A friend and I were discussing our book intentions for 2026. She is reading Brene Brown’s latest book Strong Ground. I received this email from her the other day. So many insights; including the common threads that our horses bring together in so many ways.
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“Fascinating! I never would have thought that use of power in corporate culture would be relevant to horse human relationships. A few snippets:
Leaders who work from power over:
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Believe that power is finite and use fear and control to self-protect. This reminds me of trying to control a scared, spooky horse, using control to self protect so I don’t fall off!
2) Give people experiencing fear and uncertainty a sense of false certitude and
Safety based on ideology and nostalgia rather than facts. Tristan Tucker talks
About mentoring a horse so they learn how to feel safe in their body, Legarete
Uses flexions to physically relax a horse through chewing…fact based
3) Give people someone to blame for their discomfort. It’s the wind, the strange
Noise, the other horses. All external causes of discomfort.
4) Maintain power over by demonstrating an ever increasing capacity for cruelty. We’ve certainly seen that in the horse world, stronger bit, tie downs, spurs etc.
Leaders who work from power with/to/within
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Believe that power becomes infinite and expands when shared with others
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Leverage connection and empathy to unite and stabilize
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Offer people experiencing fear and uncertainty transparency and create learning cultures based on critical thinking
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Frame leadership as a responsibility to be in service to others rather than served by others.
What fun it is to explore these ideas!
Jenny”