Tessa got to go to the barn this week! I thought she would like to meet Choco and see where I spend most of my time. Tessa and Choco didn't get along very well. Choco was very curious and wanted to get a closer look but Tessa was scared and wanted to get as far away as she could.The predator was terrified of the prey.




Tessa and Titan hit it off great. She thought he was a weird dog at first.











Happy face! Tessa had a blast chasing me around the arena.She got really mad when I had to tie her up to work Choco.




















My Dog and Pony Show!

We leave for Tennessee in three weeks!! Choco knows his stuff pretty well. Now it is just practice, practice, practice!

The nights are getting a little chilly. Choco now sleeps in his "jammies."


















Practice, practice, practice!





















A long, cool drink after practice, practice, practice!




















Now for grooming, grooming, grooming! Isn't he handsome?





















Have to keep those feet clean!

As a Mustang Representative, part of my job is to do presentations about mustangs to different groups: adult and children. For the adult group I went to a retirement home and, aside from some technical difficulties, it went really well. Several in the audience had horses and horse stories, so after the presentation we swapped stories. They were a very sweet group and a great group for me to practice on!

For the kid groups we contacted our friends who are teachers to see if they would be interested in having me come talk to their classes. I ended up doing the first, third, and fifth grades at one school, and 45 kids from exceptional ed classes at another school! I'm also going to do it for our homeschool group next week.

The kids were so sweet, listened very well, and had very good questions. I made a power point of pictures throughout Choco's training so they could see some of the stuff we are doing. It was really fun, and by the end of it a few kids wanted to adopt mustangs! (ha ha it worked!)
The exceptional ed group was awesome. Thanks to Mr. Cohn, Choco got to go see the kids. They got to see him do some work and some tricks! Choco was on his best behavior for the kids. He stood quietly while I talked to them for a few minutes and then he did his tricks perfectly. After that we had time for questions. The kids loved it, I loved it, and I think Choco kind of liked it too. I was a little worried that somebody might see a horse outside and then the whole school would want to watch!



Choco at school!
















Mr. Cohn thank you so much for driving Choco!

Today is day 60! It seems like it's been so much longer but at the same time it's going so fast. Choco is doing so well and we are working on ideas for the finals (if we make it). I will have 3 1/2 minutes to show off Choco's best tricks. We can use music, props, and costumes in our routine. The arena we will be performing in is really big so we will have to move fast to cover all of it. Mr. Cohn has been has been making us run around the arena to build up stamina.



One of the things I want to use is the pedestal. I'm working on getting Choco to get on it quickly without tripping over his own feet. We teach the pedestal by working a horse and then letting them rest on it. The first few times Choco needed help with his feet but he can get on it by himself now. So every day after he has worked hard I bring him to the pedestal and he gets to rest. Sometimes I'll bring my brushes out and clean him up while he is standing there. He learned that as long as he is up there he doesn't have to work. Sometimes if I'm working him near the pedestal he will try to pull me toward it! He is so smart.






Poor Choco has to put up with tail braiding practice. I'm getting better. Kind of...

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.

Choco and I had our very first horse show on Saturday! For a first time handler I did pretty well, but for a first time show pony Choco did amazing!! We wanted an opportunity for the mustangs to be in the show ring before we take them to the Makeover in October. All three of the mustangs were very calm and just as good as any of the other horses that have shown many times.

We were entered in two kinds of classes; halter and showmanship. In halter the judge looks at how the horse is built physically, like a sturdy frame and good muscle tone. Since mustangs usually don't have the kind of frame judges are looking for, Choco didn't place in those classes. He did very well in the showmanship classes (see last entry) and we actually placed ahead of a few people in one class.

We had two different patterns we had to do and Choco did both very well. I'm the one that had to go mess us up! We had accidentally practiced one of the patterns wrong, and I had just learned that a few minutes before going into the ring. It was a very small change that Choco would have no problem doing. When I got in the ring I comlpetely forgot about the change and did the pattern wrong. When I got up to the judge he just looked at me and said," You forgot the pattern." Oops. We may have done it wrong, but we did it wrong very well. Choco did exactly what I told him to do. Later we did that pattern again, and we got it right that time.

I was so pleased with how Choco responded to the crowd and noise. He wasn't scared when there were other horses close by or of walking through the parking lot full of trucks and trailers.


Please note:
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This week is Showmanship Boot Camp! This means we will be practicing and perfecting our showmanship under the direction of Mrs. Brandee Livingston ( who is a 6 or 7 time world champion in showmanship). She is a fantastic teacher, and everybody and their horses are doing great.

Showmanship is the part of the competition that shows how focused the horse is on you and how well they obey your cues. We have to complete a pattern of different maneuvers including walking, trotting, stopping, backing, and pivoting.

Choco is pretty good at most of it. I'm the one that needs all the help! A large part of showmanship is the 'show' part. I have to always be in the correct posture with my shoulders back, elbows in, and head up. Even if I'm running or trying to count how many steps back Choco is taking, I still have to keep that position. Mrs. Brandee threatened to tie our arms to our sides with hay strings if we don't keep our elbows in! (if you don't think it sounds hard to run like that, you should try it!)

In a few weeks we are taking the mustangs to a horse show to expose them to a show environment before the Makeover in October. It will be a great first horse show for me because the point of going isn't really to win. But everyone's pony is doing so well, maybe we will actually be some competition!

I almost forgot to mention the weather! Mrs. Brandee is the kind of teacher who keeps going if it's pouring down rain while we are working. We don't go inside unless things start getting struck by lightning. Running in several inches of mud makes keeping my posture right much harder. After Boot Camp is over a horse show is going to seem so easy! Thanks so much for all your help, Mrs. Brandee!

If you would like to read the 2 reports I have written on mustangs, look over on the left side of the blog where it says 'pages.' They are called American Original and Balancing Act. Just click on either and you can read the whole paper. Thanks and if you want to leave a comment on anything please leave your name so I know who you are!