bleeding the stone

There's no real doubt that blogging as a social platform has.... hm, "peaked" is probably a nice way to say it. Instagram, facebook, tik tok, etc are all easier, faster and better integrated with both smart phones and mainstream media consumers. For those whose primary pursuit is to "stay connected," blogs are borderline primitive, let's be real. 

step 1 to maximizing media: observe your subject relentlessly

So it's not much of a surprise, or a secret for that matter, that participation in the blogosphere has declined precipitously over the years. And I'm not gonna lie, guys. I've.... kiiiiinda willed myself to quit on more than a few occasions. 

But.... I keep reading. And, ultimately, I keep posting too. 

(For now lol). 

who doesn't love video of horses being horses?

Bc... Idk. There's something about the 'long format' narrative that I find so much more compelling than the thoroughly curated stylized and (imo) myopic snippets from other social media.

Just being honest.... If I wanted to browse through a series of individual impressive glossy photos.... I'd just read a magazine or whatever. It's not personal, I don't relate to it, it doesn't move me or resonate with my own horsey life. 

At a certain point, if you've seen one perfect horse or rider or whatever, you've kinda seen 'em all, right? 

whoops! that's a cat

Getting into reading blogs was legitimately the first time in my life where.... Suddenly the horse world opened up before my eyes, became accessible. I could read about people just like me, from all sorts of backgrounds and with all sorts of goals and priorities, figuring out how to carve out just the right space for horses in life. 

People writing about the ups and the downs. Problem solving. Setbacks or major achievements. No character limits, no hashtags or paid plugs, and legit as many photos as your internet service provider sees fit to upload. 

again, back to the horses, and those damn flies.
if you video long enough, surely something interesting will happen, right????

I followed bloggers who seemed to be at about my skill level but were going out and doing things I'd never considered possible -- or would have never even known about from the vantage point within my own experiences. And reading about it inspired me. Made me realize that I could do that too. And so.... I did. 

There is really no way to quantify that kind of impact. Except to say I'm eternally grateful for it. 

success in media is all about snapping your diamond in the rough shot from all that video.
apparently, royal's tail = nature's original fly mask

That doesn't even touch on the educational value of the equestrian blogger hive mind. My own experience remains extremely limited compared to some of y'all. There are still untold categories of equine injuries and illnesses that I have yet to witness with my own two eyes.

Which is obvi where the collective of shared experiences is so valuable. Bloggers over the years have written about so many hyper-specific circumstances that realistically none of us would *ever* experience in a single lifetime.... Bc let's be real, a lifetime isn't enough to learn everything. Except, this shared community has made it possible for me to learn a few lessons the "easy" way, and thus be more prepared when things go down in real life. 

 

whooops there's that cat again.... i think?

At the end of the day, tho, that's all only part of why I keep writing. Altruism is great and all, sure it's nice to 'contribute to the common good' or whatever.... But... That's kinda the nasty little hook of social media, right? At a certain point, if you're in it for what you get back... disappointment (or worse) is inevitable. 

So obviously, there's gotta be something in it for me, right?? 

but lo! through the magic of modern photo editting apps, voila! content is born!
apps used are: PicCollage & WordSwag

Right. At the end of the day, even if blogging wasn't a public spectacle (and I know for a fact there are a few of you drop-outs out there who have simplified the matter by just switching to private lol), it's still proven to be an immense resource for me. 

It's a catalogue of all our greatest moments, and all our worst. Reference material from many lessons learned, and a diary of how I spend my days, at least as reflected through the prism of my horsey life. Captured contours of normal daily life that aren't necessarily consequential in the moment, but can mean everything in retrospect. 

or something lol. idk. it's a metaphor i guess, maybe?

And I browse that index and archive constantly. The photos, the memories, everything. When all else fails, this is what compels me to keep going. 

Idk if any of that is why you read, or, for those of you still writing... why you write too. But ya know, whatever your reason. I hope you keep doing it too!