70 SIDELINES JUNE 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
communication and interaction with life itself. Like John said, ‘It’s
not just about going to a horse show. It’s not just about winning a
ribbon. It’s not just about going to the Olympics or about riding a
blind horse. It’s about how we deal with life and how we deal with
the challenges of life’.”
Day-by-day and step-by-step, Jeanette and Valiant became
closer and closer and soon they graduated from the confnements
of the arena to the mountain trails and wide open spaces of the
Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming where both of them could enjoy
nature together. “For Valiant and me, it’s the ultimate experience
to have that mutual trust to be able to go places where we can
relate to the wonder and beauty of life in that way.”
Jeanette also realized her goal of competing with Valiant at the
international level of dressage in Wellington, Florida against the
top horses in the country. Last year, they competed their frst
Prix St. Georges test. “Valiant was great,” she said. “His very last
performance of the season he came in sixth out of 15 horses and
we were pretty excited to fulfll that goal we set out to accomplish
17 years ago.”
At 26 years old, Valiant is now retired from competition so
he can focus on enjoying life and performing musical freestyle
demonstrations. He recently performed at the World Dressage
Masters in Wellington, Florida and the duo was invited to perform
during the 2013 Rolex Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse
Park. “We hope that we can reach more and more people and just
spread the wonderful message of hope, caring, trust and above all
love and respect for all life,” she said. “It seems that at this point
in our journey we are meeting people that believe and care as we
do. We are so proud to have Adequan join us on our journey.”
A documentary about Valiant’s life is currently in production and
will be shown at the 2014 flm festivals and will later be released
through network, cable or independent distribution channels.
In addition to the documentary, two screenplays are in the
works with hopes of a feature motion picture “based on a true
story” about Valiant’s journey. Jeanette and Valiant are also
giving back through The Valiant Trust, Inc. - a not-for-proft
corporation founded to further research and development. The
trust aids educational, medical and humanitarian projects such
as Ophthalmology research, support for guide dog organizations,
developments in therapeutic riding, promotion of equine
communication networking, special projects and a scholarship
fund.
Looking back, Jeanette says she had no concept of how much
Valiant would impact her life and the lives of others. “I had no idea
that our journey would bring us to this point. Now, maybe we can
give back in our little way to hopefully help make a better place for
our horses in this circle of life.”
Follow Valiant’s journey at valiantdocumentary.com.
Despite being completely
blind, Valant has shared
an incredibly journey with
Jeanette.
Photo by www.BarbarasVisions.com
Jeanette and Valiant
working on his bow.
Photo by Marilyn Fallon