Extreme Mustang Makeover Competition!

WooHoo!! Its finally time!!! September 5th was the day that we headed out for Fort Worth! Of course it was going to be a mud pit at the ranch the day that we had to load up all of our props from the arena that is at the back of the ranch... But it always is when you have something important that you have to get done! So its a good thing we started packing two days early or we would not have made it in time! ;) It was pretty hard loading the props up with mud up to your knees with just me, my mom, and dad! He had a day of rest before we left because it was just a total swamp, but it was fine, he was at a really good point and could probably use a little rest before we headed out. When it was finally time to go, we went to the ranch, had to unload all our stuff out of the back of the trailer so we could put the horses in the front, then load it all back up again. (we didn't figure out until we were on our way back from the competition that it would work to have everything in the front and the two horses in back...) Right when we went to leave Lucky completely attacked Disco in the trailer and got in big trouble for it... After that he was pouting for a long time and wouldn't eat anything, if you tried to give him a carrot he turned his head away and stuck it into the corner until you left. When we got to my aunts house, we unloaded everything again and took the horses out to let them graze together. We didn't really do much with the horses that day because it was already about 6:00 when we got there. Poor Luck had to sleep in the pasture all alone and Disco had to sleep in the trailer so he didn't get any new bites right before the competition. Lucky was running back in forth in the pasture looking for his buddies and whining for a long time until my brother went out with him and just rubbed on him and stuff. In the morning we started the day with getting the props out and fixing them up one last time!  After we finished the props, we brought Disco into the shed and started shining up his hooves, it took a really long time because we had to use like 3 different types of sand paper on them! We also all spent some time riding my uncles ATV,it was super fun! When my dad took it out he started jumping over a pile of dirt and wasn't really paying attention to where he was going and ended up landing on the fence! Everyone was fine though after, and I don't think I have ever laughed so hard before! :D On Monday (The 7th) we headed up to Stephenville for me and Micah's private lessons at DUH. Tuesday morning we went from our hotel to the ranch to get all my props set up in the arena and to warm up the horses. Certified clinicians Jeff Davis and Luke Lundahl worked with me and Micah for 3 hours with our horses. At 9:00 I started my lesson with Jeff by doing my freestyle routine and seeing what he thought needed work so he could help me with it. When I finished my routine we worked on high energy backing and C-Patterns, Side passing away and towards, Backing Circles around the pedestal, doing the spin on the pedestal, Spanish walk, and the bow. I learned SO much! And so did Disco! By the end of the three hours he was doing everything SO much better and his bow was just WAY WAY WAY awesomer! He was really tired at the end and we decided to do the routine one more time since our time was about up... Bad idea! When we got to the jumping part in the routine, on his second time over he miss judged it and punched right through the Boom Box for is second time!!! Oops.... At least this time it wasn't nearly as bad and we were able to fix it. :) After that we decided to go out on the obstacle course and go over a couple different jumps out there for the rest of our time. Finally it was Wednesday! Time for EMM check it! We got there around 10:30ish for check in and there were already a whole lot of people! We found Disco's stall, then went around and talked to some of the other people. My dad and brother went to the stock yard stables to board Lucky there for a few days while the competition was going on. Me and my mom hung out at the stalls and I worked Disco in a couple different arenas there. We went ahead and went to our hotel after a couple hours so we could get to sleep early for the competition in the morning! We got up early and went to the stables so I could get to my trainers meeting in time. At 11:30 the Handling and conditioning started! I was 9th to go out, I studied my patterns for a long time and knew exactly what to do, but you really have to think hard about what comes next when you get out there! The first thing I did was walk aroud to the right side, go into the roundpen, tip his head into me, then unhalter him and tell him to stay still. then I exit the round pen and wait for the judge to tell me when to go back into the roundpen, tip his head, halter him up again, and exit the roundpen with Disco, then I go to the right again, walk to the barrel, stop, ground tie Disco, pick up the brush, brush all around him on both sides, put up the brush, grab my lead, trot to the cone, stop, back up at least 6 steps, then I accidentally walk forward and then stopped, ground tie him, pick up all four hooves, grab the lead again, send him into the trailer, hop in, back him out, then walk him out of the arena. When I first started walking out of the arena from the trailer Disco spooked when everyone started clapping! LOL! Everyone was super nervous while we all waited for the scores to come out, finally they posted the scores on the wall next to the stalls and I got 7th place!!! Yippie! I made top ten! It wasn't very long after that we all had to go down to the arena for a walk through of the trail class with the judges without our horses. It was really confusing when you would ask the judges questions and they couldn't make up their minds on what to answer and said a bunch of different things so we were all more confused when we came out of the arena than when we went in... I went 17th for Trail and I was late to come out because me my dad and another one of my friends there were talking about that I should when I get to the mail box, pull out the course from it and look at it confused like I didn't know where to go after that, then show it to Disco, then start walking the wrong way and stuff. XD I didn't end up doing it because I didn't want to get kicked out before my freestyle! so I ran out a little late, then sent him over the poles, trotted around the cones, stopped him at the cone, back up 3 steps, walk to the bridge, send him over it, walk through the gate, close it, yield his forequarters around, walk into the square at the mail box, yield his hindquarters 180, ground tie him, check the mail, show it to the judge, grab Discos lead, yield his forequarters 180, and exit the arena. I came in 3rd place in trail! That night we went to the Unbranded movie, and it was A W E S O M E! The next day was Freestyle! There were a lot of really cool props and really good routines! I was also 17th freestyle so it took awhile for it to get to my turn. When I started, we came out a little crooked but made up the ground on the C-Patterns that turned out really good! The whole routine went really good accept for that he wouldn't jump or spin on the pedestal, but he was distracted by the crowd and it was probably a little scary for him to jump towards the solid wall and crowd right above it. Also the fog machine decided not to work during the routine ether! Lol! Oh well... not everything can go perfect! And I was still really proud of him! 9/10 of the Adult freestyle horses ran away at some point in the routine and the first place youth also missed a jump, so i'm proud of Disco for how good he did! It was really cool when all the youth and their horses walked around the arena and all the kids would come up to the rail and say how much they liked our costumes! Then we all lined up in the center on the arena and the judges started to announce the winners, first they gave out the Handling and Conditioning ribbons, then the Trail, then the Freestyle, then the overall winners! We got fourth place overall! I got 4 ribbons, $2,000, a $25 SmartPack gift card, and a really great mustang in the end!

They also had some wild horses and burros for adoption!

After a long day of work!

Day 1 Scores!

Disco: You better not be taking a picture of me... My nails aren't finished yet.

Disco: Its mine! I did all the work!

Done with this!

I will post pictures and videos ASAP!

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!

Day 63-81

We have been spending most of our time with Disco practicing our freestyle routine and all of the elements in it. He is doing really good and we are mostly refining it all now. But we have gotten to do some other stuff in the past few days. The first day my parents took him to tick spray and the vet, the next we went to Wink's, and the next we took him to my friends ranch that they just bought. So he has had a lot of traveling already! We took Disco to Wink's a little early so we could do some work in the arena before the ropers got there. He watched the cows for a long time but never spooked once at anything! I backed him into narrow pins, banged in banners and anything loud I could find, had him stand by the chute while they were letting the cows out and the ropers would run after them, did all my ground work all over the place, and did pretty much everything I could think of! We both had a lot of fun there. :) I also figured out something that Disco likes to do.... climb stairs. :D

Day 50-62 - HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Sorry for waiting so long to post anything, but we are teaching Disco a lot of stuff that will be in our freestyle that is "Top Secret" we are changing gears now from teaching Disco all of his foundation work to focusing on the event. ;) I did try posting the other day, but when I was just about done the computer started being weird and wouldn't let me type, so when I tried to fix it the whole thing got erased... D: Disco has now completed Colt Starting, Fundamentals, Intermediate, and Advanced! He learns everything really fast, its just like on his first try he is sorta like um... what do you want me to do? Then on the next try he does it really good! It has been raining A LOT so Disco is getting a couple days off. (we will probably start back with him on Monday) My dad went to trim the horses feet yesterday and saw the least expected thing ever... DISCO WAS LOOSE!!! He was grazing next to the other horses in the pasture, so my dad walked over to them and checked all the horses to make sure they were ok. They were all fine! Disco had a couple bite and kick marks on him but nothing really bad. Then my dad went back to Discos pasture and saw that he had knocked down 4 boards on the arena fence! Guess he decided that he had enough of being alone and was ready to be free again. :) My dad stayed with the horses for a pretty long time, watching them and seeing where everyone was in the pecking order and making sure that all the horses were going to be fine. Texas is still alpha, then Lucky, then Comanche, then Starbuck, then Disco. So the order is still the same but now with Disco at the bottom. So Disco now gets to stay out at pasture with the rest of the boys and can run around the whole ranch now instead of just his pasture and the arena.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Moooove your feet Melia!!!

Archer leading Disco!

 Texas learning to lay down on "bang" cue!