Gaurav Rampal wears many hats in the industry, whether it be bloodstock agent, shipper or auctioneer.
Regarded as one of India’s leading agents, he is a regular face at European sales, particularly at Tattersalls for whom he acts as Indian representative. Only last month his bloodstock work
covered a deal with Australian agent David O’Callaghan to acquire Japanese Grade 1 winner Killer Ability for stud duty at Nanoli Stud in India.
As if all that wasn’t enough, Rampal is also the brainchild behind ‘The Horseman Way’, a programme that uses horses to foster leadership skills within the working – particularly corporate – world. Fully fledged in India with the help of various stud farms, it is now on the verge of a launch in this part of the world aided by the assistance of Eileen Harte of Keith Harte Bloodstock. Aside
from buying and selling thoroughbreds, Harte has branched out into mentorship roles herself, nurturing young talent and coaching people within the equine industry through her own ‘Therapeutic
Coaching’ venture.
This helps leaders understand how they are perceived by others and enables them to make conscious, impactful changes in their leadership style
Launching ‘The Horseman Way’ to a British audience is the logical next step, especially in light of the momentum behind it in India where it has been in operation for just over two years.
In a nutshell, the programme consists of a workshop for a maximum group of 12 people hosted in an outside space using several activities that requires interaction with horses. As perceptive animals, the idea is that horses provide participants with intuitive feedback.
Literature on the programme outlines that “unlike traditional coaching methods, where feedback is often subjective or abstract, horses give clear, real-time responses that are free of bias”. It goes on to say: “This direct feedback helps leaders understand how they are perceived by others and enables them to make conscious, impactful changes in their leadership style”.
Rampal takes up the story. “I’m not from a horsey world and initially it was a struggle to make a living in bloodstock, so I survived by teaching,” he says. “And I began to think that a lot of this could be taught better by using horses.
“It took me about ten years to build the programme. We use three locations mainly around Delhi and Pune, and some stud farms in India have partnered as infrastructure – they believe in it and have seen the results.
“The participants interact with horses and they learn a lot metaphorically. We work with three horses who are roaming the space. We call this ‘unbridled transformation’. For example, a bridle is used to control the horse and where there is control, there is fear and mechanics. And if you extrapolate these traits in an organisation or relationship, then there is a forced way of leadership.
“A workshop consists of around eight activities. Others in the group observe and give feedback – you might be thinking one thing about your actions but the others might be thinking very differently about it.
“For these horses to co-operate with you, what comes into play is your true presence. The horse is a flight animal, hardwired to run for survival. Humans are predators, hardwired to hunt for survival. It’s the only combination of a prey and a predator that shares a trusted bond. Horses pick up on emotions so through them we work on emotional intelligence, which is much needed in leadership. Empathy comes out powerfully in this because it requires you to think from a horse’s perspective. How is the horse going to react? Then you have to move to a situation where you deprioritise from yourself and move over to the horse. Because when you are conflicted, horses usually avoid you.”
He adds: “There is an interesting study using a model by Albert Mehrabian that says 93 per cent of effective communication is non-verbal. Working with horses is obviously working non-verbally. So it’s how you are presenting yourself, your empathy, your compassion. Extrapolate these things and that’s where people start to freely express in an organisation – and that’s when creativity and innovation comes in.”
There is weight to the idea that such an approach has the potential to be more beneficial than ever before, given we’re in an era that is heavy on technology and is likely to become more reliant on artificial intelligence.
“We make a strong claim,” says Rampal. “With The Horseman Way, we are working in a space that is plugging in the gap being created by technology and AI, namely the loss of meaningful human connection. When humans feel seen and understood, they are in a good space to work. There is a massive economic impact to this; according to the State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report from Gallup Inc., the cost of disengaged employees in the world amounts to $8.8 trillion.”
Each participant receives a detailed analysis following the workshop as well as a brief follow up in the immediate days after. “The reaction of the horses, feedback of the team, interactions with the team and self feedback – a combination of all of that,” says Rampal.
It’s impossible to attend one of these sessions without learning a new skill
Rampal’s association with Keith and Eileen Harte is a lengthy one that stems from his use of their Braintree base as a quarantine facility. Eileen’s experience in the coaching world, which has taken in a position as mentor with Women in Racing alongside the launch of her own coaching business, made her an obvious candidate to take on the challenge of introducing the programme to a British audience.
“I knew about the method and had helped a friend who was training in it but it was new for me,” she explains. “But then I realised that I’ve been using it all my life without knowing it.”
The programme has been trialled in Britain for the past year but is now not far off from being launched officially.
“We’ve taken our time to set it up so it’s done properly,” she says. “We are registering with Equestrian Assisted Services [a membership body that supports human and equine participants across education, therapy and other therapeutic activities]. There are a lot of programmes out there but not so many to cater for the management bespoke corporate teams. This programme suits everybody in a corporate situation – but it can also be tweaked. It’s impossible to attend one of these sessions without learning a new skill or something about yourself that will help in the office.”
Although many of these workshops are held in a bloodstock environment, the time hasn’t come yet for it to be exposed to the racing or bloodstock industry – for now at least.
“It would be wonderful to bring it into the bloodstock world,” says Harte. “The feedback we’ve had from participants with equestrian knowledge is that it’s just as transformative. They go in with a perception of how they’ll interact with the horses, and sometimes there’s an overconfidence or an ego there, and it’s never how it works out. Speaking personally, I would have been one of those people and it’s certainly changed the way I deal with horses on a day to day basis. You just look at them differently and inward at yourself differently.”
In the meantime, coaching is keeping Harte busy day-to-day. In keeping with other walks of life, the idea of incorporating such programmes into different aspects of the industry has grown in popularity in recent years – and Harte’s own experience is reflective of its increasing importance.
“The sessions are really a form of emotional intelligence reboot,” she says. “It’s become really busy, which is great. But it’s about the next generation really. They understand the importance of support and communication in the office, and the importance of empathy as a leader.”
