Well everyone it’s been an interesting year for me and for Learning To Listen. I am sorry to have been away from you all for so long. I have had to make some of the biggest decisions of my life this year and they have not been easy. The year has brought challenges that I have not experienced before. Learning opportunities that I was unsure I would be able to understand. Loved ones lost and loved ones gained, but sitting here now I can say I have learnt more than I could have imagined.

It’s an interesting thing looking at how and why we ‘do’ life. What is it all for? Where is it all taking us? Maybe I’m just going through some midlife crisis, who knows? But over this year and along side my previous experiences of life, I am getting a much clearer picture of what I am in ‘training’ for. I guess the more experiences I have the more I can help others and as you all know my vision isn’t a small one!

Although the year has had me make some of the most heart wrenching decisions of my life, it has also brought me some wondrous things. Talk about a double edge sword.

So where do we go from here, well not far away to start with. We will be letting you know the new location soon. The school will continue to run from Hill Top and is busier than ever. Our team are just formulating plans now and bring over a century of experience to our new centre in the mental health sector, corporate sector and of course the education sector. New and very exciting times lay ahead for Learning To Listen and we kick it all off with our ball on the 4th December 2010 at Harewood House. It is also our 10th Year anniversary this year. We just made it!

It’s been good to catch up with you all and thank you all for your continued support over this time. We look forward to celebrating with you all very soon.
Watch this space everyone as a new journey begins for us all.
Love Sarah

We had a great day training with Leeds Met recently. The sun was out, the BBQ was on and the horses worked amazingly to bring insight into how to work in a team.

Maybe we should get the England football team up here?!

Don’t forget if you’re looking for a different way to learn how to work in a team, improve your leadership skills or just develop your interpersonal skills all you have to do is ask the horses!

Take risks, reach out and fulfill the dreams that have been placed in your heart!

Monty started his third week of training this week, he has made excellent progress and, after only two days practice he has mastered the art of wearing a saddle! He was a little bit scared of it at first, and his reaction was very dramatic the first day, but by day three he was walking and trotting around quite happily. Today we have been for a walk up the road and he has learnt that snacking from the hedges is not good when wearing a bridle!

For one night only check out this documentary about justice and music coming to movie theatres all the way from down under, miss it, miss out!

Showing at theatres across the country on June 17th…

It may not look like it but this is a church, welcome to church in the 21st century! Check out some of our team at the Abundant Life Church Bradford getting ready to listen to some great teaching and spend some quality time in the powerful atmosphere that exists when these people gather each Sunday. Cherish womens’ conference was a great chance for the ladies to enjoy the journey as we laughed, cried and learnt together. Together we are strong. With God, nothing is impossible!

To check out all that goes on at this church go to www.alm.org.uk, or to partner with some world changing organisations check out www.yoururbanangel.com and join a global movement of women who are revolutionising the world.

The Learning To Listen team got a lovely visit this week from two graduates from a recent Warrior programme. It was great to see them and hear about how much progress they have made towards their goals. They are definitely leading their lives in a very proactive way and we are so proud of them! We had a lovely catch up over a bbq and went to paddle in the river to try and cool down in the scorching heat. What a treat to see you both, all the best for the exciting times ahead, cant wait to hear all about your adventures!!

We were back again this week with our fifth group of teachers from the school we are working with. And what a week it was. The weather was spectacular with several BBQ’s and suntans during break times.

If Leadership is nothing more than influence and connection is the key to this, watch our video to see how our teachers got on. I would say very well with horses feeling so comfortable around them that they wanted to greet them on the school house veranda!

Watch for the body language as they work their way through their feedback sessions learning how to deliver ‘Honest Communication by Adding Value’.

And don’t forget to look out for how ‘Quality Time’ in your relationships will get you that magnetic connection you’ve been looking for.

We started another group of teachers off this week from the school we have been working with. And boy was it a fun week.

Learning how to ‘Make Mistakes’ & the benefits of this was a great lesson for our teachers this week. The benefits of making mistakes far out way the fact that you have made one. The fact that you are moving into new waters shows growth and a willingness to learn. So many of us these days have become too afraid of making mistake for fear of: letting others down, failure or even rejection. I see many more benefits to making mistakes & find growth is always achieved through ‘Evaluated Mistake Making’.
Take a look at the video to see just what great connections this team had made with their new students and how sometimes when your student leaves the classroom, this gives you the feedback you needed to create more exciting learning environments. Getting the body in the classroom is one thing, getting the brain in is a different matter.

Look out for more of our blogs to see how the rest of the teachers get on.

Check out the cutest part of our team! The horses we work with are such a pleasure to be around, see them chilling out here with the teachers who have been with us over the last few weeks. It’s such a treat to work with such gentle creatures, i’m constantly amazed at the way they daily show us our reflection with an honesty that most humans would struggle to ever achieve. These horses give us continuous insight into what those around us are seeing and react to our truest feelings and actions. Here they are taking many well deserved breaks…they are such a gift to us!

Learning To Listens new Instructor Sarah Ellis has got off to a flying start with her new Introductory Horsemanship students. Sarah E has been working with Sarah for over 5 years now and was awarded her Instructors Certificate in March this year. She was examined by Sarah and Anna Twinney. No mean feat to get past those two!

The Intro course is a year long course where the students are awarded a Lantra Awards certificate when they have passed written and practical examinations. The course covers many areas of horsemanship, including the basics such as stable management, horse anatomy, feeding and nutrition, teeth, farriery, the natural horse and of course specialises in horse psychology and behaviour management. The course is mostly practically based.

NEW for 2010 are Sarah’s most up to date concepts on the horse courses. Sarah has been developing her revolutionary concepts for over a decade now and has been creating a format that can be easily learnt using our hands-on exercises to help the learning process. Sarah believes that evaluated experience is our greatest teacher and has lasting results.

Look out for the next blog to see how Sarah E gets on with the second week of the Intro course.