tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59033117072483848792024-02-18T21:33:17.847-05:00Cornerstone Training: Mustang Makeover100 Trainers. 100 Mustangs. 100 Days.
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Cornerstone Training clinicians Steve and Wendy Hilton Smith are honored to be two of the 100 trainers participating in the Extreme Mustang Makeover.
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This 100-day competition began on June 6, 2007. We will have the Mustangs in training until Sept. 22, when we will compete with our Mustangs for $25,000 in prize money in Fort Worth, TX.
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This blog is a ring-side seat to our training progress. Thanks for visiting!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-4162377057910842572007-08-29T15:55:00.000-04:002007-09-17T16:20:48.651-04:00Day 89 (Fateful Decision)Wendy:It’s been a while since my last blog. We’ve had so much going on here that I haven’t had time to write lately. Murphy has continued to do well and has made improvement everyday in his training, but I had to make a really tough decision recently about whether or not to take him back to Oklahoma or compete in the Mustang challenge. Through several days of praying and asking God what I needed Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-64881663657173211252007-08-27T16:20:00.000-04:002007-09-17T16:37:36.946-04:00Day 87 (Final Preparations...)Steve,Diago is doing so well and I say that with extreme gladness in my spirit. I made a promise to myself that I would pray to God before each session with Diago and give him all the glory for the training and progress. It seems that all the training is paying off and coming together. I would love to be doing more with him but as I train him I am thinking in the back of my mind who might bid on Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-84664249311444656332007-08-20T11:46:00.000-04:002007-08-21T11:56:10.198-04:00Day 80 (Leads, Side Passes and Forehand Control...)Steve:Diago is doing well, but it’s really draining. I am pleased with his training, but now with a month left I am wanting to do so much more with him and wondering how much further I can get him. It’s a competition and we all want to win and the stress of wondering how ready I am is coming out. This last week we worked mostly on picking up the right lead, side passing and forehand control. We Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-85244438340664607972007-08-19T11:36:00.000-04:002007-08-21T12:00:44.393-04:00Day 72 through 79 (Everyday little things...)Wendy:Murphy did well this week, we rode mostly in the arena, and worked on steering exercises, vertical flexion, stopping, backing, etc (nothing extreme mind you...).My makeover mustang is coming along nicely and is learning fast. I had the farrier come and do his feet on Friday and we took a trip to the vet again that afternoon. Murphy took it all in stride. He was a little nervous with the Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-46711337439392608382007-08-12T10:25:00.000-04:002007-08-21T11:56:35.209-04:00Day 71 (Trust Building & Finding the Right Lead)Steve:This week was pretty good. This week was I spent time reviewing and kind of just taking it easy. I did however run into a little trouble (nothing too extreme) on Tuesday when I started to lope circles to the right. I also worked on spook proofing Diago for the makeover challenge.Diago would pick up his left lead fine when loping to the left but would not pick up his right lead when going Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-27133368938876651182007-08-11T10:07:00.000-04:002007-08-14T13:26:01.781-04:00Day 67 through 70 (Bringing Up Baby...)Wendy:I’ve ridden Murphy a few more times this week, just finished up with a ride a little while ago. We moved out under saddle at a walk, trot, and canter and he is doing well with that. I started working on more steering and vertical flexion. Murphy seems to be taking that all in stride. I include some spook proofing things with the ground work and riding for my makeover mustang. I put my son Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-91195812721137206672007-08-07T14:59:00.000-04:002007-08-08T15:19:29.489-04:00Day 55 through 66 (Riding Murphy & Singing His Praises)Wendy:I’ve started several new things with him and he is taking it all in stride. I’ve ridden him, clipped him with clippers, worked on his feet and a few other things. Unfortunately I have not worked with him everyday, but in spite of that he is doing well.I can’t help but think how well he would do if I could work him more than an hour here and there. With a business to run, and a 16 month old Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-15215868777821196682007-08-05T15:25:00.000-04:002007-08-08T15:33:06.398-04:00Day 64 (Training, Training, and more Training)Steve:This last week we have been hard at it again. Diago and I have been working on shoulder control, backing, vertical flexion, hindquarter control, two tracking, roll backs, and much, much, more. I think I will only review this week and not add anything new. He doesn’t quite have all of these exercises down well enough yet. I don’t want to overload him and cause any regression in his Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-79458100403550948762007-07-29T15:21:00.000-04:002007-08-08T15:24:38.176-04:00Day 56 (Working Hard...)Steve:Diago and I have been working hard this last week and I am very proud of him and where he is at in his training. We have been working in the arena doing so many different things, trying to get him to relax and get soft in all five body parts or as soft as I can get them. My goal is to bring them all together for my intermediate level maneuvers. Hopefully it will all work out. Right now I amUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-78539586122900847992007-07-27T10:35:00.000-04:002007-07-27T10:47:29.499-04:00Day 54 (Why I love training!)Wendy:I am very proud of Murphy. The change in him is extreme. It is almost like I have a different horse in some aspects.In the past 10 days, we have made a break through, finally!!!!! I can see that he has so much more confidence in me. He looks to me when he is a little unsure of things and when I ask him to try, he gives me his heart. That is the coolest thing.I have to be honest, I wasn’t Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-28958500040771510972007-07-23T22:32:00.000-04:002007-07-27T10:38:37.444-04:00Day 50 (Lazy Murphy)Wendy:Murphy (my makeover mustang) is doing wonderful, except for his lazy streak!!! He has become almost a different horse in the past few weeks. I gotta get him lifting up his feet going over obstacles though. I always thought mustangs were very careful with their feet, not this guy, he plows right through and uses the least amount of effort possible to pick up his feet!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-89660112253101055502007-07-19T22:33:00.000-04:002007-07-19T22:51:11.503-04:00Day 46 (Riding Diago)Steve:Wow, I haven’t realized it’s been so long since I’ve last made an entry on the blog. Sorry for that. I have been real busy, the rain has dried up and I have been playing catch up with just about every thing. Diago, my mustang makeover horse, is doing great. I am now riding him at a relaxed walk, trot, and canter. I am going to ride him in the arena for the first time today. I feel he will Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-45264940767835199202007-07-18T22:11:00.000-04:002007-07-19T22:48:28.464-04:00Day 33 thru 45 (Lots of hard work)Wendy:Murphy and I have worked on a lot of things since the last addition to the blog. We finally got a week and a half of dry weather and it has really helped Steve and I get some much needed time on our horses. I’ve worked on Trailer loading, picking up Murphy’s feet, standing tied lessons, a lot of desensitizing, lunging, and more. Murphy is doing well, he is becoming more confident, and he’sUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-76629856239785854912007-07-07T22:06:00.000-04:002007-07-19T22:27:47.733-04:00Day 31 (Murphy makes progress)Wendy:Today we worked in the arena on all our previous exercises. Murphy made quite a bit of progress with the plastic bagUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-42979354563172581942007-07-06T16:25:00.000-04:002007-07-10T16:33:05.774-04:00Day 30 (Rain and Training)Steve:I think Diago and I have developed web feet with all this rain. The past weeks training has been spent mostly in the barn. The rain has so saturated the ground that training is difficult. It has however allowed me to cover other things that I had planned to at a later date, so technically I haven’t really lost time training I just changed the program up. I have been ready to put the first Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-24024419725313816412007-07-06T16:16:00.000-04:002007-07-19T22:28:08.307-04:00Day 20 (Outside Work!)Wendy:Today I did some work outside. I started out beside the barn just doing some lunging by the horse trailer. I think Murphy thought it was going to eat him. He did settle down and lunge up to it from both sides before we were done. We ended up in the arena working on some more lunging exercises that he still needs work on and some desensitizing work with the plastic. He still goes between Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-50721737502922809882007-07-05T16:09:00.000-04:002007-07-19T22:32:57.767-04:00Day 29 (Hauled the trailer out...)Wendy:I didn’t try to work Murphy outside of the barn, it is just too slick and wet, and parts of our round pens and our arena are still under water. When we go out to catch the boys we sink a foot. It’s pretty comical, have you ever stepped in sand and tried to pull your foot out and your boot stays in the mud?Thank God Steve found someone with a four wheel drive to get our trailer out, it’s Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-63922005826972510192007-07-04T15:50:00.000-04:002007-08-08T15:28:49.899-04:00Day 24 (Start of Deluge) Thru 28 (Middle of Deluge)Wendy:I can’t believe it. The rain has not stopped yet, it pours everyday. We were told that we were half an inch shy of breaking the record for the most rain in June in Texas. Our forecast is saying still two more weeks of rain. This has really set us back on our training on Murphy and Diago. I just keep telling myself there is a reason for everything and God is in controlUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-86994047809531146582007-06-30T16:20:00.000-04:002007-07-19T22:26:05.351-04:00Day 25 (Progress with Diago despite the rain...)Steve:This Texas weather, I need a boat just to get out to the barn. We have had rain all week. I have had to do a lot of stuff with Diago in the barn this week. I am currently working on picking up his feet now which is slow but that’s OK I would much rather have him trust me and what I’m doing rather than scare him and regress in the training. I feel that he is ready for the first ride but I Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-85109897016457086442007-06-28T16:53:00.000-04:002007-07-01T16:55:16.693-04:00Day 23 (Rain, Rain, Go Away...)Wendy:More rain!!!!! This is amazing for Texas to get this kind of rain in June. We are still under flash flood warnings and the water is creeping closely to the house in places, hope we get a break in the weather soon before we need to build an ark.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-70739029242295672902007-06-27T13:39:00.000-04:002007-07-01T16:53:06.883-04:00Day 22 (More Rain!)Wendy:It rained most of the day, so I didn’t get much done today.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-36457266540396561412007-06-26T13:37:00.000-04:002007-07-01T13:38:56.137-04:00Day 21 (Rained out)Wendy:We are getting flash flood warnings and our place looks like one big pond. We are still bringing the boys in everyday to the barn, but we aren’t able to do much as far as training due to the rain. They are calling for more rain the rest of the week. I think doing some light work in the stall and just some brushing will be a good confidence builder anyways.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-54278594151532113412007-06-25T13:33:00.000-04:002007-07-19T22:27:05.956-04:00Day 20 (Arena Work)Wendy:Today we worked in the arena. Just review with adding a few new exercises. We worked some on backing and at first he was confused, but figured it out in the end and finished up nicely. As I was finishing up a huge storm moved in while I was in the alley way of the barn with Murphy. It sounded like the roof was going to cave in from the hard rain, but surprisingly Murphy stood like a trooperUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-21266727721828408312007-06-24T13:22:00.000-04:002007-07-01T13:28:56.362-04:00Day 19 (Yet another...)Wendy:Day offUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903311707248384879.post-9142335945238890052007-06-23T16:58:00.000-04:002007-06-24T16:59:18.235-04:00Day 18 (Slow and Steady…)Wendy:I am wanting to move on so bad with Murphy, but my instinct tells me to take it slow and steady. I know others have their mustangs saddled and are already riding, but this one just isn’t ready for that. I’ve worked many horses and this guy just isn’t going to be a dead head. I do believe with a little patience and some hard work he will come around. I’ve since found out he has wolf teeth onUnknownnoreply@blogger.com