Don't get me wrong—I loved those college years. But they took their toll. By summer 2024, I was burnt out and disillusioned, wondering what the heck I was doing with my life.
Then, for the first time in fifteen years, my weary soul somehow found its way back to a horse barn. One whose owner generously let me do chores in exchange for riding lessons.
One evening, I paused to peer into the pen of a half-wild mustang mare named Shiloh. Normally, she was skittish. This time, though, curiosity or bravery took over, and Shiloh came and put her nose right up to my face, breathing softly.
I started crying.
It was as if someone was calling the lost little girl in me home.
That experience lead me to finally pick up my pencils again. To draw horses once more. And a year later, to start Emma McNeely Art—ensuring that this passion never becomes a sidelined hobby again.
Today, I devote my entire art career to the things horses give us. Moments. Stories. Partnerships. Legacies. My hope is to give people a reason to pause and feel something real. Something that runs deep and true. Perhaps, even, to remind them of who they truly are.
And yes—I still want a horse of my own someday.
