Valentino

So I was riding my horse just last week and my trainer was talking to me about what he needed. Valentino has a tendency to bolt, or just push himself a little too hard when he doesn't need to. He's a very uptight horse and he doesn't have much of a head (but I still love him ok). It's not the most convenient thing at all, but he does run fast and that's a plus. However, if I can't control him, he's gonna sour pretty quickly.

While walking for a moment, my trainer Christian told me about Valentino. I received my horse from the stables I take the lessons at, so they were the ones who trained him. She told me that when they first started working with him, they couldn't get him to move. No matter what they tried, he was just a slowpoke, which baffled me. I cannot imagine my horse being slow. They sent him to a trainer because they were just having too much trouble with him and they had a business to run.

The two men training Valentino were supposed to keep him after they'd worked with him, but they sent him back after a while. Why? Well, to get him to go, they'd pushed him really hard, and focused on getting him to burst out of the gate, because he was trained as a roping horse. Apparently they discovered that my little man runs fast, so instead of rating him (keeping him slow), they rode up on his neck with a short rein, fighting him. So Valentino got used to being ridden like that, with a short rein, always being fought, even though they still wanted him to go fast.

When he came back to the stables, they rode him for a while, but eventually put him up for sale and to pasture. He can't be used as a lesson horse because of how touchy he is now, but there's no reason for the employees to ride him. So I've become his primary rider, and in this past lesson with him, I've learned that he's been to two extremes. Fast and slow. I'm responsible for helping him find the middle ground. And I'm not sure why, but that makes me feel really important. Well I guess I am.

I used to be the one who had trouble finding herself. And now, having to help someone else, even if it is a peabrained little gelding, means the world.