Päivintalli

24/06/2026

Hieno kirjoitus elämän, eläimen ja samalla ihmisen arvosta

The more time I spend with horses, the more I wonder if one of the greatest casualties of modern society (including capitalism) is our ability to recognize value that exists independent of human usefulness.

Not just in horses. In ourselves, too.

We've all been taught (for generations) to measure worth through productivity, achievement, growth, profit, performance, status, and contribution.

But not all contributions (or measures thereof) are recognized or honored in capitalism.

For example, a horse grazing rustles up small insects for birds and larger insects to feed on. A horse's manure nourishes the soil. A horse's relationships strengthen the social fabric of a herd. A herd contributes to the ecosystem it exists within.

And so do we.

The carbon dioxide I exhale with every breath feeds plants. The microbes living on and within my body support countless forms of life. My presence affects the nervous systems of those around me. Our relationships shape families, communities, and cultures. And when our lives are complete, our bodies will return themselves to the earth.

Life itself participates. Life itself contributes. Life itself has value.

Yet somewhere along the way we became convinced that contribution (whether ours or our horses') only counts if it can be measured, monetized, scaled, optimized, or exchanged. We began confusing economic value with actual value.

And perhaps that's why so many of us secretly wonder whether we (or our horses) are enough. Not because we contribute nothing. But because the ways we contribute are often invisible to the systems that taught us how to measure worth.

But the horses seem to remember something we humans have largely forgotten. Horses do not spend their days trying to prove they deserve to exist. They simply participate in the living world around them.

And in doing so, they contribute to it. Always. Whether we recognize or value their contributions or not.

It seems to me that the most important question going forward is not whether horses have value, or why. It's whether we humans can still recognize, honor and celebrate forms of value that exist beyond extraction.

It's important to note that I don't write this from outside the system. I live within capitalism. My business depends upon it. My horses' hay depends upon it.

But I find myself increasingly interested in strengthening the muscles we will all need if we're ever going to build something different. The muscles that recognize worth without requiring productivity. The muscles that recognize contribution without requiring income, profit or growth. The muscles that recognize belonging without requiring ownership (or commerce or loyalty). The muscles that understand every living being is already participating in (and contributing to) something much larger than ourselves.

Perhaps every time we acknowledge, honor and celebrate a horse's right to exist beyond human utility, we are also reclaiming something we've forgotten about ourselves: that our worth was never meant to be earned either.

The contribution of BEING ALIVE has held value since long before anyone started keeping score.

19/06/2026

Ihanaa juhannuksen aikaa 🌞

03/06/2026

Ekat hetket vapaasti ruoholla ovat aina upeita

21/05/2026

superpostaus

17/04/2026

Tasapaino

There’s a movement… a process, a growth, a shift… a change that’s happening in the horse world, and in all the world. A balancing. Think of it like the life of a human when one goes through tough times. What isn’t needed anymore fades, and what is, stays… all on the way into a rebirthing of oneself.

For thousands of years the physical-based masculine energies of the world (working, building, providing, grounding, strengthening, protecting) were the focus in fast-moving, expanding civilizations. It was about our survival; we were trying to control the world around us. And so this led the way in horsemanship, as horses were a major part of our survival, helping us to carry, pull, farm, fight, and make money. But when masculine energies get out of balance they turn to intimidation, degradation, and dominance. They turn to force.

But now we’re in the middle of the feminine energy coming into balance with the masculine. The heartfelt, spiritual-based, inward energies of care, connection, compassion, creativity, along with flow, intuition, and emotional intelligence/depth.

Feminine and masculine energy are the creative energies of the universe. And every person has both masculine and feminine energy within them. Each and every person is a unique combination of them. And when we’re in touch with our balance of these energies we create so beautifully.

The masculine energy’s initial intention is innocent. It’s designed to hold on, be strong, fight, protect what is, keep things the same, and control in order to keep things safe. It’s designed to save what is already there. But when it got out of balance, it turned to too much taking and forcing.

This shift is going to feel messy. Just think of your own major life changes. How it’s hard to let go. When you become aware of something… when your eyes are opened… you now see all that is painful, and where it comes from, and what you need to do to change… but the doing of it takes time.

I greatly respect the past, its teachings, and its traditions. I honor all, and honor all who helped us to get where we’re at now. But to fight the change that’s happening in the horse world, where we connect and care for horses first, and have the life we experience with them be born from that… to reject that is to be stuck in a past that is no longer in the present.

We can still work and ride, ranch and race; horses can be willing to carry us, willing to give to us in all ways. It’s just that the world is becoming not willing to sacrifice their well-being for all that. And this shift is happening fast, that’s why it’s uncomfortable for many.

We can have the best of both worlds. Horses are here to help us, and for thousands of years it was mainly with the strength of their bodies, and now they are entering into equally helping us with the strength of their spirit, heart, and soul. They’re helping us with our internal life, helping us with our own spirit, heart, and soul. And it is sacred work they’re doing.

Let go of seeing them only by what they can do for us, by seeing them as a commodity or something here just for our wants and needs and hopes. Their greatest gift is always solely in their presence. The fact they are in our lives.

See them for the gift they are and doors you never imagined will open, taking you to places you never thought possible… places you always wanted to go to…

😊🐴🙏

Photo of Coal and Rocky from a moment where they were deeply looking through me, into me, inspiring a knowing to rise up from within me.

16/04/2026

niimpä

“Are you having fun?” I asked.

A conflicted silence followed. One beat, two beats. My client gazed into the middle distance. As if they were wondering if they were indeed having fun with and around horses. I could feel and imagine the internal monologue.

He asked if I am having fun.
Which means I am supposed to be having fun.
What does having fun look like?
Is it ethical to project my idea of fun onto a horse?
I don’t think I am having any fun.
I feel ashamed now for not having fun.
I shouldn’t say No, he wants me to say yes?

I stepped in.

“That sounds like a No. Or a probably not. It’s ok, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Horses are difficult animals to care for, and even trickier animals to succeed with in training. Sometimes it feels like a black hole you never see the end of. But it is important to remember that this is supposed to be, a recreation. For most of us. This is something we do for pleasure.”

And this is the crux of it.

There is a lot of romanticising of pain and suffering in the horse world. Scare a horse, intimidate a horse, suffer along side them a little bit? That’s worthy of our celebration. Because Real Horsepeople are hard. Tough. Mean. Resilient.

And that’s fine if that’s someones choice to embody that. None of my business.

But my business is guiding folks and their horses back to something that is enjoyable. But something that’s enjoyable for the horse too, which is often the harder part to ensure and that’s why we focus on the horse first.

In that process, some folks find they cannot put their horse first, because they have not taken care of themselves first. Self care is the deep breath you take before you dive under the water and swim. Your self care is the first preparation that fuels your ability to focus on the horse. These things blend and intersect.

Yet, we focus on the horse.

And this should be fun. And fun is relative to every single individual, it isn’t a singular monolithic fun you’re supposed to do to fit in. Having fun is about fitting in with you and your horses.

It has been a long time since I had no fun around horses. A long time.