02/09/2026
A post I saw recently that resonated with me, so I thought I’d share it here.
Its message is long, but it is clear. This industry, is messy, it’s chaos, it’s expensive.
This is why, making something calm, welcoming and affordable is so important to me.
If you are terrible to your horse, or the people around you, then you will be unwelcome in our space.
No exceptions.
“The older I get, the less impressed I am by the things that look good from the outside. The fast horse, the fancy trailer, the expensive tack, the money and the wins.
The people standing around your trailer when things are going good. None of that means much if you don’t have good people beside you. Because this industry will show you people for exactly who they are if you pay attention. Some people are your friend as long as you’re useful to them. They love being around when you have something they need, somewhere they want to be, or information they want to know.
Some will cheer for you right up until you start doing better than they are.
Some will happily sit in your circle, use your help, borrow your things, pick your brain, and then have a completely different opinion of you the second you walk away.
And honestly? Let them.
Because the good ones are so much easier to recognize once you stop making excuses for the bad ones.
The good ones are the people who are genuinely happy when you win. Not fake happy. Not “good job” while secretly keeping score, actually happy. They'll tell you when you’re riding like an absolute idiot, laugh about it with you, and then help you figure out how to fix it.
They’ll hold your horse, video your run, hand you something you forgot, show up when you need help, answer the phone when you’re losing your mind, talk you through the bad days, celebrate the good ones, scratch your horse's nose while youre doctoring her leg because she's a kicker when she hurts (looking at you Debs.)
They don’t disappear when there’s nothing in it for them. They can compete against you and still want you to have a damn good run. They can watch you accomplish something they’re still working toward and genuinely celebrate it instead of making your success about themselves. They’ll defend your name in a room you aren’t standing in.
THOSE are your people.
Because horses will humble you. This industry will humble you. There will be injuries, bad runs, lost confidence, retired horses, money problems, plans that fall apart and days where you wonder why the hell you’re doing any of this in the first place.
And when the dust settles, it won’t be the size of your trailer or the number of trophies on your shelf that matters.
It’ll be the people who were still standing beside you.
Pay attention to who is there when things are hard.
But pay even closer attention to who can watch something incredible happen for you and be genuinely, wholeheartedly happy that it did.
You don’t need a huge circle—you need a real one.
And I’m pretty damn lucky when it comes to mine. 🖤
Choose to grow 🌱”
