More than pictures - this is my dream for horseman and women of this generation and future generations. These pictures are a lifetime spent with this horse, from a year and half old colt to a 25-year-old best friend through thick and thin. A lifetime of learning and teaching. A lifetime of trust and partnership. A lifetime spent carefully building a relationship with this horse. A commitment to both good days and bad days, a commitment to constant self-reflection in asking myself whether I was asking for what I wanted correctly – whether the horse understood what I was asking. Was I asking too much too soon, or did we need to go back to basics somewhere.  

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These pictures exist only because I was patient with myself and my horse. We built trust with each other, and I understood that in order to fully trust this horse, I needed to earn his and continue to work to keep it. It’s not a matter of making the horse do what I want – it’s a matter of knowing how to ask for what I want from the horse and motivating him to be willing to participate. To understand that as a prey animal, I need him to know that no matter what he is in safe hands with me.   

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My horse gets sick days. He gets the same kind of nutritional consideration that I'd extend to myself and my family. He’s allowed to have days where he’s not in a great mood, and all our expectations go out the window to get him into a good mood. He’s allowed to tell me that something is wrong, and I take it seriously. What I’ve found is that when I let my horse speak up for himself, he is heard, and we are in this together. Just as much as I let this horse speak up for himself, I found him being the one who was there for me throughout the most difficult times in life. Times spent with him just being made our partnership what it has become. Times where I didn’t ask anything of him, and he didn’t ask anything of me. We didn’t need to do anything, simply to extend kindness to each other when life was cruel. 

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These pictures are just one small glimpse into the time that we’ve spent together, and my dream is that although these pictures are something that I am beyond proud of – I want everyone who sees them to find value in the path that the two of us have ridden along for years to get to this point. My dream is that people find value in the commitment to a horse through thick and thin. That people really value the horse that needs leadership, and they find value in becoming horse people of leadership. Find value in conversations and disagreements. Find softness and harmony, allow it to get lost, and then work to find it again. Over and over until you have it more than you lose it. Adjust your expectations and meet the horse where they are and I promise you, it will pay off in ways you never thought possible. 

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All our love on the journeys that await you,

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Anna x Topeka