Ill just take you back to autumn last year when I saw that HorsePay media was looking for people to write in their new online equestrian magazine. I thought to myself, “yes, that is a bit of me”. But also not really having the confidence in myself or not knowing would people even want to hear what I have to say, after all I am an ordinary equestrian with no qualifications on paper to talk about the burning issues we all see scattered around our entire industry.

We cannot change problems with the same mindset we had when we created them.

Then, when I saw my first article published in the flesh and reading the other articles it awoke something in me that had lay dormant for years. My voice. My opinion. My ideas. This was a platform for ordinary people like me to voice their concerns within our ever spiralling industry.

Mike, Shane, and The Grassroots Gazette gave someone like me (a girl who was told she would amount to nothing by her English teacher among others); the confidence to believe in what she was saying and thinking again. It essentially gave me my Mojo back. And it is not just me, I see the growth and confidence in other writers tackling tougher subjects, going outside their box, learning new methods and approaches and challenging the normal convention of what equestrians should say or do. We are already, as a unit, creating change within every sphere of the industry. That is one of the beauties of The Grassroots Gazette.

 I have little to no knowledge of the racing industry for example, but reading Shanes, Daithi’s and many more articles I am learning about issues within that side of the equine world that I genuinely would not have known about had it not been for their articles. I have read things like Patrick Hester’s submission about Equine farming that blew my mind. Brendan Bergin’s articles always make me re-evaluate how I train my horses.  I have learned so much from Emer @equiflextheraphy through her in-depth articles about equine massage, Sarah Elebert teaching me how to see a stride, Nicola Dee with her latest article about the importance of correct saddle fitting, whitethornequinehealth with her fascinating approach to horses self medicating, Tess Walsh with her amazingly hilarious yarns that literally have me in stitches. All of these fabulous writers that showcase a different side to equestrianism and there is something for everyone. Of course, that is just SOME of the topics covered; the wealth of information between all the writers collectively is astounding.

All of the writers inspire me every time I read or learn about something new. Suddenly I had ideas flooding around of what I wanted to talk about, things that I always thought of as issues that only I saw or topics only I had an interest in. I had no idea so many other likeminded equestrians were out there. Although we all write about different areas within equestrianism, we all have the same common hopes and dreams and that is for radical change within the industry.

I am forever grateful that they put up that suggestion box on Instagram that day and even more delighted that I had the balls to actually say yes.

The Grassroots movement is fast becoming a massively talked about movement within the entire industry not just here in Ireland but across the pond too and positive change is going to happen, but it takes a village not just one person. Each and every one of us can have an impact on the change that is needed.

It’s amazing when you harness the positive power of social media and give people a platform they would have never otherwise had, the change that can ensue as a result is awe-inspiring.

Everyday I am proud to be part of this movement, proud to be a writer, part of the change, part of the revolution that this industry is so badly crying out for.

You don’t learn to walk by following rules, you learn by doing and falling over.

With that being said, The Grassroots Gazette also gave us another platform for three of us writers to make our own podcast. Say what?! Yes, I know, we are making a podcast. I’m still pinching myself at the daft prospect that people want to hear us speak on matters, but I am just going with it. Sarah Darker from @sjdequine came up with the idea originally and Shane suggested that both myself and Sadhbh @theconniechronicles may also be suitable for joining the collaborative as we are all amateur riders and normal horsey people. (If there is such a thing)

We are hoping to release our first podcast this week and we want to talk about real questions, real riders and real stories.

This podcast will also give a voice to the normal everyday equestrian that is up at 5am mucking out there horses before they start work. The ones who have multiple jobs just to feed this passionate but expensive sport. The ones who had failures with their horses but get up again to try harder the next day. The ones who saved for years just to buy their first horse. The ones that juggle multiple kids, businesses and horses and still make it all work. The resilience and hard work of ordinary equestrians needs to be showcased along with many other topics that we will be discussing. As always this is a podcast for the people about the people and we want people to get involved. We want to create and talk about what YOU want to talk about, we can just be the vessel to get information out there. Stocks Silks and Saddles will prioritise being a safe place for equestrians to have a discussion without ridicule or judgment. We can all learn so much from each other if we just join forces; leave the egos at the door and come together to create positive change.

“If you can’t fly, then run.

If you can’t run, then walk.

If you can’t walk, then crawl,

But whatever you do you have to keep moving forward” – Martin Luther King

–        The ordinary equestrian