I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch
in San Ysidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to
raise money for youth at risk programs.
The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, “I
want to tell you why I let Jack use my horse. It all goes back to a story about
a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from
stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training
horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually 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.
“That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal
of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and
he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the
buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a
4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.
“He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the
next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received 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 receive an F?’
“The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young
boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no
resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. 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 will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will
reconsider your grade.’
“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He
asked his father what he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to
make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision
for you.’ “Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same
paper, making no changes at all.
He stated, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “I tell
you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the
middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over
the fireplace.” He added, “The best part of the story is that two summers ago
that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.”
When the teacher was leaving, he said, “Look, Monty, I can tell you this now.
When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years
I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give
up on yours.”
“Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no
matter what.”
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