With horses, as in life, there is no blueprint. Each horse and horse/owner combination are unique with numerous factors outside our control; physical, emotional, financial, time constraints, etc. Trying to manage all the variables together (horse and human alike) into a tidy package called goals allows for failure points in the thousands.

Both horses and humans have predictable, demonstrable behaviors. However, when plans + horses + humans combined and layered with stress, fear, anxiety, joyous or catastrophic life, events, pressures, deadlines, financial implications and expectations, the points of failure are in the billions.

It is not that the end goal is unimportant, but the small actions that happen every single day are the catalyst to reaching your summit. Each little moment feels insignificant, but when taken cumulatively over a long period of time, progress is made and goals are reached. It is like trying to watch a flower bloom. You never actually see anything happening.

What is most important to me about A Squared Equestrian is to create a space and an environment where people and horses can thrive. energetically. We spend too much money and time for this activity not to be rewarding on a day-to-day basis. I am not talking about reaching goals here but about enjoying the moments on the journey.

Often when we ride – train – board in environments that do not resonate with us energetically, we feel unheard, ignorant, diminished or at the very least frustrated and exhausted.

We question ourselves. We question our horse. We blame. Most importantly, we lose. We lose the openness. We lose the trust, we lose the joy, we lose the connection to all of our very own personal whys.

Why we ride.

Why we train.

Why we go broke.

Why we sacrifice time.

Why we sacrifice peace.

I have felt marginalized countless times in the industry. I have chased a finish line of feeling heard, accepted, worthy and capable. I now understand these feelings of connection, balance and space are transient.

Like Buddhist nun Pema Chodron says:

“We think the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things really don’t get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and they fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”

The humans and horses that fit best at A Squared Equestrian recognize these descriptions.

I do not believe there is the perfect horse, the perfect saddle, the perfect trainer, or the perfect method. There is a dynamic fluid of energetic liquidity that must be supported by the right team. To achieve what the owner seeks and what the horse needs there must be a cohesiveness with everyone involved in progress to the goal. The riders, owners, teachers, students, grooms, bodyworkers, vets, dentists, Farriers, Chiropractors, saddle fitters, and on and on, and on must work in concert towards the goal. The goal can be anything from a quiet horse that stands willingly immobile at the mounting block for a hack to a highly ambitious horse and rider that navigate an electric warm-up before their first FEI test.