Day 1-Thoughts on top of a stall.

Wow that was a long day. We have started working our way through a lot of mustangs. We started out going from stall to stall rubbing on each one with a long pole. I will forever add this to my training for untouched horses. It really shows you the nature of the horse, on top of the main reason being we are able to rub them far out of the range that they could kick or strike. As we started with each horse you could tell which ones were lazy, athletic, confidant, or aggressive. Fortunately both of my mares were quiet and docile. It went from a 15 foot stick, to the 12 foot with a bag, to a training flag, and finally my hand. Both girls seemed to be fine outside the normal "mustang jitters". I gave them both every opportunity to kick and neither of them offered. In fact my dun mare, which I am calling "Sunday Drive" has a super funny personality. She is super smart. The black mare that I still haven't named, seems to be super sweet but a little shy and dull. She listens really well and really tries to understand. Today I was able to rub the majority of both of them and we got halters on them. Mark grabbed his saddle horse and dallied their lead ropes and got both of them leading pretty well. I was really excited to see how he used his horse to work them. I now see how much easier it is to have a good horse to rely on during colt starting. I am sure training a saddle horse will be next on my list. That might be Spade's job. I think Manna my barrel horse might be to big of a weenie for that job. By the end of the day I could at least walk in the stall and rub them both. Haltering takes time but they both will let you do it.

So today while sitting on top of a stall wall with long pole in hand I was working with a very flighty mare. I could barely touch her with the pole she was so quick. I thought "Man why would anyone want this spooky thing?" But as I watched her evade the pole she would stop, slide, spin and then take off to the other side of the stall. She was very impressive. She eventually settled down and relaxed, but I was really shocked at how athletic she was. Then I realized sometimes potential can shine through some of our most troublesome moments. How we respond in a trying time shows us and others who we really are. Working with so many mustangs today I got to see many different personalities. The underlying denominator is I love them all just the way they are. Some of them have been really tough like Spade was last year. But we still love them and teach them. I started to understand how God feels on a grander scale about us. He understands that some of us are very compliant and will do what He says and go where He leads, but he also understands the ones that are going to fight His ways all the way until the end and have a tendency to be extremely stubborn. But the underlying denominator is He loves the hard headed ones just as much as the ones that follow him happily. I was fortunate enough to get two great mustangs this year but I can't help but think if I had even gotten a tough one I would still love it and try to teach it. Why because I paid for them. Jesus paid for all of us and it wasn't just a small cost it was a great cost. If I paid for a mustang tough or not I would still want to see it come to his full potential. So now every time I think about why God would choose to deal with me.... I will think about this day... He wants to see everyone of us succeed it just comes down to if we choose to be "trained" by Him.

Adoption weekend!

So as I sit in line to load up my horses I figured I would tell everyone about my weekend. I came to Fort Worth really early Thurs morning to preview the first round of horses. Mary Kitzmiller and I walked and talked about every pen and things we liked and didn't like about each horse. I was having a really hard time because what I look for in a great barrel horse is not always what you need to do well in this competition. In fact something that might be slow is probably a little better. So we sat through the entire preview where they run each pen of six through the round pens so we can see them move. Out of 150 horses, I had no warm fuzziness about any of them. There were some nice ones but nothing that caught my eye. So I endured the Friday auction as all my training friends found there favorites. Friday night we took four mustangs to the Lyons in Whitesboro and came back Saturday to view the next 150 horses. There were a lot that I liked. I probably had twenty on my page. So today I waited until this big black 4 yo mare came in she had a white blaze and two back socks and she was a real mover. I had not seen her yesterday. I had to get her. Then I decided to wait and see how much my top pick went for and when I figured I could afford her I bought her too. So now I have a black mare and a dun mare. These next five months are gonna be fun!!!

Here we go!! Are you ready?

So it starts! We are less then a week away from the first adoption for the Mustang Million (MM). I am extremely excited for this year. Since last year I have been on a HUGE adventure learning more and more about the horse language and mind. I have a HUGE thank you to my two prior mustangs Spade and Magpie for being wonderful teachers and helping me become better at what I do. Because of my mustangs I have made tremendous changes in the way that I train. I have now started with all positive reinforcement methods instead of the popular "work til you do it right". I have found that my horses LOVE me and greet me at the gate when I walk in the barn. Instead of the usual run to the back of the stall praying that I don't pick them today. I have also noticed patience and a kind word works with every horses rather then having to adjust my method based on personality. And when you think you are being soft you can always be softer.  Going in at night has been wonderful because I go in thinking "I love my horses" vs two years ago I would go in frustrated because I couldn't get a certain horse to respond like I wanted them to.  It has been quite the ride and learning experience.

So this year is going to be great! I have made tons of great friends through the mustangs and over the past year those friends have become great assets to the work that I am doing. That being said this year is going to be different. I am excited to have everyone that followed Spade's progress last year to join in this year and I welcome everyone new that wants to follow this year. I am going to try to blog everyday ...But business has tripled since last year so bear with me I don't have the same time I did last year. Next Thursday I will be headed out to go to the viewing of all the mustangs, Friday is the first of two auctions. This year they are pulling up 1000 head of mustangs and separating them into multiple states. The competition itself is much more complex. This year they will still be having the top class which will be the Legends class (that is the one I am shooting for) and they are shelling out some BIG BUCKS! $200, 000 for the first place winner and a DODGE RAM. Yep! you heard me. On top of that they are having 12 specialty classes. Everything from jumping, dressage, cow work, even in hand and walk/trot classes. Everything minus barrels of coarse...I tried to talk them into it. Every class has lots of money tagged to it. They have made it where anyone can be involved. You can sponsor a horse and sit back and watch the progress. Or buy it and get some one to train it and then show it yourself. Or you can train it and show it yourself. They have literally made it to where anyone at any skill level can be involved.  So I go this week to pick out and buy my very special boy or girl. They have also given us a choice in age and gender.  I am going to try to find me a 3-4 year old mare. I LOVE mares! Especially young ones. Since I trained Magpie I have started (broke) five or six 2-4 year old mares and I have really found my nack with them.

There are two days of auctioning off horses in Fort Worth. Then two weeks later there is another Fort Worth auction. I will be headed to the first one and hope to get a horse (there are only 300 a weekend). If not I will come back and try at the second auction. After the auction we (many mustang friends and I) will be headed to Whitesboro with Mark and Miranda Lyons to have a "training party" where we will be working many of the mustangs and getting them rideable within the first week. Mark is the colt starting king and has taught me many of his tricks to staying safe and getting the job done while still keeping the horse in mind. He usually has at least 10 horses to start every year for this competition. So this should be fun. Going to Marks was a tough decision for me. I really like the way I do things and Mark respects me as a trainer to let me start them my way. But I had a choice to take the horse home and try to do everything by myself or do the exact same thing in the presence of some of the best trainers in the country. I figured that if I had anything to prove I proved myself with Spade last year and this year I had the opportunity to watch some great trainers start their horses and critique me on my skills. And they are pretty tough critiques. Then I have the chance to get help if I do come to something new or to tough. Remember mustangs are literally a different animal then the domestic horses that we all love on everyday. So with the heavy work schedule I have been pulling and the lack of time I figured that this would be the way to go. Plus some of my new training buddies will be there and we always have fun! That is my goal this year is to have FUN! No stress! I am planning on working off and on with Mary Kitzmiller also. Reason being, first of all because she is extremely fun to train beside and second she has the keys to help me in the "non-barrel racing" maneuvers that I seem to be really horrible at (AKA sliding stops, spins, etc.)!!!! Oh! and that whole bride less thing that I am, to be honest, terrified to do. So thankfully she has offered to help me along this year on top of her 3.....yes 3 mustangs that she is doing herself. Crazy I know.  Google her she is awesome!

I think that it is funny when you are doing what God wants you to do, He comes in and places everything and everyone that you need around you. This year I am hoping to at least make a showing in the Legends class. My training and riding skills are going to have to double to make it. But looking back to who I was prior to Spade last year it is insane, I was just a baby trainer at that point, so I have high hopes. I am also praying that I pick a little more...forgiving horse this year. I have said many times if I had Magpie for the SEMM last year it would have turned out very different. So I ask everyone that cares please pray I pick a good one. As things happen I will try to get pictures and post up. Thanks for reading.