A Rich Divorcée Hired Me to Train the Horse Her Ex-Husband Wanted in the Settlement. Then He Showed Up at My Barn

Victoria was going through a divorce.

Her husband, Preston, was a private equity executive in Salt Lake City. Very wealthy. Very angry. Their prenuptial agreement gave him the house in Deer Valley, the investment accounts and the vacation home in Jackson Hole.

But Duke was hers. She’d bought him with her own money before the marriage.

Preston wanted him anyway.

“Not because he loves him,” she said. “Because he knows I do.”

Over the last year of the marriage, Preston had started riding Duke himself. Roughly. With a heavy hand and a whip. Duke had stopped trusting anyone.

“His lawyers are arguing that Duke is marital property because the marriage paid for his care,” she said. “If the judge agrees, Preston gets him. And he’ll sell him to make a point.”

“What do you need from me?”

“I need Duke to be Duke again,” she said. “Before the custody hearing. Preston’s lawyers are going to bring in an evaluator. If Duke is dangerous, they’ll argue I can’t handle him.”

She looked at the trembling horse.

“And honestly,” she said, very quietly, “I need to remember what it’s like to trust someone too.”