We are half way through the competition! It's amazing to see the change in the horses. At the beginning100 days seemed so short but now it feels like it's taking forever to get to the Makeover. I'm getting excited about the show and we are trying to get ideas together for the finals (assuming we make it that far!)

Choco has not been giving me an easy time these last few days. I'm having a hard time figuring out what is his stubbornness or my inexperience. But one little pony will never be enough to 'out stubborn' me. There is one really good thing about working with Choco; there won't be many training tricks I don't know by the end of this!

I've been trying to work with some other horses so they can teach me more about how to handle Choco. If Choco is being rude, I need to work the really pushy horse that tries to walk on me. I've been working a very sensitive horse to remind myself how responsive a horse can and should be. It is amazing how much different horses can teach you. Actualy, a horse gets most of the credit for teaching me ground work! This mare is very smart and she already knew what to do, so if I did something wrong she would shoot me a nasty look. Nobody gives the Evil Eye like a horse!

The 2010 statistics are in for wild horse and burro populations! The total population of free roaming horses and burros is 38,365. That does not include the 34,592 that are in holding facilities.(August 2010, BLM website) Mississippi has the only facility east of the Mississippi River in Piney Woods. They can maintain a herd of 100 horses and burros.

Here is a list of states with holding facilities:
Nevada, Arizona, California, Oregon, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Wisconsin, Idaho, Oklahoma, Kansas, Utah, South Dakota, and Iowa (contract facility).


Here are some wild horses and burros. I found it interesting that the BLM has a hard time meeting the demand for burros.