Collective Giving
How a little becomes a lot
A quick request: If you enjoy “When I Talk About Love, I Talk About Horses,” please consider liking, restacking this post, or sharing this Substack with a friend. Thank you!
“What can you do to get your writing out into the world?”
The voice of the mindset coach was annoyingly cheerful.
Putting my writing into a public space has never been a strong suit, so I twitched and felt my shoulders rising in a reflexive, decades-long hunch of protection. My defensive mechanisms sprang instantly into action. I felt myself beginning to get sleepy. Did I smell burning? Had I left something on the stove? Gosh, my desk was a mess and I should probably clean—
“Katy? Are you with me?” asked Jen.
I’d met Jen Verharen of Cadence Coaching (https://jenverharen.com/) at a riding retreat in Portugal a few months earlier. At my wits’ end and stuck in the kind of client-trainer relationship horse people know and dread, I’d hired her to help me navigate a trainer who had a distressing tendency to bully and belittle.
Jen is the kind of delightful and efficient human being who is incredibly effective at helping her clients roll towards their greatest strengths and clearest purpose. She helped me clear the trainer relationship, and then turned her attention to another area of my life that was limping along.
“You said one of your biggest goals was to create more community around your writing,” the coach said, persistent in the face of my silence.
I KNOW, I might have snarled, or maybe that was just in my head, because she continued cheerfully:
“I’ve been thinking about exploring the Substack space. Maybe you might want to look into that?”
Bless you, Jen Verharen.
On January 6 of this year, I debuted “When I Talk About Love, I Talk About Horses,” with Vibrissae, where I poked my ultra-tender psyche-whiskers out in the world. It has turned out to be such a fun ride. While I was finishing up the Book (the Book and I are still waiting to hear back about my proposal) I also published writing here, which provided an outlet for the part of any writer that longs for contact from real human beings to counteract the washing machine rinse-and-repeat thought effect of living in one’s own head for far too many hours in any given day.
There have been so many comments and small conversations with people who just love horses and also happen to enjoy my writing. This Substack brings me personal joy, and expands my heart with each twice-monthly post I put up.
I did not want to monetize this writing. I wanted it to be a gift, freely given to any reader (or listener), because I figured if it was a gift I would not get myself into the yucky mental trap of equating my writing with my personal worth. Oh yes, I am fully aware many writers do not have that financial luxury. When I was a young freelance writer I fought for every nickle and paid word. And I suffered, feeling if I wasn’t adequately paid (i.e. recognized) for my writing, it meant that I (and my writing) were somehow less worthy. Less…necessary.
So, this Substack is free, forever.
But the money thing kept intruding as I created “When I Talk About Love, I Talk About Horses.” At every turn during the building of this Substack, the platform itself kept pushing me to monetize, to get people to buy in. And I flatly refused.
But an idea worked its way up through the gray matter. That “Pledge” option…maybe I could work with that ? Not to pay myself (FREE, FOREVER) but somehow to use my writing to support horses.
I came up with the notion of a Prodigious Pledger Herd. If my readers pledged to support “When I Talk About Love, I Talk About Horses,” the pledging Herd would choose a worthy organization in November and donate our collective monies in December of each year. This seemed like a great idea, a simple idea, so I put it out there and let it cook and haven’t thought much about it for the past 11 months.
From such a small thing came a lot of money. As a group, the Prodigious Pledgers have committed to almost TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS to donate next month. I don’t know about you, but there have been really lean years in my life: years where making rent and buying food were not a given, not by a long shot, so a couple thousand bucks to me is a lot of money.
Steve and I have supported various equine therapy organizations over the past few years, and learned the cost of supporting one equine therapist (the horse kind) was about $3,000 a year, so that gives you a small sense of how far donated dollars go in horse-related organizations.
But the Prodigious Pledger Herd’s money is going to go to an organization that supports horses—not one that supports people by means of equine therapy. I love equine-assisted therapies, but for me it is important to help the horses themselves.
I’ve suggested Mustangs to the Rescue as one place we might donate to. Part of the mission of MTR states: The unwanted horse. The abused horse. The neglected horse. The horse whose loving owner died and didn’t have an after plan. The horse whose owner suffered financial hardship. These are the horses we help.
I’ve volunteered for MTR as an equine bodyworker, and am impressed by their dedication to all horses, regardless of breed, age, training, or condition. So, they are one idea. I’m open to others, but I’d like to donate to a smaller organization where a couple thousand bucks would make a difference.
The Prodigious Pledgers will pay me directly and I will make a lump donation on everyone’s behalf. No, they don’t get the tax benefit of donating to a non-profit, but I couldn’t figure my way around that one. And, yes, there is a certain amount of faith in me personally to take their money and actually, you know, donate it. I know myself to be person worthy of trust and honest action, and am happy to be the organizer.
So, let me end with a huge THANK YOU to all the people who joined the Prodigious Pledger Herd this year. Your little bit has turned into a lot, and I’m so grateful for your generosity.
If you want to join the Prodigious Pledger Herd and can’t find a Pledge button, just message me directly and I’ll put you on the list.
I always end my tag with the words TO THE HORSE. Like so many of you, horses bring me joy, challenge, and a wider and more wonder-full life than I would have otherwise. It is an honor to in some small way organize a lot from a little to give something back to them.
Much love,
That said, if you like the writing and want to support horses, you might want to join our Prodigious Pledger Herd. Every dollar you pledge will go to support an organization that supports horses. We will choose the organization in November and donate our hard-earned dollars in December of each year. You can check out my Substack About page for more information.
I love to hear from you, so feel free to give me a shout by clicking the “Message Katrina” button in the app or online. It might take some time, but I promise I will respond.
Thanks for being a Substack reader.
TO THE HORSE!