Malone Students Learn Congruence with Horses

Celia King, the founder and principal consultant of Arrants McSwain Leadership Development, welcomed a group of Malone social work students enrolled in a research methods course to Pegasus Farms to participate in an Equine Assisted Workshop. 

“At Arrants McSwain we offer leadership coaching and team building workshops to help Congruent leaders build strong teams,” said King. “Congruence is when your actions are consistent with your inner state and core values. It involves developing authenticity and emotional honesty. Being a Congruent leader includes focusing on the inner work of self-awareness, as well as improving skills ​like supervising, vision casting, public speaking, hiring and other leadership responsibilities.”

King utilizes horses in order to train clients in this crucial congruence. 

“Horses are intuitive animals naturally wired for team, or herd, life. They ‘read’ Congruence in another person and offer non judgmental feedback about the areas of our leadership development that need attention,” said King. 

And, on top of the valuable insight which horses provide, Malone students training in this environment just have fun. 

“Our clients tend to learn faster in this innovative, experiential environment,” said King. “It’s more fun to learn in an equestrian arena than a corporate boardroom.” 

Students with little to no prior experience in working with horses still benefit from a trip like this as they learn new ways to lead and interact with challenges. 

“I am not a typical farm and horse person, so I was not expecting to have a connection with my horse,” said Natalie Crum ‘23. “Being able to lead the horse and have the horse listen to me was unexpected, but enjoyable! This experience has helped me identify flaws in my leadership style, and knowing those weaknesses can help me as I go into the field of social work.”

In addition to their personal growth, Malone students were able to connect classroom concepts with real world experience. 

“Andy Reynolds, who worked with me in an Equine Assistance Workshop, was interested in the idea of Congruence and how the Research Methods students could explore the concept,” said King. “The students work on making an abstract idea more concrete and measurable, one of the goals of social science research, and they gain real work experience working with a local business in Northeast Ohio.”

This partnership has a positive impact on both the organization and the students, providing vital help on one hand and valuable experience on the other.

“Partnering with local non-profits and tackling their data and research questions not only provides service to our Stark county community, but it also provides a real life experience of how to use research skills for our social work students,” said Andy Reynolds, department chair and associate professor of social work. “It removes the concepts from a textbook and applies it to real life practice. The students love it.”

King, who worked at Malone from 1995 to 2013, always welcomes Malone students. 

“The students I worked with from Andy’s class were as curious, intelligent, and warm as the other generations of students I’ve known throughout the years.”

Learn more about King’s work in Equine Assisted Learning here. Learn more about Malone’s department of social work here.