Homecoming 2.0; Ahead of the Curve
Offers a Lifeboat to People Wishing to Walk Away from Chaotic Handling, Training and Riding that Saddles Horses with Emotional Baggage They Do Not Deserve.
By Meeting You Where You Are At,
And Reverse Engineering the Solutions.
The Course About Riding That Doesn't Dictate To You, But Offers You Choices.
It is time to stop perpetuating cycles of abuse in horse training and horsemanship.
Methods of Training, Matter.
If we do what everyone else does, or support it, we get what everyone else gets.
Do you want that for your horse?
Your Instructors in HC2 have all been there. Nobodies hands are perfectly clean. We have all been exposed to, and practiced techniques and methods that deep down felt off, or plain wrong.
But we were told it was fine.
We were told the horse was resilient.
We were told this is how it is done.
Yet isn't it curious, that when you question -or even push back- against those methods, all that confidence and resiliency trainers think the horses have in buckets, often doesn't show up in the human?
They tell you that you are mean, or critical, to question what they do. They explain how kind they are and how good their intentions are. They say that they are working hard to be ethical and help horses.
Then the next minute, deploy a technique that saddles a horse with emotional baggage.
It may only be small baggage. But that accumulates.
When we dismount, or leave the paddock, we go back to our lives. Our children, spouses, houses, entertainment.
Our horses are left with their bodies, the space they live in, and their memories. They are left with the memories of what was done to them. And then tomorrow, the same. They reflect and ruminate on this. They are clever. They remember. They know what you are doing to them.
For any small transgression sits large in the mental horizon of a horse.
Functionality does not cause well-being. Correlated perhaps, but not causing well-being. A functional, performing, compliant horse is a functional, performing compliant horse. Not a happy horse that is absolutely well.
Absolutely well means that a horse has zero misgivings about their life, handling or training. Zero. That is the standard we should and could be setting for ourselves and our peers. And holding ourselves to it!
To aim for a horse so abundant in well-being, that they are fully on-board with our ideas we ask them to try. We cannot tell stories about consent and feel, and then deploy techniques that steamroll feel and ask for compromised compliance.
Often, the mantra of "Safety" or "It is for their own good" or "This is the practical reality we live in" protect the methods and the trainers that teach them.
But did you know that self employed people can actually choose how they are employed? Self employed people set the tone of what is taught and what isn't. Choosing to teach and practice techniques that we know are compromised- or ask the horse to pay an emotional, cognitive tax they don't owe us, is a choice.
Is this a selfish choice?
Training horses is hard for everyone.
These questions are even harder.
HC2 dives deep into them, and works our way out of it.
You do not have to be riding to join HC2. Groundwork alternatives were shown all the way throughout the course.
Emotional Horsemanship always appreciates and supports the non-ridden equine and their stewards.
This Course was a Major Challenge to Develop and Teach.
It would be dishonest to say that all aspects of this course are comfortable and feel good to both students and instructors. Because they are not.
We chose discomfort because innovating horsemanship and walking away from problematic practices... is not a feel good process.
As an academic exercise, Lockie chose to try again techniques and approaches to training that he abandoned, years ago. To extend an Olive Branch to people who "Cannot Relate" to the way Emotional Horsemanship trains now, Lockie "cosplayed" as the horse person he used to be. We called this "Chaos".
Starting the course with Chaos, Lockie demonstrated and taught on a knifes edge with his horses. Who, showing some niggling issues, chose to deploy practices he doesn't prefer to us, in training the horse.
These practices happen to be an industry standard, and considered ethical by most.
The results were made plain.
These approaches didn't work very well.
In the second half of HC2, we returned to practices that Emotional Horsemanship has developed over time, and prefers to use.
As a result, the behavioural problems melted away, and even high level dressage movements began to be offered- spontaneously.
All of this was taught live to a community of 125 horse people.
Not all of these horse people were devoted Emotional Horsemanship students.
Some were sceptics that decided to give Lockie a chance.
It was often uncomfortable, raw, honest, hilarious, shocking, enlightening, awe-inspiring and grounding.
Over 60 hours of materials, available for anyone, anywhere to explore.
To Change Horse Training for the 21st Century, We Cannot Continue What We Have Always Done.
We need teams of people to address the challenges that face our industry.
Homecoming 2.0 (HC2) was the first EH Course taught by the EH team, together.
Meet Michelle and Kristy!
Lockie is not everyone's cup of tea. He is not trying to be. He has a specific communication style forged by an unusual life living in foreign countries. He has a discerning, often uncompromising teaching style that intensely bends over backwards to assist the horses and people he teaches.
Despite this, EH had more clients than we could handle. So space was created for other instructors to join the team.
Hand selected for their unique talents, competent skills and kind yet discerning natures, HC2 was co-taught with EH Associated Professionals Michelle Knapp (Trainer, Instructor and Dressage Judge) and Kristy Foley (Energetic Translator and Balancer).
You will love getting to know them, and the balance the EH trio brings to this course. We compliment each other so that we can support you, four dimensionally.
Sign up for HC2 and see what it is all about today.