Beyond the boardroom: How horses and nature are redefining leadership

Editor’s Note: I’m delighted to share this bylined article from Emily Bouchard, a respected leader in the family wealth space and someone whose insights I admire greatly. As a fractional Chief Learning Officer and Family Dynamics Advisor for family offices and financial advisory firms, Bouchard brings more than 20 years of experience working with multi-generational families of wealth. Her background in social work and marital and family therapy informs her holistic approach, helping families strengthen their human, social, intellectual, and spiritual capitals so their financial capital becomes a true force for good, both within the family and in the communities they serve. It’s an honor to feature her voice and expertise in this edition of Wealth Reimagined.

By Emily Bouchard, Founder, Bouchard Bespoke Consulting

A high-powered family office executive stands on a hillside amongst a herd of horses grazing in the late morning. While looking at a mustang, she shares her desire to be less intimidating to others. She's seeking ways to integrate her spiritual and ancestral background into her professional life. Without prompting, the mustang looks up and walks over to her, standing peacefully by her side. A pony comes to stand on her other side, with his nose touching her hand. The oldest horse in the herd comes from behind and brings his nose to rest on her shoulder. They're responding, not to her title or net worth, but to the shift already happening within her. She leaves with clarity and a peaceful heart.

To be clear, this isn't happening on a dude ranch. No one's riding trails or playing cowboy. This is something else entirely.

The science behind the shift

Research validates what practitioners have observed for decades. A University of Exeter study found that spending at least 120 minutes per week in nature reduces stress and enhances mental clarity. The Human-Animal Bond Research Institute highlights how animal-assisted interventions, particularly with horses, improve emotional regulation, foster trust, and reduce anxiety. And a study in the Journal of Experiential Education demonstrated that equine-assisted learning significantly improves participants' emotional intelligence, social communication skills, and empathy.

But why horses specifically? Dr. Ann Baldwin performed heartrate variability research with the HeartMath Institute on participants as they worked with horses. Her findings suggest that horses can help humans achieve a state of physiological calm and emotional balance.

In my work integrating human potential and equine wisdom, I've observed that horses offer something beyond what we experience in boardrooms and therapy sessions. They provide immediate, embodied feedback about our internal state. They mirror what's happening beneath the surface, and they provide a vivid reflection we can observe about ourselves.

Horses are only interested in who we are, period. For wealth holders accustomed to control, achievement, and performance, this is a new experience where all those aspects of their identity don’t matter. The retreats I lead are about the alignment of our internal state with our external expression. When interacting with horses, your level of coherence becomes immediately visible in their responses.

Who benefits and how

Leading retreats for individual leaders, couples, families, and peer groups, there are always new and surprising experiences, where participants each discover something essential and deeply personal through the work.

Women leaders, like the one featured at the beginning, find space to recalibrate power. For women navigating male-dominated industries or family dynamics, these experiences with large prey animals offer opportunities to try out new ways of expressing and embodying authentic authority.

Families discover new ways of relating. A mother and daughter came for a retreat as the daughter prepared to leave for college. The mother's anxiety about the empty nest was affecting their relationship. Through a series of curated activities, they experienced each other in new ways. The mother's anxiety shifted to excitement—for her daughter's next chapter and her own.

Peer groups build authentic community. A group of women entrepreneurs spent a weekend learning to lead with energy and intention rather than force. They discovered how their presence affects others, practiced heart coherence through time with the herd, and left with a supportive community to sustain what they'd learned.

The common thread starts the moment they arrive and see the horses. Nature provides a safe place to simply be, without having to perform, and the horses reveal what’s ready to be learned.

A field of experienced practitioners

There are a number of effective approaches serving individuals, families, couples, and peer groups. Among the rich landscape of practitioners who each bring distinct gifts to the work, a few stand out.

Duey Freeman co-founded the Gestalt Equine Institute and brings over 30 years of experience training facilitators in creating transformational experiences through what he calls “our evolutionary kinship with horses”.

Kelly Wendorf, founder of EQUUS and author of Flying Lead Change, pioneered methodologies that integrate neuroscience, contemplative wisdom, and indigenous knowledge.

Nell “3D” trained with Kelly Wendorf and works with creative professionals and conscious leaders seeking to access intuitive leadership and authentic self-expression.

Zsuzsu Illes, one of my teachers and co-facilitators, brings 30 years experience to her “Heart*Brain*Horse*Coherence®” methodology. She has gentled wild mustangs, is considered a horse-whisperer, and has years of formal training and certifications, including with Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA). Her work connects people with their inner wisdom and purpose through presence-based practices with horses.

In my practice, I integrate human development and family systems theory with equine wisdom gained through training with EAGALA, and living on a property where ten horses roam ten acres freely. I customize retreat experiences based on the expressed intentions of the participants. With a “pay it forward” model, a portion of retreat fees fund pro-bono services for populations in need.

What to look for

As interest grows, it's important to distinguish transformational work from recreational experiences. Look for intentional developmental work with presence-based interactions, facilitated by trained professionals with backgrounds in psychology, coaching, and grounded experience with horses.

Questions to ask:

· What's the facilitator's training and background?

· Is this riding-focused or groundwork-based?

· What's the therapeutic or developmental framework?

· How is emotional safety maintained? What's the integration process post-retreat?

These are transformational experiences, not luxury tourism—though they often occur in beautiful natural settings. Experiences typically range from single-day intensives to multi-day immersions, with investment levels reflecting the depth and expertise involved.

The invitation

The future of leadership development can be found in pastures. Where horses mirror what's true. Where nature dissolves pretense. Where families discover new ways of being together. Where women find their authentic power. Where next generation leaders step into their own.

These retreats aren’t about escaping reality—they are about returning to something real. And for those ready to lead from coherence rather than control, the horses are waiting.