THIS is the story of a horse trainer's son. The father would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch in the course of his work.
As a result, the boy’s high school career was constantly interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.
He wrote about his dream in great detail. He drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he produced a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square foot house that would sit on the 200-acre dream ranch.
Two days later he got his paper back. On the front page was a large red 'F' with a note that read, “See me after class”. The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, “Why did I get an 'F'?”
The teacher said: “This is a completely unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You have no resources. You need a lot of money to own a horse ranch. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There’s no way you could ever do it.”
Then the teacher added, “If you rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I’ll reconsider your grade.”
The boy went home and thought about it long and hard.
Finally, after sitting with it for a week, he turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He wrote in the margin: “You can keep your 'F' and I’ll keep my dream.”
The boy was Monty Roberts, creator of the “horse whispering” concept and author of several books on the subject. He was telling this story sitting in his 4,000-square foot house in the middle of his 200-acre horse ranch.
“Don’t let anyone steal your dreams,” he tells people.
“Follow your heart, no matter what.”
