Spring has sprung in the Northern Hemisphere and we’re all REALLY looking forward to longer, brighter, dryer, warmer, and mud-free days with our horses 😊 If you could eliminate ONE aspect of Winter - as a horse person - what’s going on the muck heap?

It’s just after 8am on December 31st in Ireland and I’m waiting to board a (delayed) flight to Dubai. My final destination is a 200 acre horse farm about 90 minutes west of Melbourne, where I’ll be looking after my granddaughters for most of January 😍 As 2026 - the Year of the Horse - arrives, my feet won’t be on solid ground. I’ll be literally between places, suspended somewhere above the earth. The opposite of grounded And it made me smile, because our horses won’t notice the date at all. They won’t know it’s a new year.
They won’t reflect on the past 12 months.
They won’t set goals, make resolutions, or feel the emotional weight humans often attach to endings and beginnings. They’ll simply be: • standing on the earth • feeling their feet • reading the weather, the space, the herd • responding to what is, not what the calendar says 🤣 Horses Don’t Live by Dates — They Live by Reality For horses: • There is no “next year” • There is no “last year” • There is only now Their nervous systems don’t organise themselves around milestones, anniversaries, or expectations.
They organise around safety, connection, clarity, and presence. And yet… they continue to thrive. 🌱 Lessons from the Herd (Even at 30,000 Feet) As I cross into 2026 somewhere in the sky, the horses remind me: 1. Grounding isn’t about location — it’s about attention
. You can be physically grounded and mentally scattered.
Or airborne and deeply present. 2. Time is a human construct, regulation is biological
. Horses regulate through breath, movement, rhythm, and relationship, not deadlines. 3. You don’t need a “new beginning” to begin again Horses reset moment by moment, not once a year. 4. Your feet matter more than the future
. Where are your feet right now — physically, emotionally, energetically? 5. Being here is enough
. No performance. No pressure. No symbolic fresh start required. 🐾 A Gentle Invitation As the year turns - whether you’re grounded, airborne, or somewhere in between - take a moment to check in the way a horse might: