The train ride from Philadelphia to New York is a great chance to catch up on reading. You can cover the news, stock reports and entertainment. You can get the inside scoop on what’s going on in the world! And you can finish a few chapters of that novel you picked up at the station.
Me? I like to read big stuff – important stuff – the kind of stuff you hold your breath just waiting to find out! You know … gossip like you see in The National Inquirer.
I wasn’t always this way. There was a time when I actually looked the other way when I went up to the check out counter in the supermarket.
“SEVENTY YEAR OLD WOMAN GIVES BIRTH TO LOVE CHILD!”
“BIGFOOT SIGHTED DIRECTING TRAFFIC IN MANHATTAN RUSH HOUR!”
“Sir? Sir? Will that be cash or charge? … sir? I’m over here?”
No matter who I admired, they’d end up in the tabloids shocking me and destroying my faith. What’s happening in America? I asked myself …
I went to Europe and tried not looking at he same thing. It was impossible. By the time I got through the airport, made it through customs and checked into my hotel, I was a junkie for headlines and I could recite the names of every politician and movie star on both continents.
I was trapped. Trapped in a world of heroes gone mad. A world where Marguerite Henry’s Chincoteague ponies had been busted for traffic violations … The Collies of Albert Payson Terhune had been banned for using the “N” word and The winner of the Kentucky derby had been caught fixing slot machines …
What is a hero? Well, a hero is a champion. A leader. “Someone having talents, characteristics or personal achievements that we admire.”
Your Horse can be a champion.
YOU can be a champion.
A hero – a leader – a CHAMPION – is someone we pattern our lives after. We mirror their image, their points of view and we follow their example. But in these days of Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake, Martha Stewart and so many other leaders in business, entertainment, sports and politics being targeted for character assassination, many of us are asking ,,
Who’ left?
There are many left.
They don’t get busted for drugs, they don’t raid corporations on Wall Street, they don’t get thrown in jail under suspicion of murder. We never see their names dragged in the mud or see unflattering pictures of them in the papers.
(Make a face)
Who are these perfect heroes that don’t get busted? These celebrities that fa unnder the radar screen of the IRS and who the government can’t ruin?
They’re all around us!
They’re hiding out in our barns, our stables, our kennels and our homes.
Your’re admiring them in the show ring, cheering ass they race across the finish line on your TV and internet screens, and dreaming about them as you turn the pages of your favorite novels.
They’re the horses we admire.
The horses we feed and groom and love and care about every day.
They know all about courage, beauty, strength, passion and honesty.
They show us that these things are still alive, still out there for all to see. They prove to the world that greatness is possible – no matter how many times we are disappointed or betrayed by our favorite politicians and celebrities.
When’s the last itme you saw Lassie slandered in the papers?
Remember Fury and Flicka and Trigger and Silver and The Black and Misty and Rin Tin Tin?
Remember the brave and loving and courageous things they did?
What champions!
As I write this, I’m thinking about a magnificent show dog who rose to great achievement in an illustrious career. Believe it or not, this dog was a winner coast to coast for over 12 years. That certainly has to be some kind of record. The dog was so loved and admired that every year on his birthday, delivery trucks would roll in the lane bringing flowers for him from fans around the country and magazines still write about him to this day.
One evening, over dinner at a nice restaurant, I asked the woman who raised him how she had managed to make this dog into such a star.
“I didn’t,” she said. “All I did was give him a chance.” She did more than that. She loved him and did the best for him that she could and he rose to the top. In a sense, this dog became just as much a hero to dog lovers as a famous baseball player might be to kids who want to grow up and be “just like him.”
Is that an odd thing to say? Wanting to be “just like” somebody else? Not really. Lots of us emulate those we admire. But, what if the noble trait we admire is found in a dog or a horse? If loyalty, beauty, trust, obedience, nurturing or love are taught by a dog or a horse are those things any less valid?
It’s a lot to think about, I guess.
Bravery, strength. passion and intelligence – these things are positive, healthy qualities that we all wish to master. These characteristics are symbolized by – and can be found – in our favorite animals. I’m glad Lassie, Secretariat and the great racing Greyhound, Downing, have stayed out of trouble and kept their names out of the National Inquirer. Here’s hoping they and their masters will always remain, for fans like me, untarnished.
“HOW TO MAKE YOUR HORSE A CHAMPION”
(AND YOURSELF A STAR, TOO) …
Every horse needs an owner. Every horse needs a trainer and – in this day and age – every horse needs somebody looking out for it … These aren’t always the greatest people – they aren’t always the right people for that horse – and they aren’t always perfect. They just happen to be the people around that horse right now, and, if the horse is lucky, they happen to be people who love that horse more than anything in the world.
Who am I talking about? (Look Around)
I’m talking about you.
A horse is like a piece of clay. You can make it into anything. You can start from scratch, and plan the perfect foal and you can be there from the minute it’s born …
You can find the perfect horse and keep that horse forever …
You can find a rotten horse that gets under your skin and you can’t get that horse out of your mind and next thing you know it, that horse is yours …
But, however you find each other, once that horse is yours, it’s up to you how far that horse is going to go in life …
This piece of clay is yours. It’s not much, but it can become anything you want it to be.
So, how do you make your horse a champion? There are lots of ways to do that. Your horse doesn’t even have to set foot in the show ring to be a champion, as long as you believe that horse has something important to say to people … and as long as you’re the one willing to say it.
See … that’s the trick. Until Horses learn how to talk, YOU”RE the one who has to do it for them.
And that means, no matter where your horse goes in the ladder of success, you’re going to be right there with him.
A FIVE POINT PLAN FOR SUCCESS
- Feeding – That includes Love.
- Training – That includes Love.
- Promotion – Joining clubs, associations, publicity. That includes Love.
- Shows – publicity tickets.
- Never let the public forget your horse.
YOURSELF –