Corporate away days have become a popular way to build team morale over recent years, with many companies trying new and interesting ways to enforce team bonding exercises.
Therefore, it would appear that the days of employers going out for drinks to raise morale within the office are a thing of the past.
Team bonding activities can be completed via a range of different methods, but one of the most interesting can be found in the form of horse riding.
While horse riding to many may seem like a scary prospect, it is a solid team building opportunity should nobody within the group know how to ride a horse.
However, what are the benefits of horse riding in terms of a team bonding activity?
Main Benefits of Horse Riding
Before getting into the key advantages that come with horse riding in a team bonding exercise, it is important to consider the range of benefits that can be felt by just doing the activity.
One of the most important benefits is that it can help improve your cardiovascular health, with a studies finding that even 30 minutes of riding could be considered as moderate exercise. Riding will also improve the core strength of those aboard, as you will need to sit up tall and push your legs into the horses in order to get them to move.
Given the first point, it isn’t surprising that horse riding is an excellent form of exercise to burn calories, with a 45-minute trot able to burn up to 200 calories.
Horse riding may not appear to be the most relaxing activity if you have never sat on a horse before, but for those with experience, it is a proven way to relieve stress. The movement of horses is calming, and riders and the equines are able to work together with their bodies in sync. Due to this, horse riding also helps lower blood pressure.
What Would a Horse Riding Team Bonding Exercise Look Like?
There are numerous stables now offering team bonding exercises for corporate away days, with the vast majority able to deliver bespoke programs depending on what you’re looking to achieve from the experience.
For the most part, the days will combine a mix of horse training with teamwork tasks that must be completed. Therefore, teams will need to work together in order to influence the behaviour of a horse and gain the result that they are looking to achieve.
That’s why people that have used a horse racing bonus to wage on equine competitions know by now: the victory is only possible if trainer, jockey and horse are all in the same page.
Therefore, it encourages problem solving skills to be used in order to complete tasks that are assigned. As well as activity sessions, team bonding exercises can also include post workshop sessions, which can explore the importance of team dynamics within a stable and relay why it could be important in day-to-day office life.
Like any team bonding exercise, it will also offer a unique opportunity to see those that you usually work alongside in a professional environment in a more relaxed scene.
Therefore, the days are built to be good fun for everything that attends, and it will help project managers and bosses see their employees in a new lights, helping to identify what makes them tick, and how problems can be addressed moving forward.
What Are the Big Positives With Group Horse Riding Lessons?
From a business standpoint, one of the biggest positives that comes with group horse riding lessons is the fact that it is cost-efficient, as the majority of yards that offer this service will look for a good price to close the deal. It also enables all employees to learn a new skill without having to pay any of their own money.
Social interactions between employees is also hugely important when putting together a team bonding exercise and few could tick as many boxes as horse riding.
For those that have never sat on a horse before, it will be a nervy experience, meaning that relationships can be formed between likeminded people in the office. Overcoming a fear such as riding a horse can also make workers more confident, which could have a huge impact in the long term as they may be more willing to put forward ideas in group discussions.
Being involved in a group session can also spur on more competitiveness, meaning that even those with solid experience levels of riding horses can get something from the experience. The diversity that can be offered by a yard offering a horse riding group activity means that there will be something for everyone, regardless of their experience level within the saddle.
Overall, there are few betting team bonding exercises available to corporate companies that a day of horse riding. As well as workers being able to gain confidence and relax, it will incorporate important skills such as teamwork and problem solving, which could be vital when back in an office environment.
