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From the Desk of Mary Schaffel: Keep Dreaming, Keep Trekking and Look Ahead

When I close my eyes it brings me such joy to dream about our barns finally opening and we’re all riding and driving our horses.  The smiles on everyone’s faces are beyond describable.  I know many of you share these same dreams of being back showing our horses again at shows all over the country; where everyone in our industry is back to work and deriving their just incomes again.  From trainers, farriers, small business owners and show employees, everyone is back to work. We dream with delight in seeing all the people we enjoy being with and care about in this industry.  

Then I wake up, we all do and come to the realization of the path we are on.  This path is challenging and narrow. I would not want to be a state or local official right now.  Never have I seen them faced with a more difficult dilemma; balancing between public health and economic health. Fortunately, many leaders across the country are using reputable science based organizations as guides through this path resulting in 48 states re-opening at various different levels.  This is a necessary initial small boost to the economy balanced by all of us being asked to follow additional guidelines to stay healthy; such as social distancing, hygiene measures and wearing masks. This is how we’re trekking through this tricky path, while also searching for ways to help those most in need right now. 

But as we all trek down this path together, let us not forget to look forward. To look beyond this pandemic as to what our future as an industry could look like. What have we learned? What can we do better? What can we modify?  There will be an eventual way out of this pandemic and it will be made easier when we have virus testing, vaccines, treatments and antibody testing for everyone. So is there a way we can come out of this with some positive outcomes? That’s what I’m thinking about and looking ahead toward.  In the meantime though, it’s still nice to close my eyes at night and dream about being with everyone at horse shows and hanging out at the barn. It’s ok to dream, makes the days a little easier, but keep trekking and looking ahead too.

Marty Schaffel, ASHA President