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| Name: |
Valentine
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Age: |
Thirteen years old
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| Gender: |
Female
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Kind: |
Paint Horse
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| Home: |
Ohio, USA
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One April, I got in touch with my old horse trainer who was thrilled to help me find a horse to lease over the summer. I thought nothing of it until I received a phone call from her a week later. She had explained she knew someone whose daughter was going to college. They had three horses, one that they were seeking to have someone work with. It was just three days later that I stood in the family's barn, saddled their sixteen hand mare and prepared to ride. The mare I rode was this striking red Paint who has no marks on her other then three white socks and a slightly crooked blaze. Her name? Valentine, or Val for short. She is a purebred, papered, Paint. Her eyes were so very blue, and seemed to speak to me without saying a word.
I'd learned she'd had a rough life. They had bought her as a two year old and sent her to a trainer in Tennessee at the age of three to be trained. When they brought her home after six months of training her mouth was literately bleeding from the harsh treatment she had received while with the trainer and how harsh of a bit was used. She had become very spooky and uneasy with anything in her mouth or around her head, but soon leveled out with loving care.
Then one year, she was leased out to a 4H-er who moved her to a stable near by as part of a written agreement. After not hearing from the lessee for a period of time, her owner went out to where she was stabled to discover that Val was extremely emaciated. They left the girl a message saying they were taking their horse back that moment due to her poor condition. They never heard another word from the girl. Back in their hands, Val became stable again, but still has her bad days as anyone with her rough past.
Once I started working with her, she proved to be a fast learner, and we're learning so much from one another. She has taught me to have patience and faith, and I taught her to trust once more and plenty of tricks along the way. She picked up that of bowing with only a week of work, and I couldn't be more proud! Long story short, this stubborn little mare will forever hold a place in my heart no matter what.
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Talk about Valentine in Pet Talk!
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