Mission Accomplished!

Well, we made it to the competition and actually did quite well! Cabrito was just as good there as he was at home. We had some great practices with our coach, Ken McNabb, and made some good friends. Cabrito was really able to shine in the cow work where we placed in the top 10. Overall, we ended up finishing 15th - just missing the top 12. But I learned SO much and am really eager to get signed up for the next Mustang Makeover. I got a lot of compliments on my horse and my training techniques, mostly from my peers, so that sure meant a lot to me. Cabrito was sold at the sale for $600 and was taken home to Wyoming by one of the other trainers. I miss him a lot, but I know he will have a good home. I just wanted to update those who didn't get to attend on how it all went! Thank you to everyone for their encouragement and support, it was so nice to have the "cheering section" at the competition. I appreciate each and every one of you!

One week left!

Oh my, I can't believe our journey has almost come to an end! I'm trying really hard not to get nervous, and not be sad. Cabrito is such a special horse and I'm so proud of how far he's come! Since my last entry, he's gone to a horse show and one cattle practice. He was great at the show (just went as a spectator) and stood patiently tied at the trailer all day. I've done a little trail riding outside on him and he's been great. Nothing really spooks him and he's pretty willing to go over any obstacle I ask of him. He trots and lopes out nice outside too! Our arena work has been focused on getting more suppleness and control of the "4 corners" of his body. We still have a little trouble loping to the right - he likes to push his left shoulder out and go where he wants! Yesterday we made some pretty significant progress with that though. On the plus side though, his lateral work is quite good. He will leg yield at the walk and trot both directions and he knows how to side pass! He's also gotten SO much better about mounting and dismounting, he no longer tries to shoot sideways or forward when my leg swings over. He's also learned the value of being able to stand still and relax with me on his back. The other day he stood in the middle of the arena for a good 15 minutes without getting antsy! Cabrito also got his first taste of cow work last week. To my amazement, he took to it really well! He wasn't afraid, showed some natural cow sense, wanted to stop and turn with the cow - it felt great! We're going back for more practice tonight, and then again on Sunday. Yesterday I worked on being able to remove a jacket, flop it around, toss it on the fence, and pick it back up. He did pretty good with that, so hopefully the slicker on the trail course won't be a big deal to him. All in all, I'm just trying to come up with as much stuff as I can to at least introduce him to, so we can be prepared for whatever the competition will throw our way. Since Cabrito is pretty sensible and calm anyways, I think we'll get through it without a rodeo! lol. I've been trying to get a freestyle performance prepared just in case we make it to the top 10 finals, all I'll say is "Blues Brothers". :) Hopefully we'll have the opportunity to perform for everyone! Well, that's about all I have for now, I'd sure like for everyone to come and watch if they can. It seems like a really competitive group of trainers, so I know it will be a good show! Wish us luck...