For many years now, animal abuse in the equestrian world has been a hot topic when it comes to upper-level competition. Mainly because the upper-level competitions in any equestrian sport require a lot from any horse, and the level of athleticism must be learned (for the most part). Most upper-level riders know their horses in and out and thus know just how much their horse can take. But some riders, such as Marylin Little, have nothing but winning on their minds and thus force the horse to compete. In this photo, you can see that Little’s horse has blood coming out of her mouth, along with an extremely harsh bit and tight bridle fixtures around her nose. This is not the way to make your horse submit to competing.

Little has been in the spotlight for horse abuse for many years now. Beginning in 2015 at Fair Hill, Little’s blood controversy has been a hot topic amongst other riders, but not her. There has been blood spotted on her horses once in 2015, twice in 2016 and now twice in 2018. It took equestrian associations almost three years to say anything about her blood, but finally, in 2018 the FEI stated: “At the warm-up Marilyn and the groom went to official veterinarian Duncan Peters to have it checked because there had been some blood that was wiped clean. The vet noticed a small cut inside the lip away from the bit. It had stopped bleeding, which said to the vet that the horse had bitten herself. The bleeding stopped, the ground jury was informed, and there was no report of blood at the finish.”

The horse community took to the internet after this year’s blood spotting and made it their goal to get Little dethroned. They went to her sponsors and high up equestrian associations to bring to their attention what kind of rider they were sponsoring. While the companies made statements, they didn’t take any actions about the fact that they were sponsoring an abusive rider. Some companies and associations even tried to back her up as a rider and pin the blood on natural causes.

After all of this, the United States Equestrian Federation chose Marilyn Little to be on a US team after every controversy that she had dragged along with her name. This caused so much outrage within the equestrian community that Little did not end up competing on the team.

One accidental blood spotting on a horse’s mouth is one thing, but five times has to mean that there is a common factor. No matter how many times Marilyn and her team tried to hide the blood, or tried to blame it on the horse, there was visible evidence that the horse was being treated in a way that was completely unacceptable. But I believe that the equestrian community will continue to fight for justice until Little is put in her place.

If you know me, you know that twenty minutes is a long time for me to sit and do one thing. So, when I was looking for a Ted Talk to analyze, I was looking for a short one still chalked full of information. “Love Letters to Strangers” by Hannah Brencher was just about three minutes, and the title intrigued me.

Hannah started off by talking about her time in college, where she was the only one waiting at the post office for a letter from her mother. Everyone else’s patents were just texting or calling them, but Hannah’s mom truly believed in the old way of communication. So when Hannah moved away from her family after college and was hit with depression, Hannah used her letter writing skills to write letters and help with her mental state. She wrote hundreds of love letters and placed them around New York City.

From this stemmed her idea of writing love letters for people who needed them all over the world. She created an inbox where people could write to her requesting a love letter. Suddenly, her inbox was full and she had gotten so many heartfelt stories about suffering, love, hate and everything else in between across the country. So, Hannah began to write back to these people, not only helping her mental health but also aiding people in their most desperate times of need.

Today, Hannah runs an organization that writes and send letters to people who need them. Not only did this allow her to continue her passion, but also know that she was making a difference in the world. Letter writing, although a thing of the past, is now one of the most meaningful ways of communication. It is much more personal and takes a lot more effort than a quick text. And whether it comes from your mom or a total stranger, a handwritten letter can change your day for the better.