I know many excellent equine trainers who use treats as learning incentives. My mistake was using a teaching strategy in a performance situation. My misguided logic was that treats would improve the attentiveness of my equine partner. Instead, I had a horse that focused on my pockets, not on me. That performance was not a total failure… I used the enticement of treats to get some animated responses. But my misjudgment of desire and the power of What’s in it for me has stuck w

A creation process that creates a visible after image... In November 2013, The Equus Projects was invited to teach a daylong session on Physical Listening and Strategic Decision-Making for mid-career Naval engineers at the Naval War College in Newport, RI. We were to work with a handpicked group of 25 engineers who made up the elite Strategic Studies Group (SSG) a think tank that convened for two years to brainstorm innovative new ideas.....Our eight hours with the SSG was th

The Equus Projects launches its multi-year plan to Bring the Arts to Rural America with residencies in Western New York State. There is not much about The Equus Projects that conforms to the traditional dance company format and it’s June 2018 tour to Ithaca, NY was no exception. For the initial research phase of a new project being developed by New York State Council on the Arts’ Dance Force presenter Jim Self invited Equus Projects Artistic Director JoAnna Mendl Shaw and her