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Dear Larry-
I need you to understand what a
wonderful gift you have given me.
I tried to sum it up as best I could
without being very long. But I found I could not
leave out any details because it just means so much
to me.
I had always thought of myself as a well rounded
horseperson. I mean I had been riding since I was
seven, by the time I was fifteen, I was teaching
riding lessons to younger kids. I was on my way
to becoming a trainer. Unfortunately my parents
didn't think it was a wise future. So I sold my
horses and went to fashion college (as if?). Leaving
my dreams of becoming "Corky Randall-the trainer
of the black stallion movies" behind me.
Years passed and so did my mother and with the money
she left me I bought a little horse realizing that
my passion had not been tarnished. Years
went by and I was forced to sell yet again, in pursuit
of my career. More years passed and so did my father
and yet again with the money I was left I bought
a horse. This time I wanted to do all the training
myself and prove to myself that could. So I got
a 2 1/2 year old, green broke, apex quarter gelding.
So happy to have a horse again I was quite fearless
and didn't hesitate to race though the hills with
him without realizing that with everything I did
I was training my horse. This was all fine while
he was young, but as he matured into quite the athlete
I came to realize he was more horse than I was a
rider. And just because you can stay on doesn't
mean you can ride. All that I had learned through
all the years of experience could not help me when
my horse came to challenge me. It was quite embarrassing
not be able to calm my horse when ridding with others,
he would feed off any thing the other horses or
riders would do and wouldn't want to give me his
attention. I tried everything and everyone had an
answer yet nothing worked and my patience wore thin.
I would either have a wonderful ride or a horrible
ride. There was no rhyme or reasoning that I could
distinguish. I was heartbroken and distraught. I
thought of myself as a "joke" not a "horsewoman".
Then I heard through the ranch grapevine of a trainer-
"you" and then I saw the work you had done with
a horse from my ranch where I board. And I saw that your rates were incredibly affordable.
And I thought to myself, I couldn't afford not to
try you. I sent my horse to you for 3 months, and
received your years of experience that have worked.
I learned more with the hours I spent with you than
I had learned in my entire lifetime it's not only
teaching the horse but reprogramming the rider as
well. I was humbled in your presence to the point
of feeling as if I had never ridden before and challenged
to look at myself in a new light. I took so much
away from our brief time together and have incorporated
it into into my daily routines with my horse. I
now understand how to convey what I want to my horse
in a way that he understands and responds to. And
I also now know that a relationship with a horse
can be on a much higher plane than I had ever imagined.
And you as an equestrian have to learn what the
right combination is for interacting with each horse.
With every moment you spend with your horse you
are conditioning a response and that's something
I wasn't aware of until it was too late-
thank you for coming into my life and showing me
the way to regain my dreams.
I registered my horse iyupatala before I ever met
you. In American Indian it means "one with" because
that is something I have always strived for. And
my horse and I will be one day.........
Kimberly Palazzi and Tala from Sunset Ranch, l.a.
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