"The Horse-breaker"

     "The Horse-breaker" is a short story written by Javier de Viena. It's about a man whose profession is a horse-breaker, a job that has something to do with "disciplining" horses so they can be managed and do their owners' bidding. A young woman named Blasa provides an anti-thesis to the unnamed hero. A simple story with a simple plot, it is effectively presented with a minimum of details and complications.
     The plot summary: Sabiniano, the principal character, arrives at a ranch somewhere in South America. He has been hired to break some wild horses, one of which is owned by the ranch owner's daughter Blasa. After a short exposition and introduction of other character, action begins.Sabiniano starts his job as a horse-breaker. A conflict develops between him and Blasa.
     When his job is done, Sabiniano bids goodbye to the ranch owner. But before he leaves, a dance is held but he does not join in the merrymaking. Blasa seeks him out and invites him to dance. He refuses and the girl flares up but she controls herself. She tells the man he could not leave because, as she says it, "Don't you know I love you, you wretch?"
     The humbled Blasa ends up kissing Sabiniano who then stays for good.
    By portraying Sabiniano as a tough guy in a tough environment, who has a code of honor and who "always do what he sets out to do," the author has drawn the  image of the ideal man who always wins despite the odds. But he cautions that to be able to master other men and circumstances, one must know how to master himself.
     The story makes a statement about how men in another culture treat women.
     In another culture, a woman is abandoned when she loses her value because she could not beget children. This is painfully captured in the fiction written by the Philippine author Amado Daguio in "Wedding Dance." In the story, the husband leaves his barren wife for a more fertile woman, a practice in the highlands with a different tribal culture.