As we wrap up 2025 and start looking ahead to 2026, I’ve been reflecting on the energy of the Chinese zodiac. No no, not as superstition, but as symbolism of stories that help you understand who you’ve been… and who you’re becoming. Not as a prediction, but as a pattern. And because almost every teacher I learn from has been talking about this for few months, so I want to apply it to vet med.  

The transition from the Year of the Snake into the Year of the Horse couldn’t be more aligned with what I’ve witnessed across veterinary medicine and within my clients. 2025 asked you to pause. 2026 is asking you to move. And truly? The shift from Snake → Horse feels like the exact evolution the veterinary profession has been craving.  

It made me even more excited about Code Blue Coaching (apply via Alignment Call here), and bringing new principles to you ready for the transformation 2026 is bringing. 

Applications Close Dec 20th. THAT'S TOMORROW!!!

The Transformation

2025 was The Year of the Snake: The Quiet Transformation

2025: The Year of the Snake is about shedding, truth, and inner work. Snake energy is subtle and powerful. It doesn’t rush transformation, it insists on it. Everything that is out of alignment, must go. So, if 2025 felt slower than expected, heavier, or deeply introspective, that wasn’t a failure. That was the work and you are on the right path.

For many veterinarians in my programs, this year brought honest reckonings: burnout that could no longer be ignored, boundaries that had to be drawn, voices that needed to be shared, identities rooted in perfectionism that needed to fall away. The Snake asked you to release outdated ways of working, leading, and relating to yourself. It caused a pause long enough to ask, "Is this actually sustainable? Is this aligned with what I really want?"

In veterinary medicine, this looked like questioning hustle culture, naming your nervous system overload, and finally acknowledging that pushing harder was never the answer. Shedding isn’t comfortable, but it is necessary. Growth always requires leaving something behind.

Snake years are all about shedding old identities, deep introspection, and seeing truth clearly, even when it’s uncomfortable. 

If this year felt like:

• Letting go of old roles or relationships when you felt stuck
• Facing burnout you could no longer ignore
• Realizing your values were shifting 
• Saying “I can’t keep living like this” 
• Doing emotional and nervous system work
• Questioning who you are and what you want

The Snake teaches you to:

• Release what’s heavy
• Slow down enough to hear yourself
• Choose true honesty over hustle
• Reclaim your Authentic Values
  
  

Vets told me during TEV sessions in 2025:

“I didn’t realize how much I was carrying until I finally put some of it down.” 

“This year forced me to look at myself differently, with honesty.”

 “Did you know that starting on this journey through the membership was going to completely change my life?” 

Literal shedding! All so you can step into something new.

Was that you too?

2026 is The Year of the Horse: Momentum, Expansion, Leadership

Next comes 2026, the Year of the Horse. 

Where the Snake turns you inward, the Horse invites you outward with courage, confidence, and momentum. Horse energy is about freedom, vitality, and purposeful movement. Not frantic with hustle, but inspired action.

2026 carries the energy of forward motion. This is the year of acting on what you learned, taking up space, and expanding more. In 2026, you get to choose roles, rhythms, and environments that support your energy instead of draining it. It’s the time letting joy, creativity, and connection return to your work and your life.

Horse energy is completely different. It’s vibrant, powerful, visible, fast-moving. 

In vet med, 2026 is the year of:

• Bold career moves
• Purpose-driven leadership
• Leaving misaligned jobs and relationships 
• Starting the business or project you’ve been dreaming about
• Traveling, growing yourself, teaching
• Rebuilding confidence
• Taking inspired action
• Remembering your creativity, joy and freedom

The Horse is stamina, heart and freedom. Momentum combined with meaning. It’s when the inner transformation becomes outward expansion.

This is the year veterinarians stop surviving and start shaping careers and lives that feel aligned, abundant, and deeply theirs.

Snake → Horse = The Vet Med Evolution

What you’ve collectively shed:

• Perfectionism as identity

• Hustle culture

• Martyr leadership

• “I’ll rest when things slow down”

• Silence around wellbeing

• The belief that burnout is normal

• Worth = productivity

What you’re stepping into:

• Nervous system based empowered leadership

• Emotional intelligence

• Boundaries as a skill and display of self worth

• Sustainable schedules

• Purpose-driven career decisions

• Community, coaching, and support

• Authentic success

Snake = survival + clarity

Horse = expansion + confidence

You have done the inner work. Now 2026 is asking you to run.

For veterinary medicine, you have shed outdated systems, overworking yourself and lived off of survival-based leadership. Now, you are being invited to rebuild differently. To lead from regulation instead of exhaustion. To speak up for yourself and create careers that are both meaningful and sustainable.

What This Means For You

As you move into the new year, ask yourself:

What skin am I shedding from 2025? (Old habits, beliefs, expectations, roles, stories.)

Where do I feel the first spark of movement for 2026? (A desire, a dream, an intuition, a next step.)

How can I let myself run freely again? (At work, at home, in love, in leadership, in purpose.)

Because the Horse doesn’t wait for permission. You don’t need to sprint.  You don’t need to have it all figured out, but you do need to make moves. One small consistent step at a time. 

And sunshine, you’re ready.

If You Want Support Riding Into Your Horse Era…

his is the exact work I guide you through inside The Evolved Vets Membership and Code Blue Coaching. Shedding the old identity and stepping into flow, joy, momentum, and alignment goes so much faster with accountability and partnership. 

If you’re feeling the shift, allow it.
If you’re feeling the momentum, follow it.
If you’re ready to evolve, I’m here to guide you.

2026 is your year of movement. Movement with confidence, expansion, and alignment.