Finding Purpose: A Life Managing the Passion, Compulsion, and Borderline Addiction Called “Horses”

A sensitive retelling of events that shaped a childhood, a career, and an evolving philosophy on what it means to love something and for that love to be enough.

'Following a passionate path usually isn't easy', writes horsewoman Chelsea Canedy in this uninhibited and deeply thoughtful memoir tracing her experiences in the horse world and how they have impacted her development as a competitor, a teacher, a wife, and a mother. From falls, poor rides, and heart-wrenching divorce, to connection, opportunity, and transformative friendships, Canedy digs deep to identify themes that not only tell her unique story but speak to the reader's own. Writing with the same natural feel she found at an early age in the saddle, Canedy coaxes us to grasp the broader truths that working with horses can so often unveil.

What it is we are really looking for when we pursue a passion? Canedy explores this question, along with what it is to be human at every stage of that journey. Her sensitive retelling of the events that molded her are hewn from the barn and arena, but her perceptive questions about existence offer any reader valuable lessons in true and lasting personal growth. Any athlete or ambitious person will be able to relate to Canedy as she shares the painful mistakes she has made with both horses and people, the intense guilt that has accompanied these transgressions, and how learning to accept setbacks and starting over 'the best way you know how' is sometimes, maybe, what gets you where you want to go.

Offering distinct lessons in how to be compassionate, curious, flexible, tenacious, open, aware, and ready to roll with the punches, Canedy's book is for every reader with a passion they feel driven to pursue, while perhaps questioning its value as the years unfold. 'Knowing what it is that "fills you up".' writes Canedy, 'in this life, that is enough'.

Chelsea Canedy stands apart as a competitive rider who combines traditional training with natural horsemanship principles, groundwork, liberty work, and R+ training, and has a reputation as someone who understands how horses think and learn. For many years, Canedy worked in social service, and today she continues a regular meditation practice that she started over a decade ago. This firsthand experience in practical psychology and self-reflection underlines her ability to build the relationships with horse and rider needed to consistently improve performance. Canedy has several Equestrian Masterclasses with Noelle Floyd, and she is a popular podcast guest, clinician, and presenter, appearing at festivals and expos around the country. Canedy and her family are currently based in Wales, Maine, on a beautiful historic property called Unexpected Farm, and she spends winters in Ocala, Florida (chelseacanedy.com).