Finding Purpose (A Life Managing the Passion, Compulsion, and Borderline Addiction Called "Horses")

“Following a passionate path usually isn’t easy,” writes horsewoman Chelsea Canedy in this open, deeply reflective memoir. Tracing her life in the horse world, Canedy explores how those experiences shaped her growth as a competitor, teacher, wife, and mother.

From a gate left open and a herd of horses racing down a busy road, to a sage-burning ritual meant to “clear space” in a barn, her story moves through falls, bad rides, and a painful divorce, as well as moments of connection, opportunity, and transformative friendship. Canedy looks honestly at these experiences to uncover themes that not only define her own journey, but resonate with the reader’s as well.

Writing with the same natural ease she first felt in the saddle, Canedy invites us to consider the broader truths that working with horses so often reveals. Her memories, both tender and difficult, become a starting point for deeper reflection on what we are truly seeking when we pursue a passion, and what it means to be human at every stage of that pursuit.

While her story is rooted in barns and arenas, Canedy’s thoughtful questions about life, purpose, and resilience extend far beyond the horse world. She candidly shares her mistakes with both horses and people, the guilt that followed, and how learning to accept setbacks and begin again “the best way you know how” can sometimes be the path forward.

Offering lessons in compassion, curiosity, flexibility, tenacity, awareness, and resilience, this book is for anyone driven by a passion, even when they find themselves questioning its value over time. As Canedy writes, “Knowing what it is that fills you up in this life, that is enough.”