With the American Horsemans Challenge competition getting closer, Ive been doing a lot of reflecting this past week about Monte as an individual. From the first day, hes been a challenge in many ways. Yet as challenging as he can be, he can be equally brilliant. Its the moments of brilliance that have caused me to see how great he will be one day when all the pieces come together! In fact, there are often days when were playing together that I forget about how reactive and oppositional he was when I first brought him home. Despite all the immensely positive growth that has occurred in our partnership, he doesnt seem consistently ready to accept a human as a rider. His acceptance of me as a rider has certainly improved and weve had some nice rides, but I feel he isnt fully past this yet. Taking into account feedback from highly skilled and experienced horsemen that Ive recently had the opportunity to show Monte to, I feel that he needs me to respect his reservations in this area and take the time it takes to build his confidence with me as a leader in the saddle. At times Ive wondered if Id made a major mistake along the way with him, so it was nice to hear from others that I respect that he is in fact a lot of horse. While I may not have started hundreds of colts, the ones that I have started have felt very different than Monte. I know none have been as spirited or challenging as he is! Each horse has a unique timeline of development, which I feel as horse trainers we must respect. Thus, Ive withdrawn from the competition as I feel this is in the best interest of Monte and his training. I always do my best to put the horse and our relationship first, and I feel this is what I must do to ensure Monte continues to be a happy, healthy, and willing partner for me as I look to our future together. Pushing him to be ready for this competition would not be putting his best interests first. So, this isnt the end by any means for Monte and I, it just means that our journey is taking a new path and Im excited to continue learning with him! To all of the individuals who have supported us in our journey thus far, thank you! Your support has meant a lot to me and be sure to look for future updates on Monte as I will continue to share the highlights of my journey with him. If you were an official sponsor of our team, I will be contacting you shortly. Thank you
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 21:30:44 +0000
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