“Riding Tornado” is an inspiring movie—based on a true story—for everyone who has ever experienced pain. Tornado is a wonderful horse, a beautiful white Arabian stallion. However, due to a difficult past he is temperamental and self-mutilating. “This horse is mad,” says one observer. But he is not mad; he is in pain, mental as well as physical, and needs time to heal. Enter Pierre (Quentin Krog), a young man with pain of his own but who loves horses.
Pierre gets permission to travel to the Kalahari Desert to find a horse whisperer named Barrie Burger (Danny Keogh), a man of faith who has been known to help horses. He works on Pierre as much as he does Tornado, helping him realize that it takes time for wounds to heal. Barrie tells him a broken Savior healed the world. Pierre meets Meretha (Lean Vanden Bergh) and helps her deal with the frustrations of a fractured relationship. In fact, there are sparks between Meretha and Pierre. Just when Pierre is about to give up on helping Tornado, he has a breakthrough.
The movie includes a bit of humor, seen when Pierre is angrily criticizing Tornado and Barrie tells him to praise him, not cut him down. “Yes, Mr. Miyagi,” replies Pierre in reference to “The Karate Kid.” This wonderful movie offers themes of faith and realizing that, as Barrie says, being healed is not the same thing as being perfect. We are pleased to award “Riding Tornado” our Faith Friendly Seal for ages twelve plus. This is a movie that many can relate to and enjoy.
