On January 9th the JAYC Team traveled to Arizona to attend the “The Power Behind Non-Violence” workshop facilitated by Linda Kohanov, author of Power of the Herd and founding director of Eponaquest.
The purpose of attending this workshop was to gain new knowledge and techniques in horse exercises that can be integrated into our Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) workshops. At the 5 day event, Linda Kohanov demonstrated how the skills she used to rehabilitate Midnight Merlin, a dangerous, formerly abused stallion, can be translated into handling challenging people and situations. This is exactly what many of our LEO attendees deal with on a daily basis. First responders, law enforcement personnel, and people who work or live with those who act out in aggressive or intensely fearful ways can all be helped by these techniques. The JAYC Foundation’s goal with our LEO Programs is to show a new skill set and demonstrate techniques so that the attendees can do their jobs more effectively, and hopefully feel better about what they are doing. The most important aspect of the skills we teach is that they are based on non-blame and non-shame interactions, creating constructive feedback to those who attend.
Our founder and President, Jaycee Dugard, felt the biggest take home for the workshop attendees was to gain more awareness for their surroundings on the job. If this knowledge saves just one person then it is a success. It’s all about “Just Asking Yourself to Care”.
