Welcome to the Wild Side...: February 2009

More About Me...

I started riding seriously at around 12, thanks to a 28 year old ex-polo horse named Bayou (R.I.P). He was my best friend and made me realize I actually had a talent with horses. I felt I was the only one who understood him and vise versa. He built my confidence to an all time high.
About a year after Bayou past we bought a 12 year old hot-tempered appy named Classy, who pretty much knew nothing. I was the first person to ride her in a long time; some might guess the reason was our personalities were quite alike. I should correct myself from before she did know some things but they needed to be refreshing, so I got her to a point where she was very manageable. After I turned 13 we were invited to a Drill Team called the Sheriffs Posse Drill Team by friends, and of course I brought Miss Classy along. Though we only stayed for a year it was a great chance to meet new horse people and experience new and different things. During my time with the Sheriffs Posse Classy had been injured. She had gotten herself aught on a t-post… nasty right? … Yea. It was horrible, but luckily she didn’t puncture a lung and the wound healed over time. I was still in the Drill Team so I thought it would be a perfect time to start riding our new 16.2 hand QH Ronny who hadn’t been ridden in over 4 years. So while my mom was at work and my stepdad still asleep I took him out and worked with him. It took a while because he was scared of literally everything but I got on this huge horse by myself and rode around our arena. I think back on it now and realize that was probably the stupidest thing I could’ve ever done, my mom thought so also, hehe. He was my new drill horse. But as luck would have it he was scared to death of flags and oh might I mention he bucked… bad; so I brought my 3 year old Bronson who I trained myself. He was neck rained, leg rained, and also taught all of the necessary things. So I figured he was perfect. Though I liked Drill Team my mom and I thought it best to quit, it was too expensive and wasn’t really for us.
While on the Drill Team we learned about the EMM, and that they were doing a Yearling Edition for a Youth class, so my mom asked if I wanted to do and I jumped all over it. But she said we’d have to give the mustang up for adoption after it was over it! I got accepted so we went and picked up my little girl Mina Caliente. She was a pistol coming out of the shoot but then she walked calmly into the trailer. I loved her instantly. When we got her home, for two weeks she wanted nothing to do with anyone stepping toward her or even thinking about touching her. But my mom said that because she always faces us when we come outside and when we are in the pen with her she is going to be super easy once we can get our hands on her. She was so right, we used feed and reverse thinking and once we got to touch past her withers she was mine! She was like butter in my hands. O yea, by the end of the 1st week my mom caved and said she's ours!!! Hee Hee
I don't claim to be a professional horse trainer by any means, but that is my goal and I have a life time to learn. Right now my mentors in all things horses are Kim Klossner , Parelli Natural Horsemanship and of course my Mom.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Dot & Jesse

Jesse, me & Dot
That's my poster behind us that I won 3rd place with!

Extreme Mustang Makeover Yearling Edition 2008

Wow, have I been busy or what??!! So Mina and I went to the EMM, what blast we had. Probably because we were going to keep Mina, my mom and I were able to relax and take in the whole event. Mina was such a champ. She wasn't even gonna go as she sprained a nerve in her right shoulder 3 weeks before the competition. She had to be stall bound the entire 3 weeks.

The day before we were to leave to go to the EMM we took her out, trailered her 30 minutes down the road and let her go in a round pen. She didn't limp once! So we knew she was going!!! The problem was I didn't get to practice her routine and basic skills, so she was a little rusty at loading and staying focused. During the competition she saw that big arena and really wanted to run and play, but I had to keep her controlled so she wouldn't over do it.
I was so proud of her, she scored 119 out of 120 on the body condition portion. That was higher than the winner of the competition, who scored a 118. She paraded around the grounds without a flinch or scared bone in her body! People were literally turning heads at her as she would walk by. Needless to say she was feeling quite spunky and lost points in the actual class and she wouldn't load in the trailer. I was disappointed that she wouldn't but never the less proud she made it at all and showed everyone how controlled, even in her spunkiness, she was. Even when the crowd clapped at the end of her class, Mina just kept her cool and walked out of the arena like she'd been doing it all her life.

The head BLM Wrangler, Cary Frost, who is in charge of the Justin Arena where the adult horses were to compete, was so nice and encouraging the night before the competition. He saw that Mina didn't want to take those last two steps into the trailer and he tried to help me and when she started getting a little sore in her shoulder he stopped pushing her, saw that I was upset and gave me a big hug and really told me some encouraging words about what a great job I did with her.

I will never forget my experience there and the pride I felt showing her off and people wanting to know if she was available and I could say, no way-she's mine! I also won 3rd place in the poster contest and I won a cash drawing with one of the venders there. We helped one of my new friends I met there, Dot, she won 7th in the finals competition. I met other friends there like Jesse and shared the experience with other friends I already knew from the Comal County Sheriff's Posse Drill Team like Shane, Daniella, and Kirstin. I also experienced how ugly some people made the event. I really learned a lot about the plight of the mustangs and what organizations like the Mustang Heritage Foundation is doing to find a legitimate place for them.

Here are some pics from the event