🐴 BLOG POST: From Burnout to Balance — What My Body (and My Horses) Were Trying to Tell Me

I remember waking up every day feeling sluggish. Not tired from a bad night’s sleep—but completely drained, like my battery never fully charged.

It became a pattern.

I was fine when I was up and physically moving, doing the usual: riding multiple horses, caring for clients' horses, working the yard. But in those first few minutes of the morning—snooze button smashed, dragging myself to the bathroom, splashing cold water on my face just to feel human—I knew something wasn’t right.

And still… I carried on.

Coffee. Toast with chocolate spread. Repeat.

This was my life for years.

Sluggish mornings. Daily bloating. Monthly cramps and painful periods. All of it felt normal.

Then I noticed my jeans were getting tighter. Which made no sense—I barely ate, was riding 5 horses a day, doing over 20,000 steps. Shouldn’t I be dropping weight?

Instead of listening to my body, I pushed harder. Ride more. Eat less. Try to outwork the symptoms.

Until I couldn’t.

My body shouted louder.

I didn’t have the language for it at the time. I didn’t have the support. And when I went to the doctor?

"It’s your PCOS. Take this tablet. If that doesn’t work, here’s a steroid cream."

But then something else happened—something that hit me like a dagger.

My wrists and forearms started to ache.

I panicked. “What if it’s arthritis? What if I can’t work with horses anymore? What would I do?”

That’s when I noticed the horses changing too.

Simple tasks became stressful. The horses felt harder to connect with. More reactive. Less grounded.

Or maybe…

Maybe they were just mirroring me.

That was the moment everything shifted.

I couldn’t pretend anymore. I couldn’t keep saying things like:

"I don’t have time to focus on my health."

"The horses come first."

"I already eat healthy."

"I can’t afford to invest in myself."

Because life has a funny way of making you listen—especially when your body’s been whispering for years and you keep turning down the volume.

So I invested in my health.

And did everything change overnight?

No.

Because like most women, I fell into the calorie-counting, macro-chasing, quick-fix trap.

And it made everything worse.

I put on more weight. My face looked puffy. My belly got more inflamed. My cravings were wild. I genuinely thought I was addicted to chocolate and crisps.

I felt lost. Ashamed. So, so disappointed.

But I didn’t give up.

Because I’m a horse girl. And when you’ve built your life around horses—those sensitive, powerful, intuitive beings—you don’t walk away. You find a better way.

So I studied. Researched. Asked better questions. Started listening more closely to my body.

And in hindsight? I owe my entire health transformation to the horses.

They pushed me to keep asking. To tune in. To notice the signs. To learn how to regulate my body—and my emotions.

And now?

This is exactly what I teach.

Not to everyone. Not in big group programmes. Not in cookie-cutter apps.

But in a deeply personal, 1-1 way. With a handful of equestrian women who want real change. Across the seasons. Through their cycles. In a way that lasts.

No quick fixes. Just deep, powerful transformation.

Thank you to the horses—for demanding a version of me I didn’t yet know existed.

And thank you to my body—for finally making me listen.