I have a post that’s been sitting half-completed in my draft folder since last week. Presto and I did a clinic with Tom McEwen, and it was fun, and I’d already made it about halfway through writing up my recap.

And then Saturday morning rolled around, and I watched a man get murdered in the streets of Minneapolis by the government, right there on my phone. Two weeks after, on the same phone, I watched a woman also get murdered on the streets of Minneapolis by the government. For the past year we’ve watched increasing violence, racism, misogyny, and blatant disregard of the law. Not to mention the propaganda and gaslighting.

We are 27 days into 2026 and ICE is already responsible for the deaths of 9 people. I’m struggling to wrap my head around that, and especially struggling to wrap my head around how to just… continue carrying on with the rest of my life, as if nothing is on fire. As if we aren’t currently living through the most dangerous moment of my lifetime. It doesn’t feel right to move along as if none of it is happening. To not at least acknowledge how absolutely insane and dangerous and heartbreaking this all is. How it absolutely DOES and WILL affect the horse industry and every single one of us… everything is connected.

On the other hand, I know that demoralization, stagnation, and fear are the goals of this regime. A populace that has no joy left is easily cowed. While it doesn’t feel right to just carry on as usual, it also doesn’t feel right to go dark and silent. There’s a constant push and pull. The horses are helping me cope with all this, and reading everyone’s updates helps to balance out everything else. I have to assume it’s the same for many of you, as well?

I don’t really have an eloquent, poetic message here. I wish I did. What I can offer is acknowledgement and solidarity. I know many of you are feeling the same way I am, and it’s just an absolutely surreal way to be moving through day to day life. I’m sad. I’m pissed off. I’m scared for our country and its citizens. But I still have horses to ride and care for, and work to do. I don’t know the right way to balance all of that alongside my online presence.

If anyone needs a safe space to talk or vent, my PM’s are always open. If you know someone who needs help, I’m happy to assist with that however I can, too.

In the meantime, I felt like it was important to at least put this out there and say that for me, this is NOT business as usual and I don’t want it to appear like it is. I’m struggling to make odds or ends of it. Struggling to know what the right way forward is, as far as content. As someone with a platform, I feel an obligation to say something, but I really have no idea the right way to handle all of this together. This is my first dystopian hellscape experience, please bear with me while I find my way through it.