Greetings from Paris!

After postponing my European tour three times due to COVID travel restrictions, I find myself again in France. It is still challenging to fly internationally, and I was worried about getting through customs due to the constantly changing status of the virus worldwide. Thankfully, that turned out to be much easier than I expected. I’m staying in Paris for the first week, getting over jet lag and catching up on some work developing my second online course, following the ongoing success of my first online learning vehicle Connections 101: Life Wisdom from the Herd. (See the Eponaquest Online section of this newsletter for a link to the course and a special limited-time discount.)

Over the next six weeks, I will be leading workshops in Lille, France and Essen, Belgium, as well as completing the Eponaquest facilitator training just outside Paris that was originally supposed to take place in spring 2020. It’s been a very strange time, to say the least. Most of the workshops scheduled were filled in 2020, though we do have a couple of spaces left in Healing the Herd at the end of September. For more info and to register: https://eponaquest.com/workshop/healing-the-herd-connection-focused-therapy-for-therapists-and-other-professionals-working-with-trauma-survivors-and-families-in-crisis-2/

I’m excited to get back to working directly with people and the many beautiful, soulful horses I meet along the way. When I return to the US in October, we will start up workshops again at my ranch in Arizona. I know my own horses are eager to share their wisdom with new and old friends again. Because these workshops have also been postponed 3 times, they are all filled with a waiting list. We will announce dates for spring workshops soon.

Eponaquest Online

In the meantime, I’m thrilled that I have an in-depth online training available for those who want to study some of the key Eponaquest principles that help people become more centered, peaceful, and successful in their personal and professional lives. It took some time and lots of work, but I was able to incorporate skills directly translatable to human settings with stories and video of the horses who taught thousands of people how to become more effective, emotionally and socially intelligent humans. Those of you who read my books will enjoy photos and video of many of the horses I wrote about, including my beloved equine teachers, Tabula Rasa and Midnight Merlin, who have since left this earth. And you will see video of their children who have become expert teachers in their own right over years.

Until the end of August, you can receive 15% off the tuition by using the discount code “Paris15” when you register. Here’s the link: https://nelda.tv/connections-with-linda-kohanov/. I’m grateful to the staff at Nelda University for helping me develop and produce this seven-hour self-paced course. It was a challenge to create a training that works for a variety of audiences, including people familiar with the equine-facilitated learning field (EFL), as well as people with no previous interest in or experience with horses. There are many skills that will be useful to people who work directly with horses as well: trainers, riders and animal rescue personnel, regardless of riding style or philosophy.

Reaching a Wider Audience

One thing I’m especially grateful for is Nelda University’s commitment to taking this work to people who’ve never heard of the EFL field and never considered that they could learn some valuable life skills from horses. It was fascinating to consult with a marketing expert in creating a free master class to appeal to those who’ve never heard of this work before. This infomercial style session teaches people how to use emotions more effectively at home and at work, and then gives an inside look at the in-depth course. After talking with some of my colleagues in the EFL field, I realized that many of them are also interested in how to appeal to a wider audience. So I decided to share the link to this master class to give people one view of how a marketing firm in New York advised me to reach out to new people in the standard infomercial context. This masterclass will also be useful to people who’ve attended workshops in the past and want to give their spouses, friends and other family members some skills that will enhance their relationships at home and at work. This link automatically offers a discount: https://nelda.tv/linda-kohanovs-exclusive-masterclass-special-offer/

There are a number of bonuses with the Connections 101 course, including a music video with original music and images that I created with my husband, composer Steve Roach, as well as a special article on how to translate the course lessons to working with animals, including pets, horses and in rescue contexts.

I also recently began offering monthly, two-hour Zoom sessions for participants to ask questions, share anecdotes and learn some additional skills that build on the coursework. It was fun doing one of these sessions from my hotel room in Paris this past weekend with people from Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand attending what turned out to be a very lively and inspiring conversation.

I have also led some additional trainings for Eponaquest instructors who want to support the online course with coaching calls/Zoom sessions, as well as visits to their own farms where people can work with the horses in private or small group sessions regionally. This is an important way for people to avoid the challenges of public transportation during the pandemic while still being able to benefit from direct work with the horses who continue to provide a healing presence in challenging times. These Connections instructors offer support in learning the skills unique to the Eponaquest approach to equine-facilitated learning and equine-facilitated therapy (EFL/EFT), which can be combined with other equestrian disciplines and other therapeutic and experiential learning approaches. These experienced instructors are committed to offer support to people in the wider EFL/EFT fields while respecting the various approaches to this field. (For more information, contact info@eponaquest.com and ask for a list of Connections instructors.)

It’s inspiring, yet still a bit odd, to finally be flying across the ocean again, and inviting people back to my ranch in Arizona. Travel is different. The airports and hotels seem off-kilter as everyone experiments with ways to best insure people’s safety during the worldwide challenges COVID continues to offer. I look forward to seeing many of my friends and colleagues in Europe, and to meeting some new friends at workshops as well. Online trainings are a good way for people who can’t travel to learn from the horses, and I will continue to collect video of the horses during this tour to capture equine behavior and equine wisdom for the next online course Connections 102, which will be available in 2022. In the meantime, I hope that you stay safe and healthy, and enjoy the many blessings that life still has to offer during this challenging time.