Verhan Saddles), Cork Corkran (an authorized Verhan dealer and saddle fitter) and I were having breakfast together at a local restaurant. GiGi and Bernardo had just watched Valiant and me schooling at my farm. GiGi thought it would be great if other people could see Valiant as well so she asked if we would like to go to Miami to the finals of the World Cup. I told her that it would really be nice but we didn’t qualify this year. She laughed and said she was sure the show president would be delighted to have us do the exhibition ride just before the main competition. I thought a minute and said it sounded great but I would only have two weeks to prepare a musical freestyle ride. Impossible, right? Wrong.
I don’t know how we did it, but with a lot of help from our friends, we did. I knew if I ever did a freestyle with Valiant, the music that fit him was the music to Camelot. This happens to be my all time favorite music as well! I had the CD, so I just had to arrange, edit, mix, compose Valiant’s movements and practice the final arrangement so we were comfortable. Where to start? With our friend Tom Mikes of course. Tom, taking time off his regular job of being a founder of a high tech company and also an engineer, stepped up and took charge of our project. I figured if he engineered high tech stuff he could engineer our recording stuff as well. Well, he could and did. I had some background in recording so we collaborated. Cork Corkran, the expert saddle fitter, was there to set up the audio equipment, hit the on, off and rewind buttons and we were set. On February 23 2003, we were off to Miami and the World Cup. Needless to say, the perform- ance was yet another memorable experience for Valiant and me. Completely focused on our performance, I felt we were flowing with an unseen celestial current. We had a wonderful time!
I knew Valiant and I were gaining recognition when the United States Equestrian Team phoned and asked Valiant to participate in the Festival of Champions in Gladstone, New Jersey in June of the same year. I was not too sure I heard the request correctly, so I asked Mr. Jim Wolf to repeat it. He did and I had. I was beyond excited at the honor of this invitation!
At this event, we again performed our freestyle. The atmos- phere at USET headquarters in Gladstone, NJ is amazing. The grounds are packed with literally thousands of cheering fans. They surrounded the arena where we performed, but Valiant stayed totally focused on me throughout our freestyle.
When we finished, the announcer invited me to demonstrate some of Valiant’s groundwork. This was the ultimate demon- stration of true mutual trust where the tables were turned and I had to trust Valiant. I’m not sure what got into me but for the first time ever I removed his bridle, handed it to my groom and began our routine. We’d never done anything quite like this, working without even a halter especially in front of hundreds of people and the Today Show cameras, but Valiant remained completely tuned in to me and contin- ued to perform like the champion he is.
After we returned to Florida, we continued our training and in time made the move to Prix St. Georges. In fact, our first show at that level was a fundraiser for a local therapeutic
Valiant successfully competes at 4th level dressage.
riding program. I was thrilled to think that, even in a very small way, we were supporting such a great cause.
I’m not sure if we will ever compete at the Grand Prix level, but Valiant’s passage is incredible – and he loves to show it off. His flying changes are quite difficult as all four hooves come off the ground and regaining his balance in sequence is a challenge, but his 4, 3 and 2 tempis are good most of the time. I’m letting him tell me what we can do and where we can go, especially as he gets older.
Giving Back
In order to bring our story of trust, hope and courage to oth- ers, Valiant and I began giving performances at select equestri- an functions in order to benefit the “Valiant Trust.”Many endeavours are in various stages to help support the 501c3 created for Valiant called The Valiant Trust, along with dona- tions they include a “virtue”theme line of 9 pique shirts called “The Valiant Collection”, and even a motion picture screenplay to name a few. (You can visit
www.valianttrust.org for more information).
The Valiant Trust is about the animal-human bond. It is about understanding and compassion. Some people understand this powerful bond while others have never experienced its power. The human-animal bond gives Valiant confidence,
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