Aurora Chaffee shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Aurora, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
Right now, I feel called to step into a much bigger role by purchasing and running our first horse property in Colorado. In the past, I leased facilities and traveled to other barns, which limited my efficiency and autonomy in developing my program. Owning our own facility will allow me to fully shape the equine lifestyle and provide the highest level of care and training for our horses, especially those coming off the track. It’s both exciting and daunting, but I finally feel ready to take this leap—something I wasn’t prepared for before. The timing feels right to embrace the courage this next stage requires.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I didn’t grow up your typical horse girl, in fact I was a tri-sport athlete until college and horses were always sort of a side hobby or elective. It wasn’t until after college I began working closely with off-track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs) that I truly found my calling. There’s something so raw and honest about these horses. They come off the track with stories, scars, and an incredible amount of heart. Helping them decompress, heal, and find their purpose beyond racing is not just my profession—it’s my passion.
Through Aurora Equine Partnerships, I offer training, coaching, and online education designed specifically for OTTBs and the people who love them. What makes my work unique is the philosophy it’s built on: partnership first. Instead of pushing horses toward performance, I focus on rebalancing them—physically, mentally, and emotionally—so they can thrive in whatever new direction their life takes. It’s a holistic, science-backed approach that honors the horse as a whole being, not just a body to be trained.
Ultimately, my goal is to help redefine what it means to “train” a horse—shifting the focus toward connection, understanding, and long-term wellness for both horse and human.
Something I tell every client I work with is, “find what you [and your horse] both enjoy, and do it as long as it is healthy for both of you.”
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
I spent a lot of year, too many really, looking for my value externally. I was performance driven, a people pleaser and perfectionist. These qualities make it very hard to fail and make mistakes. I didn’t understand what self-compassion was and grace for mistakes.
I realized somewhere in my 20s though, seeking my value externally was a never ending battle and honestly quite exhausting. Through therapy and a lot of internal work, I’ve learned to balance my high drive with self awareness and compassion.
I’m still a very driven and hardworking person, but I’ve been able to balance that part with accepting and growing from mistakes and learning experiences. I could fail, but that doesn’t mean I am a failure. Do you see the difference? It’s a much healthier and happier perspective to have on life; especially as an entrepreneur.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
I can actually think of multiple times in the past couple years that I’ve almost given up and gotten a basic job. Most of those times are after a big mistake or failure I encountered. At those moments, positive energy to move on and move forward seemed really hard. Working a 9-5 job was really tempting because it’s “safe”.
What kept me moving forward and not quitting was balancing the handful of big mistakes with the many, many instances of positive impact. Our mistakes and failures are also incredible resources for growth and learning. While it’s tempting to lean into the failure, it requires more courage and character to look at them objectively and allow them to shape your future direction and growth.
I think true entrepreneurs and artists are people who are comfortable with mistakes and failures. They can see them for the value they offer, rather than let them dictate their value.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
The equine industry is not that different from the “hussle culture” we see across America. What makes it so toxic is how it affects our horses.
We cannot take the workaholic, over-driven mentality and apply it to our horses, but I see it done all the time. There is this mentality that you have to work really hard, and sacrifice everything to make it in the equine industry. The worst part is, this is endorsed by the top professionals because they stand to gain from the overworked, underpaid working students in their barn.
Many young equestrians trying to make it in the performance world are ignoring healthy work-life balance, physical health, and mental wellbeing.
What isn’t mentioned is the affect this workaholic mentality has on our horses. They are not machines and are not meant to be drilled 5-6 days week. I see many young horses (and humans) break down mentally and physically due to this mentality.
I don’t support the workaholic mentally to “get ahead” in the equine industry. I believe that happy, healthy equine partners are backed by happy, healthy humans as their side.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
The energy we put out to the world, is a reflection of the energy we give to ourselves. I’ve had to learn this one the hard way.
I used to be super critical of myself and any mistakes or failures I made. I thought my inner critic drove me to be a harder worker and more successful. What I didn’t realize was that my lack of compassion for my own mistakes, meant I didn’t have compassion for others mistakes. The energy I was giving myself was the energy I was also reflecting to others.
Shifting this, I’ve learned how to balance my inner drive to succeed with grace for mistakes and failures. This has allowed me to be more supportive and encouraging to those around me and less critical.
I think Michael Jackson was on to something in his lyrics, “I’m starting with the man in the mirror… if you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change”. If we want to see more positive energy in the world around us, we have to start with more positive energy for ourselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://auroraequine.com
- Instagram: @aurora.equines
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/aurora-chaffee
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/aurora.equines
- Youtube: @auroraequines
Image Credits
Dan McGann
