When a Horse Chooses to Partner with You: The Story of Safety and the EEC Program

In the early days of education training for the Equine Experiential Connection (EEC) program, champion jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva had a pivotal experience that would shape the philosophy of the program forever. During his training with Andre Leclipteaux, Co-Founder of the FEEL Program, Eurico asked a simple yet profound question: “How do the horses come to be in this program?”

Andre’s response was both unexpected and transformative: “The horses choose you — they choose to be in the program.”

Those words stayed with Eurico as he began scouting horses for the program at LongRun Farm. One day, while walking the barn with Vicki Pappas, co-founder of EEC, Vicki showed him a few horses she believed could be candidates for the program. They stopped at one of the stalls to see one of her top choices, but Eurico wasn't really feeling a connection. Instead, he felt a powerful energy behind him. Turning around, he saw a horse standing at the other side of the barn, his eyes heavy with what seemed like sadness. He felt depressed. That horse was Safety.

From that moment, Eurico couldn’t stop thinking about Safety. The horse’s presence lingered in his thoughts, appearing even in his dreams. Something about Safety called to him, a quiet insistence that he pay attention.

Weeks later, Eurico returned to LongRun to see if Safety would choose to join the program. As he entered the field to visit Safety, two other horses approached him immediately, engaging with curiosity and warmth. But Safety stayed back. Eurico felt a pang of sadness — he had believed, as Andre had taught and as he had felt in his heart, that Safety wanted to be part of the program. Yet the horse hadn’t moved.

Just as Eurico was about to turn away, a voice emerged clearly in his mind: “But did you ask Safety if he wanted to be in the program?”

It was a simple question, but it shifted everything. Eurico realized he had assumed Safety’s rejection without actually asking him to join the EEC. He stopped, turned, looked directly at Safety, and then closed his eyes. With intention, he asked Safety, “Do you want to be in the program?”

In a moment that would become legendary in the story of EEC, when Eurico opened his eyes, he saw Safety walk directly toward him, meeting him nose to nose and shaking his head up and down, saying yes. The connection was immediate and profound. Eurico felt the depth of the horse’s choice — the affirmation that the program, like the horses themselves, was a partnership, a meeting of hearts and energy.

That day, Safety became the first horse to officially join the EEC program. His path forward wasn’t dictated by human assumption or scheduling; it was chosen in alignment with his own will, a lesson that continues to guide the ethos of the program: horses don’t just participate — they choose, and their choice is sacred. And for us humans, too often, we assume rejection before we even ask. Whether in human relationships or with horses, the act of asking — with respect, presence, and openness — can open the door to connection, trust, and unexpected miracles.