Day 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 to do I felt I got a clear answer to take him back. I won’t go into all the details, but the decision had nothing to do with Murphy. He is a wonderful horse and with a little more training will make someone a great partner. I just wasn’t able to have my cake and eat it too. There is a possibility that my mustang could have still been competitive to the extreme and been able to pull off a win, but with my lack of extra time and more on my schedule than I could handle, I felt that I needed to put more time into him that what I had to give. I enjoyed working with Murphy and building the relationship with him and I was very happy to hear that he would be going to another trainer to be finished out and eventually sold. I was really worried that all that hard work would go down the drain. I wanted to include several pictures of Murphy on our last obstacle course workout and also other special pictures of my little boy Tristan that I thought would get a laugh. This kid’s got potential, he is already helping mom teach a clinic, and man can he clean those stalls. Ha ha

Day 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 Diago and take him home. I want that person to stay safe, have a calm, soft, and responsive mustang. He is getting much softer and lighter in all that we do. Until the competition I will continue to review what he has learned and prepare for the freestyle if we make it to the top ten.

Day 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 rode through our obstacle course and then a small trail ride. We will continue to review and refine right up to the competition, add one or two new things and work on his softness.

Day 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 farrier, but John does such a good job and helps the horses to really relax. He’s one of the best farrier’s we’ve ever had when it comes to working with young horses.

This week I also ran Murphy through the obstacle course again just to see what he would do, and he was really good. His leading is getting better and he doesn’t shy at things as much as he did. He will take a look at things first and then just follow my direction. Grooming, clipping, saddling and your everyday things are just normal to him now. I never thought this day would come. Ha ha

Day 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 to the right. After several attempts and breaking it down (exercises to help him take the correct lead) he finally picked up the right lead. He was pretty tired after that session so the next day I was going to just lope to the right and get him comfortable loping on the right lead on a circle to the right. We started out and he picked it up right off the bat. We loped for a few minutes and then spent the rest of the time just goofing off. This up coming week I plan on more loping, riding the obstacle course, and preparation work in the arena for the mustang competition.

Day 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 training.

There’s not much more to cover other than circles and review with him. I am almost to the point where all I should have to do is review and make sure he knows the training inside and out and is really solid, light, and relaxed.

Day 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 am doing basic level exercises trying to work my way to my goal. The last month I plan on working more with the obstacles and refining my ground work which I feel fairly good about now.

Day 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 necessarily impressed or not impressed with Mustangs before. I’ve worked with them before and it was just another horse, but this guy is winning my heart. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not perfect, but it is amazing that even with all the days he’s had no work at all (due to the rain) he has made such a big change.

When I thought about signing on with the Extreme Mustang Makeover challenge, my first reaction was, it sure would be nice to win some extra cash and get some exposure. But I guess where I’m at in my life, I decided not to focus so much on that and to try to focus on how I could grow and improve myself. I wanted to get something else out of it, win or lose.

This far into it, I’ve learned a lot about myself. It’s made me remember how much I love horses, how much I love to teach them and take my time with them, to build their confidence slowly and progressively.

When you do this for a living, there is always the clock breathing down your neck. The customer wonders why you aren’t riding their horse yet, and why they aren’t neck reining yet, and why the horse isn’t absolutely perfect after 60 days of training. Then you remember why you got into training horses in the first place: because you love horses. It’s easy to forget that. I will be forever grateful to Murphy and God for reminding me of that.

Day 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!

Day 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’s gone from trying to kill the plastic to accepting it pretty well. I decided that if he couldn’t deal with the plastic then he probably wouldn’t deal with me on his back too well, so even though that has really slowed us down, I continued to work at it until he was accepting of it. I would say starting out our hardest tasks have been the plastic and the lunging. Now I can’t pick out anything that he is having much difficulty with. He is a lot more trusting of me and relaxed around the barn. He’s not spooking and bolting constantly like before.

I noticed this week that as I taught Murphy to load in a two horse trailer, I was able to stand up on the fender well and load him from both sides. Two weeks ago if anyone climbed up on his round pen to watch him being worked he would come unglued. I would like more time to work him so I can get caught up to where I would like to be, but so far it’s just hard to find extra time. I will keep going and maybe I can get some spare time. We have a vet appointment tomorrow morning to pull the coggins and wolf teeth. Should be interesting to say the least.

Day 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 bag

Day 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 ride on him but haven’t been able to that either. I’m hoping to put the first ride on this week. I have a friend with a covered arena that will allow me to ride him until we dry up enough to continue at our place. I have also taught Diago to trailer load and he is doing well. I have high hopes for him but I know he and I still have a Looonnnngggg way to go.

Day 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 need a dry place to ride him. As soon as it dries up enough I plan on riding him in the round pen then transfer to the arena. Where I will start to work on the riding establishing a better go forward cue, stop and steering at first. This up coming week I also plan to start teaching him to trailer load. I would say wish me luck but I need prayers more. I feel blessed to of have gotten him this far and look forward to each new day of training.

Day 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.

Day 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 trooper while I brushed out his mane and forelock.

Day 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 on both sides, so we will be needing to make a trip to the vet before I use the snaffle bit on him. Hopefully that won’t slow him down too much. I’ve got to get him loading in my trailer and I want to make sure his vet experience won’t set him back any.

Day 17 (Cooling our heels in the barn)

Wendy:
I am bringing him in the barn everyday now and actually hosing him off in our wash rack. He’s nervous but willing to stand still for the most part. It is so hot and humid and the bugs are horrible, so I thought it would be nice for him to be in a stall during the hottest part of the day. I am pretty sure he is starting to like his little box fan on his stall door. He stands in front of it and lets the breeze blow his face.

Day 17 (More review...)

Steve:
Not much new today, just reviewing what he knows and refining it. Getting him ready for the first ride which I’m hoping will be next week. I do have more exercises to show him before his first ride that I’m hoping will keep me and him safe. I know he’s not quite ready for the first ride but it’s just around the corner and I’m scared, excited, chomping at the bit, and can’t wait all at the same time. I’m trying to put the horse first and proceed when I feel he is ready.

Day 16 (Dreaded Plastic Bag Monster)

Wendy:
Today I caught him with out much fuss. We worked on some lunging type exercises and always a lot of desensitizing. He is better with the desensitizing, but still has such a long way to go. It is slow going as far as improvement on the desensitizing. He is good with the flag, lead rope and a few other things, but still needing work on the dreaded plastic bag monster. I’ve broken it down even more for him and that has helped, but he’s done everything that can be done short of killing the thing. This little guy is quite reactive, I’ve got to really break it down for him. He is very smart once he does it right a few times he settles in.

Day 16 (Saddling Inconsistencies)

Steve:
Another good day on the ground and in the arena. Although he did buck after I put the saddle on. I chalk it up to lack of consistency on my part with saddling him from day to day. Other that that he did really well. I worked on several new exercises getting control of his feet, getting him to move forwards and backwards with the softness and suppleness I’m looking for.