4 Days To Go!!

Only four days left until we leave for Fort Worth! We went and traded our old red trailer in for a new aluminum five horse trailer for the trip because the old one had a bent axel and probably wouldn't have made it. Saturday Taren and Claire came down to the RGV Arena to compete in the haler classes with there mustangs, Dare to Dream and Embark on Adventure! (AKA Dream and Venture) I had planned on bringing Disco and going to watch, but we got there a couple minutes after they had already finished... When we got there I didn't waste any time going to see them and their "kids". When we got into the stalls, I first went to see Dream who is HUGE! I was so surprised at how much he had changed! His coat was super shiny, his main was really long and beautiful, and his personality was awesome! After hanging out with Clair and Dream in there stall for a minute, I went over to see Venture, He was as cute as could be! When we where over next to his stall talking, he went and flipped his hay bag over to the stall next to him and just waited there like "oops..... ummm... you gonna get that for me?". And he looked extra cute with his main cut short and poofy! When we all got our horses haltered up, we wen out to graze them for awhile and see if our mustangs remembered each other, they sure did! they went over to each other, took one sniff, then stuck their heads down and started eating side by side! We talked about how our journey had been so far and how excited we were for the competition! A while later, we decided to go work our horses in the show arena while the competitors took a brake. Disco was really spooky at a fan they had there, but after working him around it and resting him at it a couple times, he thought it was the best thing in the world! I watched Claire working on some tricks with Dream and they were doing awesome! She has definitely spent some hours with that horse! I didn't get to watch them that much since I was working Disco also, but what I saw them doing was great! Claire gave me one of her "sneaky snacks" for Disco and he LoVeD it! Claire and Dream got first in the halter class for 2yr olds and under, and Taren and Venture got second! They did more than just the one, but I'm not to sure what they placed. When our moms got back with lunch, we went and put all the horses in stalls, including Disco for his first time! We don't have any stables at our ranch, so this was the first time he had even been in one. He did really good and didn't fuss at all! We went and ate lunch on the bleachers, and watched some of the western pleasure, trail classes, ect. By the time be finished lunch it was already late and they had to get going. So we all got our stuff together, said bye, and loaded our mustangs up, and left. IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST DAYS EVER! (I know I say that a lot... but I really cant help it! I just always have so much fun!) Yester day  me and my dad spent a long time training at the ranch! (from 6:30-2ish) First my dad saddled up Lucky and  haltered up Disco and we went on a long trail ride/walk! They where both a little full-a-beans at first but they got really respectful after awhile! On the way there, my dad rode Lucky and I worked Disco, and on the way back we swapped out. When we got back, we took a little break, then walked Disco up front to saddle him for the first time! We only had my brothers sable there so I had to be super careful not to mess it up! We did a little approach and retreat with the pad and saddle, but he didn't care at all so after about five minutes we already had it on his back and cinched up! We walked him to the arena and he didn't care at all about the saddle, so I started lunging him with it on, the saddle started to slide, so I had to stop him for a minute and ended up tightening the front and back cinch up all the way! When we started loping he got a little hot with the saddle but still never bucked, after about half and hour or so we brought out the mounting block and I just put pressure on the stirrups one side and a time and put all my weight on the top of the saddle with my hands. No matter what I did, I flapped the stirrups around, slapped the saddle, made a lot of noise, moved his feet, and put pressure on him but he didn't care a bit! It was so tempting to just hop on and ride him, because he is so ready! But... the youth aren't allowed to ride their mustangs until after the competition so ill just have to wait a couple more weeks! Today we took Disco and lucky to the beach again! It was a little too choppy to swim them, but we still had ALOT of fun! When we were driving down the beach me and my brother decided to go out of the car and run behind the trailer, so we were already a little out of breath when we got there! First thing I did when I grabbed Disco was  walk him to the water and see if he remembered it, apparently he did! didn't take us long to get out to where the waves where splashing him and getting him wet all over! We messed around in the water for awhile before we went in, let the horses eat some alfalfa and we all went and body surfed for awhile. Archer finally figured out that he is a water dog and came out and swam with us, he got crushed by a few waves but he still had a blast! Then we went in, I got Disco, and we went for a little walk up in the dunes. I was a bit nervous working him bare foot, but it definitely gave me more of a reason to keep him out of my space! When we got down to the water, me and Disco went back out for awhile then came in and did out freestyle routine once on the beach real quick. We gave the horses a little bath on the beach, then loaded them up and headed home! I ALWAYS HAVE SO MUCH FUN AT THE BEACH! It is raining at the ranch right now, so I'm hoping we don't get to muddy out there that we cant work!

Getting ready for Fort Worth!

On the 12th we had to put Disco back into his own pasture because he was getting a lot of cuts and bites from the other horses and we want him to look his best for the competition! We also bought him zebra print fly sheet, tail wrap, and head cover for the last few weeks. That didn't last long... we decided not to use the fly sheet, the tail wrap wouldn't stay on, and he ripped his head piece to shreds! (we did order a new head piece, so that's the only thing he will have now) We have been working mostly on the same thing every day, run through the trail and handling and conditioning stuff, then do our freestyle routine at least 3 times in a row. He had been doing really good on his freestyle until the past week, he started getting bored with it and just really not trying at all... He has also had enough time to figure me out and know what he can get away with and what I will correct him on. After a rain day, my parents decided to let me and Disco have some time to ourselves and go out the back gate for awhile. (apparently I got a little carried away) Behind our ranch there are thousands of acres of land that you can do what ever you want on! There are crops, open fields, trees that you can go on a amazing trail ride through, sand pits, and to top it all of it opens up to the laguna atascosa national wildlife refuge! Me and Disco went up and down hills, jumped over some irrigation stuff, did a lot of C-Patterns, Backing, Lead Beside, and loping line driving, saw some scary obstacles, and even ran through our routine twice since their was some junk laying around that was similar to the positioning of our props. After about 2 hours my mom called me and asked where I was and to start heading back because it was about time to leave. (oops) We didn't stop doing stuff the entire time so it still took us an hour to get back and even then my dad came to pick us up in the truck. :D It was WAY one of my favorite days with him and it really boosted my confidence in myself as being a good leader! The next day he was so responsive and did everything I asked! We couldn't even find anything that would scare him so we didn't exactly have a spooky item of the day! Getting really exciter for Fort Worth!!!

  The winner of the St. Louis Extreme Mustang Makeover, Allison Elfrink joined the No Worries Club after her competition and since then we have been able to exchange information and help each other out with our training, she has been a huge help to me and Disco and I hope that her and Chico continue to work as a great team!