Redefined

This quote resounded with me quite profoundly, especially while I try to balance and embrace just how much my life has grown and changed in a single decade. Ten years ago, I was a very different person with very different dreams and motivations.

I grew up with strict parents who tried very hard to discourage me from doing everything that wasn't what they wanted me to do. As a kid, when I started showing an interest in art and started teaching myself how to draw, my mom even tried to throw out my art supplies. I remember hiding my sketchbooks (that I bought with my first summer job working as a lifeguard at the local community pool) when I was away from home so didn't have to worry about coming back to find them missing. 

My parents were scared of horses. I never got to be around them either and only really started riding in 2014 after graduating college and getting my master's degree as a working adult when I had my own income to pay for lessons, a half-lease, and finally taking the dive into full ownership a year later. 

I am ever so incredibly grateful to those who have been instrumental in providing me a safe place to discover and explore the best parts of me, those who encouraged me to pursue dreams, be it art or riding, respectively. My art mentor and friend who believed I had the skill to freelance and generously gifted me my first professional-grade Wacom tablet. My first trainer who told me after just two lessons that I had a natural seat and talent; to keep riding and keep learning. With only 1-2 years of riding under my belt, I was blessed with incredibly generous owners who trusted me with their endurance horse as I got to ride across the country from Pennsylvania, Texas, and California. 

Muckleratz CTR - July 2015

Texas, Oct 2016

California Day 1, Oct 2017

California Day 2, Pacific Crest Trail

I admit to thinking the "better" days were over, especially during the past few years as Quest and I came to an involuntary standstill in our distance riding journey together. It took time, but I've come to see that though my adventures now look a little different, they are no less transformative and meaningful. It's infinitely more valuable to find your tribe, to surround yourself with a community uplifting and positive people who will celebrate with you in the good times and cry with you in the bad times. 

It is, quite simply, easy as that.