05/12/2025
Yes!
My thought of the day:
A great horse, will improve any rider or trainer, a great horse will always exceed your expectations. I know, I've ridden and trained hundreds, maybe thousands of them. I've got one in training now, two actually and I know they will both be champions, but did I make them, no....I helped them, I encouraged and guided them, but let's be real, they were both born with that gift, I am just blessed to be trusted enough to help enhance it. They make me grateful, the make me thankful, but they don't change my life.
The special ones define it, but not by sucessful world final finishes, or money won or buckles or saddles collected, but by making me as the rider, work for it, think outside the box and expand myself. The ones that just can't get that counter counter or lead change, the ones that are afraid of the shavings bag for months on end, the ones that are chargy on cattle or don't corner balanced. The ones that take weeks to get to hobble or clip. The ones that come in reluctant to trust, on the defense about accepting suggestions, the ones too scared to think for themselves, the ones too cocky to not, lol.
The hard ones teach me more, the struggles are real, but the challenges and obstacles that you can lead them to and teach them through are a gift that no saddle or buckle can replace. When I think back to the "great" ones I've trained and shown, there are certainly many world champions in there, that I am thankful for, but those are not the first ones that come to mind. The first ones are the horses that struggled with lead changes, the owners that had lost their faith in their horse, the horses that were missing holes in their foundations, that I was able to help fill in. Those horses are what come to mind...the world champions have their place in my memories, and I am blessed to even be able to say that, but it's the ones that made me sweat as much as them, that tested my patience and called on every ounce of experience I had to raise them up a notch and make them a better horse, that I smile and remember first.