“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars and to change the world”

-Harriet Tubman.

July 1^st 2022.

I will remember that date forever. You will hear me recite that date and its impact on my kids for many years to come. It will be our legacy and what a beautiful legacy to have. It is the date that Equitas officially launched its first edition, and we forever left our mark on the equestrian world.

It is very surreal even now writing this a week post-release of Ireland’s first women’s equestrian magazine. I must pinch myself anytime Shane reminds me that I am a Co-founder of this phenomenal movement. Madness, I tell you, it’s sheer madness. 

Thursday night before the launch, we all joked that it was like Christmas night, and it really was. I could not sleep a wink, and I was not even tired (nothing to do with the newborn in the house, I assure you). Getting little snip bits from the design team as it inched even closer to its completion was like watching an artist adding his last few strokes of paint to his first masterpiece. And what I found in my inbox at 7.44 am on that Friday morning, the 1st of July 2022, was just that, a masterpiece. From the impact of those big powerful quotes to the images that shaped the articles, the design, the subjects covered, and the passion that lay across all those pages was really something else. Something I will forever be so proud of, all of us will. We did it!

And do you know what the best part of it is? This is only the beginning; we are only in our infancy. The movement has the scope to transcend our industry; it has the scope to help women all over the world and that is our hope for Equitas, we just need as many women to get involved as possible. To be limitless, that is our hope for all women, that they never put a cap on their success and achievements. Equitas is full of women who support others and build them up. We are all a team in Equitas, from the management to the advisory board to all the people behind the scenes working away. Like an engine, all the parts are equally important for the engine to work and turn over. With Equitas, we leave the egos at the door because the greater good must be the biggest driving force for all of us, and it is. It’s not just one person, it’s all of us. All of us together. It works so well because we all have a common goal and a common respect for one another. We do it together, united and as a team.

 “I am only one, but still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something. I will not refuse to do something I can do”

– Helen Keller.

I have been involved in this industry since the age of seven. Twenty-odd years I have seen the injustices faced by women in our industry, not all at the hands of men, might I add, by the hands of both men and women. I have seen them personally many times myself. I have also been subjected to many of these injustices. I have seen women that were more than capable of the rides of some horses getting passed by for their male counterparts. I have seen women harassed in their workplace and nobody even blinking an eye because it had become so normal to see. I have seen women tear each other down on yards and at shows. I have seen people forced to leave their jobs because of pregnancy. I have seen senior management positions being handed to people less deserving and less qualified of them because of their sex. I have seen men being asked to handle the stallions because a woman could not possibly handle such a beast. I have seen mothers ridiculed and judged for going out eventing/hunting after they have a child, usually by other women, I might add. I have seen it all, and so have you. We all have seen injustices happen. We all sat back idle on the sidelines for years whispering about the injustices and horrified by them but all the while saying nothing. 

 “We are never really happy until we try to brighten the lives of others”

– Helen Keller

 Now, at last, we have a voice. We have a say; we have a tribe of women supporting women. This is not an anti-man movement by any means, it is a fairness, equity, and empowerment movement. Like some of the articles in the first edition mentioned, tearing other women down will not make your light shine any brighter. So, let us build a new normal for everyone, let us build Equitas together. We are not here to take part; we are here to take over! 

So, buckle up, and be prepared for this movement to get a whole lot bigger, because Equitas’ edition two is coming soon, and we are only getting started. We are #TheEquitasGeneration