing
Price includes
If you’d like to talk this through – please contact us here:
For registration email Jackie at Jacalynstevenson@gmail.com
Visit the Transformation Agency website at https://retreats.thetransformationagency.com/
Experiential Learning with Horses Professional Practitioner Certificate Program
October 4-8, 2023
Pebble Ledge Ranch Novelty, Ohio 44072
Developing Human Potential for Positive Change for the Future of Humanity and All Life
This professional certificate program is designed for
Join the adventure with your fellow horse and human herd members for the Experiential Learning with Horses 2020 program. It is an honor, privilege and responsibility to engage with horses and to support people in their learning, healing and growth through experiential learning with horses.
NEW THIS YEAR: Bring your coaching, leadership, facilitation and unique talents to life with experiential learning with horses and nature activities, constellation experiences and a living system approach to understanding our life's most important questions.
We will:
Woman's Call of the Wild
An Inner Journey, Vision Quest
and Fall Retreat in Nature
Saturday October 15, 9am - 3pm
Pebble Ledge Ranch, Novelty, Ohio
Have you been hearing the call of the wild?
Have you been dreaming and awakening to inner knowing?
Gather your deep feminine instinct, free horse spirit, wildish and wolfish nature and love of the natural world. We will follow the trails through the forest uncovering our natural primitive self step by step. Gathering in a tribal circle we will share care and wisdom
The river calls us to be heard, the earth longs for our footsteps to hold the souls of our feet, the trees and rocks have secrets to tell us, the fire holds healing warmth for our bones and the wind inspiration for our spirit. Explore the beauty of your changing seasons.
Moving with the rhythm of timelessness and ceremonial space, listening deeply within we will create the energetic field to support each other’s wisdom and instinctual natures.
Connecting through nature to your wilderness spirit, inner nature and natural being
Location: Pebble Ledge Ranch, Novelty, Ohio
The land is about 80 acres and is surrounded by 500 acres of Geauga Park land and the Geauga Rookery. The Chagrin River wanders along and through the forest of the east boundary offering beautiful places to dwell by the water and to splash about on warm days. The west boundary is guarded by a Hemlock forest and old Canadian Glacial Rock and ledge formations and millions of 1.1 billion year old quartz pebbles...hence the name Pebble Ledge. On the north boundary is a three acre natural bog with amazing lily pads, water birds, turtles and many other primordial critters of the bog. The south boundary is living space for people and horses. The 20 acre rolling pasture is home to the herd of 7 remarkable horses and one courageous zebra, which live freely, joyfully and at peace.
We have a campsite in the forest above the beautiful ancient grandfather and grandmother ledges. Many sacred and ceremonial sites have revealed themselves and welcome us to learn from them.
Registration: Open to a circle of 20 women. To register for your place in the circle or for more information contact Jackie at jacalynstevenson@gmail.com.
Fee: $135.00
Weatherhead School of Management
Embodied Leadership Presence: Authentic Impact from the Inside Out
Increase your range of communication, including body language, to ensure the integrity between the message you convey and the one you intend
November 1, 2023
From 9am to 4:30pm
Instructor: Jackie Stevenson
Location: CWRU
Our leadership presence, embodied intelligence and body language communicate much more than our words convey. Our first language is body language, and its impact is profound. Our body language sends, receives, and deciphers a myriad of nonverbal cues, signs and signals. Bringing our attention to this level of communication gives us immeasurable insight, and helps us decode the real meaning beneath spoken words to determine what is really going on with and between people. It also provides us with a deeper awareness of ourselves, allowing us to develop an authentic leadership presence. From this deeper awareness comes the ability for deep listening, solid thinking, insightful reflecting, and effective responding.
In this program, through presentation, experiential learning opportunities, and exploration of their business challenges, participants will develop a better understanding of their leadership presence, embodied intelligence and body language and learn to confidently apply that self-knowledge in all aspects of their lives.
Topics
Learning Outcomes
As a result of attending this program, participants will:
Who Should Attend
This program is of value for all who have an interest in maximizing their impact as leaders in their organizations and lives.
Costs
Individual Participants: $695
Package Pricing: 1 class day per participant
Available Discounts
Registration
Please visit the Weatherhead School of Management website to register.
Continuing Education
This class is eligible for the following continuing education credits:
Ohio CPA 6 CPE
Questions about finding the right program, corporate packages, or planning your visit? We're here to help.
216.368.6413 or 800.736.6403
seminars@case.edu
Personal and Professional Retreats at Pebble Ledge Ranch
Visit Personal or Professional Retreats at Pebble Ledge Ranch to learn more.