Learning Leadership with Horses

For the third time, students from the International Management major took part in the “Offsite Leadership: Experience with Horses” as part of the Global Leadership course taught by Prof. Dr. Dominik Hammer.

The unique learning experience combined leadership theory with practical exercises at Gut Mischenried, an equestrian center near Munich.

The workshop challenged students to lead horses through a series of obstacles, demonstrating that leadership extends far beyond academic concepts. Unlike people, horses respond solely to non-verbal communication, body language, confidence, and clarity. As participants quickly discovered, a horse will immediately show you whether you are able to lead.

The experience highlighted the fundamental differences between leading animals and leading people. While human leadership involves communication, motivation, and adapting to different educational backgrounds and levels of experience, horses react only to authentic leadership signals. This helped students develop greater self-awareness and a deeper understanding of the role of presence, consistency, and non-verbal communication in effective leadership.

The workshop was hosted by Petra Wichmann, owner of Gut Mischenried. As an entrepreneur and former pharmacist with a doctorate, she completed an MBA to strengthen her entrepreneurial venture, the horse farm. Her master's thesis explored different educational approaches and their influence on entrepreneurial initiative and the willingness to try new ideas. Leadership has therefore become a central theme in both her work as a business owner and her experience in working with horses.

During the program, students first completed leadership exercises by guiding horses through obstacle courses. Afterwards, they had the opportunity to ride the horses, allowing them to further strengthen the trust and connection they had built throughout the training.

The workshop also encouraged students to reflect on leadership at different levels: from micro leadership in direct interactions with individuals to macro leadership in organizations. It reinforced the idea that effective leadership must always be adapted to the people being led and the situation at hand.