10/20/2026
THIS.
I am a firm believer that horses should have lives outside of their careers.
I love a talented horse. I love developing young horses, setting ambitious goals, and seeing what they might be capable of accomplishing.
But I also think itâs important to remember that our horses have absolutely no idea what their rĂ©sumĂ©s say.
They donât know what their breeding suggests they should be good at. They donât know what level theyâre supposed to reach, what scores theyâve earned, or how much money weâve invested in their futures.
And I think they deserve lives that are about more than those things.
I want my horses to have friends. I want them to spend time in fields, play, explore, scratch each otherâs withers, and occasionally make questionable decisions about which mud puddle looks the most inviting.
I want the young ones to have time to be young. To be a little scraggly. Have a few scrapes on them.
And I want the older ones to have lives where their entire sense of routine doesnât revolve around being ridden.
Because as much as we love these horses for what they can do, I think we have a responsibility to remember that they are living, feeling, social animals first.
Their athletic careers are something we have chosen for them.
Their need to be horses isnât.
And I donât think those two things have to compete with one another.
We can have big ambitions for our horses AND give them lives that are rich in experiences that have absolutely nothing to do with advancing those ambitions.
In fact, I think those things often complement each other beautifully.
I hope the horses in my program become successful athletes. I hope they go on to do wonderful things, make their owners proud, and have long, fulfilling careers.
But I also hope they have horse friends that they love.
That they get to roll in the sunshine.
That they spend plenty of hours doing absolutely nothing sport related. Doing the only things horses were actually designed to do⊠walk around in groups and eat forage đ
Because a horse can have an impressive résumé and still be missing some pretty important parts of a good life.
And at the end of the day, I want to be proud of more than what my horses accomplish.
I want to be proud of the lives they get to live 24/7, not just when Iâm with them.
