Hank, who had become a mentor of sorts to Julian throughout this journey, was waiting for him in the stable. He had been watching from afar as the media storm swirled around Julian, but he hadn't said much. Now, seeing the look on Julian's face, he knew the boy was struggling.
"Hey, Julian," Hank called softly, his voice calm and steady. "How you doing?"
Julian didn't answer at first. He just sat there, staring at the ground, the weight of the criticism pressing on him like a heavy blanket. He had never been good at handling attention, especially the negative kind. He had spent years avoiding the spotlight, retreating into the safety of his own thoughts, his own doubts. But now the world was watching, and the pressure was becoming unbearable.
"I don't know if I can do this anymore," Julian finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. "All they're doing is tearing me down. They say I'm exploiting Thunder, that I'm not qualified to be working with him. I didn't ask for any of this."
Hank's face softened. "I get it, kid. I know it's hard, but you've got something they don't. You've got a connection with Thunder that no one else has, and that's what matters."
"But what if it's not enough?" Julian said, his voice thick with emotion. "What if they're right? What if I'm just fooling myself? What if I'm putting Thunder in danger?"
Hank took a deep breath. "Julian, you've got to remember why you're doing this. You're not doing it for the cameras, for the applause, or for anyone else. You're doing it for you and for Thunder. That connection, that trust you've built with him, that's real. No one can take that away from you."
Julian looked up, meeting Hank's eyes. "But the critics, they won't stop. They're saying that Thunder is just going along with it because he's trained to follow commands. They don't get it."
Hank shook his head. "Of course they don't get it. They don't see what you've done with Thunder. They're looking at it from the outside, from a place of control and domination. But you're not controlling Thunder. You're understanding him. That's something most trainers never learn. They see a wild horse and think they need to break him. But you—you see the heart. That's why Thunder's following you. Not because you're forcing him, but because he trusts you."
The words hit Julian hard. He had always doubted himself. But this moment, with Hank's steady reassurance, made something inside him shift.
Maybe the critics didn't understand. Maybe they didn't see the quiet moments, the patience, the hours spent in the stable waiting for Thunder to take that first step. But maybe they didn't understand that it wasn't about breaking the horse; it was about building a relationship.
"But what if the backlash gets worse?" Julian asked, his voice still tinged with doubt.