The last few days, 

        The mustangs have been lightly worked in
a small pen they are getting more settled in we catch them every day and work at
helping to build their confidence one of them is still to troubled to allow us
to put the saddle onto his back we have put a saddle blanket and some feed sacks
and have desensitized him with a lariat. I think he’s close to coming through to
get the saddle on. The two that have been allowing us to saddle them will be
ridden this week. Today this morning Braydon and I went out early and worked 3
horses and then Cindy called us in for breakfast after we ate we read a
devotional called Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. She writes in the devotional as
if Jesus is talking directly to you. This morning’s read was interesting because
it said “The peace that I give you transcends your intellect. When most of your
mental energy goes into efforts to figure things out, you are unable to receive
this glorious gift. I look into your mind and see thoughts spinning round and
round: going nowhere going nowhere, accomplishing nothing. All the while, My
Peace hovers over you, searching for a place to land. Be still in my presence,
inviting Me to control your thoughts. Let My Light soak into your mind and
heart, until you are aglow with My very Being. This is the most effective way to
receive My Peace.” This was played out with the three horses this morning one of
them especially was distracted his thoughts were on escaping the pressure he was
feeling. He was trying to figure out what to do about his circumstance of being
saddle and confined in the barn and the traffic of the other horses around him
and our presence in there with him. He was in an emotional frenzy for a time.
Braydon and I just stood in the middle of the pen and watched 
as he tried several avenues to find relief while he was in this state of
mind it was impossible for him to take direction from us, but when he had
exhausted all of his options he decided to stop and focus his full attention on
us. At which time we allowed him to rest it was in this state of rest with his
attention focused onto us that he could now receive direction from us with a
willing attitude and with purpose given to him by us he found peace. 

    Saturday, May 19, 2012

Saturday and Sunday we were at the Ranch Horse Show in Columbia
at Boone County Fairgrounds.  It was a pleasant weekend and Braydon
did well showing again.  
 

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Throughout this week we tied the Mustangs everyday and began
saddling the black and buckskin. 
The Bay still needs more time; he is still controlled by  self-preservation
and is quite skilled at using his back feet. 
Braydon spent most of the week gaining the confidence of his filly. He is
spending a lot of time drawing her front end towards him by yielding her hind
quarters away from him.  By  Thursday he was able to get the halter on her
in the round pen all by himself, this was her first experience with a halter
actually being place on her head. He then began yielding the hind quarters
on a loose lead rope as he had done in the  round pen previously.  Braydon was
able to lead her the very first day. He led her into the barn where he tied her
to a post in the barn.  
 
What were you expecting for this experience to be?
      I thought this experience would be wild for the first few months
and that everything would fall into place when I started working with
them?

How is it different to what you thought it would be?
     I have to interpret and read the body language the horse is giving
while she is moving or standing. I thought they would be a lot wilder
than they are.
 
What have you learned this week that you didn’t know last week?
           I am learning to read the mustang filly by movements (eye, ear,
  muscle movements).

Monday May 14th 

    A day just to settle in and just rest I noticed one of the five
year old has a here hip out of place, and is the kindest gentlest of the bunch.
I am trying to decide to call the BLM or see what happens. The bay horse is in
the best condition. The buckskin is the wildest and also the worst condition.
Braydon’s yearling is in fairly good body condition as long as she’s with the
five year olds she has a decent attitude and demeanor but when she’s separated
she gets pretty agitated.

Tuesday May 15th 

    Again another day for the horses to settle in to their new
  environment , but I did put them in a small pen in a corner of the arena so
  they could be exposed to the activity of me riding other horses, this didn’t
  seem to bother them at all. That evening after Hope Givers Cowboy Church
  Braydon came home with us to begin his journey.


Wednesday May 16th 

    Was a hectic day I had several customers come in and some shoeing
to do so again the mustangs basically had another day of rest there body
condition seems to be improving. The Black horse’s hip appears to be better
although there is an obvious difference from left side to right side. He doesn’t
seem to be as lame as he was the first night.


Thursday May 17th 

     The actual training has begun we are mainly trying to
get the horses to yield their hindquarter and drawing there attention towards
me. I was actually able to put a halter on the black horse out on the run where
the spend there evenings. This amazed me to be able to put the halter on a
mustang this early in training in that wide open of an area. He really is a kind
horse. After I got the halter on I got off to his side and put slight pressure
on the lead rope and began applying pressure to his hip just as I had done the
past two days while they were free. This horse accepted pressure with very
little effort and within minutes he 
was facing up with a pleasant attitude as I began to get out in front of
him he allowed me to move his hindquarters left and right. After a short amount
of time he began moving forward to release pressure.  I
  walked him around a little in the back pen then walked him into the barn. Once
  we were inside I tied him to a post. The buckskin was the next one to come in
  and what we done prior was helping 
because this horse allowed me to get my hands onto him in a fairly small
  pen fairly quickly his actions are more of what you would expect of a wild
  horse. He is accepting my touch but however he is highly cautions and ready to
  run at almost any movement I make. I just stayed there with him until that
  sense of fleeing started to melt away as he started to relax I was able to move
  more freely without him over reacting. After a few minutes he was wearing the
  halter the pen I am in is small enough that I don’t have to pull on the halter
  so I use the same techniques I use when there free to yield their hindquarters.
  When he was willingly facing up and softly moving his hindquarters away from me
  I began to lead him around as well. Inside this small pen things seemed to be
  working well however because of his instinctive flight I knew that when I open
  the gate to a larger area I would not be able to hold him. So I used a gate as
  a tool and tied a 12 foot lead rope to the end of the gate and let him go out
  on his own. I tried to be by the gate so when he reaches the end of the rope so
  that he associates not being able to pull free with me. His reaction was
  typical of a horse who had never been tied. He pulled, he would strike at the
  rope with his feet  that’s the
same manner as he would strike at a snake or some animal he thought was
threating him. It wasn’t long for him to realize going forward was a better deal
than pulling back, and I was able to lead him and tie him to a post. Now on to
the big bay this horse appears to be friendly he’s always the first to walk up
to you when you feed . He too allowed me to put the halter on fairly quickly but
when he felt a restriction of the halter and lead his attitude quickly reverted
to survival. He allowed me to yield his hindquarters but the moment he felt
  pressure from the lead rope he got tied I grabbed the lead rope it troubled
him. His flight response was not as prevalent as the buckskin. So I thought I
could lead him to a post to be tied however when the gate came open I realized I
had put myself in a position where the horse had a tremendous advantage over me.
I was not able to hold him outside of the small pen he would let me walk up and
  catch him but the moment I tried to direct his feet somewhere he would just
  pull away. So I drove him back into the small pen where I tied the lead rope to
  the gate just like I did with the buckskin horse. This horse tested being tied
  much more aggressively than the buck skin horse did. He tried with all his
  might to break free however the yacht rope was stronger than he. He then
  learned coming forward was a better deal than pulling back. However when I
  untied him from the gate I was still un able to lead him so I let him loose and
  when he went by the other horses where they were tied I grabbed the rope and
  tied him next to them.  Where he
tested the lead rope again but only for a short time this time. I let the horses
stand there most of the day and none of them tested the rope again. This is one
area where I do believe there is a difference in mustangs and domestic horses.
Some domestic horses in the same scenario would have fought even harder and
longer to get away sometimes even hurting themselves in the process. Mustangs
react in this situation much the same as a mule would. Self-preservation in
mustangs and mules is higher than for domestic horses. So hurting themselves is
not nearly as likely to happen. Braydon worked with his yearling as well and is
learning to read body language. He was able to drive her around, yield her
hindquarters, and walk up and touch her. They are progressing nicely we did not
put a halter on her.


Friday May 18th 

Mustangs had the day of because Braydon and I were packing to go
to the Ranch Horse Show in Columbia.

Congratulations to Braydon on his accomplishments at school. He received awards for chapter leadership, outdoor recreation, equine science, and horse evaluation. We are so proud of your
accomplishments and look forward to the many great things that are in your future!!!

Last weekend was a good weekend for Braydon and I, we went to Missouri Ranch Show in Jackson, MO. This was the first trip for Braydon and I and we had a lot of fun.  We put him to work all weekend at the show, working pushing cattle for the cow classes, setting up panels, running errands, letting people in and out of the arena, we still found time somehow to ride a  little bit.  On Friday night we saddled up and rode around together. This was Braydon’s first time of riding a young fresh horse in unfamiliar surroundings. Braydon did a really good job of listening to me as I told him what to do and when to do it to help this filly get settled in. 
At first it was a little confusing for both of them, but Braydon didn’t  quit, he kept listening to me and if he didn’t understand he asked me to explain it to him in a way he could understand. 
Sometimes he would repeat back to me what he thought I had said and I could either respond with a yes or a no and explain. 
We rode quite awhile Friday evening and things were working pretty well. Next morning after we helped set up for the trail class, since we weren’t competing in that class, we went and rode outside together.  The longer Braydon rode the more his confidence came up.  And the filly begin to settle and not be so sensitive to everything around.  Right before Braydon and I had worked together I played the cow and Braydon was the cow horse, I explained to him where he needed to position his horse to get a cow to stop going across the arena.  After he  kind of got the hang of it we went on and rode.  First class he showed in was the ranch cutting.  He rode in and cut out a cow, most all of the other contestants in that class had lost a cow, so I told him to go ahead and pen the cow even though he hadn’t actually got to work her as a cutting horse which she isn’t, she’s a 3 yr. old with a few months of riding on her, so rather than over expose both of them I had him to go ahead and pen the cow. I was real proud of him driving the cow down the arena, because he used the positioning techniques we had worked on the night before and he was doing a really good job and surprisingly enough that filly cowed up for him. I  think when she gets trained she will be a really good cutting horse. Unfortunately, the cow did get by him in the ranch cutting so he didn’t get a score. However, he and the filly did an outstanding job for both of their first time efforts.  This filly belongs  to my grandson, Trenton, who is 6 this year and he gave Braydon permission to ride her for him this year.  She is  by a son of Smart Little Lena and out of an own daughter of Hiadas Little Pep.  He showed again in the boxing class where he got to run a reining pattern and hold a cow at the fence, here  they did an outstanding job and they placed 4th. Braydon showed in several classes throughout the show and did well.  All in all it was a successful weekend. We are looking forward to the next show May 19thand 20th at Boone County fairgrounds in Columbia. Great Job Braydon!    

Last weekend was a good weekend for Braydon and I, we went to Missouri Ranch Show in Jackson, MO. This was the first trip for Braydon and I and we had a lot of fun.  We put him to work all weekend at the show, working pushing cattle for the cow classes, setting up panels, running errands, letting people in and out of the arena, we still found time somehow to ride a  little bit.  On Friday night we saddled up and rode around together. This was Braydon’s first time of riding a young fresh horse in unfamiliar surroundings. Braydon did a really good job of listening to me as I told him what to do and when to do it to help this filly get settled in. 
At first it was a little confusing for both of them, but Braydon didn’t  quit, he kept listening to me and if he didn’t understand he asked me to explain it to him in a way he could understand. 
Sometimes he would repeat back to me what he thought I had said and I could either respond with a yes or a no and explain. 
We rode quite awhile Friday evening and things were working pretty well. Next morning after we helped set up for the trail class, since we weren’t competing in that class, we went and rode outside together.  The longer Braydon rode the more his confidence came up.  And the filly begin to settle and not be so sensitive to everything around.  Right before Braydon and I had worked together I played the cow and Braydon was the cow horse, I explained to him where he needed to position his horse to get a cow to stop going across the arena.  After he  kind of got the hang of it we went on and rode.  First class he showed in was the ranch cutting.  He rode in and cut out a cow, most all of the other contestants in that class had lost a cow, so I told him to go ahead and pen the cow even though he hadn’t actually got to work her as a cutting horse which she isn’t, she’s a 3 yr. old with a few months of riding on her, so rather than over expose both of them I had him to go ahead and pen the cow. I was real proud of him driving the cow down the arena, because he used the positioning techniques we had worked on the night before and he was doing a really good job and surprisingly enough that filly cowed up for him. I  think when she gets trained she will be a really good cutting horse. Unfortunately, the cow did get by him in the ranch cutting so he didn’t get a score. However, he and the filly did an outstanding job for both of their first time efforts.  This filly belongs  to my grandson, Trenton, who is 6 this year and he gave Braydon permission to ride her for him this year.  She is  by a son of Smart Little Lena and out of an own daughter of Hiadas Little Pep.  He showed again in the boxing class where he got to run a reining pattern and hold a cow at the fence, here  they did an outstanding job and they placed 4th. Braydon showed in several classes throughout the show and did well.  All in all it was a successful weekend. We are looking forward to the next show May 19thand 20th at Boone County fairgrounds in Columbia. Great Job Braydon!