Community

I grew up in the horse rescue. For that, I am forever grateful. With Nina's teachings and her loving support, I found a wonderful community of horse people.

As I grew up a bit, I ventured out to other areas of the horse world. And as I did, I discovered that there were other horse communities, but that most of them were not as loving or as kind as the rescue community I grew up in. I experienced first hand how normalized cruelty was. I'm not talking about cruelty to the horses (though I found those too despite my efforts to stay away from them), I mean cruelty to the other members of the community. The people were catty, petty, and just rude. I was young and wanted to fit in with the friends I was making; at times I was part of the problem. I became quick to judge with little information and partook in some of the petty and rude acts. For that, I am sorry. But I realized quickly I didn't like how it felt, I didn't like how it was making me feel. So, I began to silently cut the ties and distanced myself from that awful community. I began to feel better, though fairly alone until I found my way back to the community I grew up in. I refuse to ever entertain that kind of nastiness again. I will not let those attitudes be normalized around me. We find our way into the horse world from our love of the animals- how did we become so corrupted from such an innocent start? I suppose that question could be posed for many aspects of life, but I feel it's so important here. No one wants to be the victim of such horrendous behavior, so why does it persist? In my area of the horse world at least, I will not persist. Our community is so incredibly wonderful and loving, I am so grateful for that. I will always keep the doors of the rescue open so that more people can find their way into our support system just like I once did. I will encourage the kindness and do my best to educate others on why the catty behavior is nothing but harmful. Nina always taught us to stand up for ourselves and those who need it. I think the horse community needs to stand up for itself against the rudeness and unnecessary mean behavior and create a safe space for us equestrians to enjoy our passion.