WE BREED AND RAISE WORKING RANCH AND PERFORMANCE HORSE!
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April 3-5 - Gatorland Extreme Mustang Makeover
Lynn Palm's Women LUV Horses - Ocala, FL
Details here.
Interested in training? Click
here
PHOTO PAGES:
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SPONSORS NEEDED - We are looking for sponsors that
would like to help us with the expense we have with the Mustangs.
We do not get paid for training the mustangs and unless we make it back to the
to 10 we will only make 20% of their selling price.
If you plan on attending the show please come by and see us
and let me know what you think of our website.
If
you are interested in being a sponsor click here for more information....
Click Here for
February's Blog
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View all the Mustangs that will be in
the Gatorland Extreme Makeover http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro/gatorland_-_page_1.html |
March 26, 2009 - I did not ride Ruby last night, we just played and worked on ground manners. Trotting and backing on the ground are still something I have to work with her on. She will do it when she wants and only for as long as she wants. We only played for about 30 minutes, I was limited on time and had to pick my daughter up. I can picture her standing at the competition looking at me and thinking, "hey crazy lady... yea you, there is no way I am moving my feet and you want me to do what. If you have not noticed there are lots of horse eating monsters around here. The only place I want to go right now is back to Ga. by the way where are my treats!" Word to the wise and sometimes not so wise... I have been warned that there will be people at the competition who will walk boldly straight up to the Mustangs and go to touch them on their face, or roll their baby stroller right up to their bellies for their babies to rub on them. Under no circumstance would I suggest any of these items. I believe that the mustangs are going to be on a full nerve overload by the time we hit the crowds of the GEEM. Also, I would hate to see the Ocala headlines read "Baby stomped by frighten Mustang!" So don't roll your baby up under them so you baby can rub their belly. Gesh! I would not even recommend this to be done on a family raised horse. I have also been told that people will openly go into the stalls with the Mustangs with out the trainers knowledge. I would prefer no one do this either unless you are their trainer. If anyone wants to see any of our Mustangs I will be more than happy to show them to you and let you spend time with them however, I would like to ensure that everyone is safe.
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March 25, 2009- Monday as chance would have it, my youngest
daughter managed to break the bosal I have been riding in. I asked
her to hold Ruby and she was letting her graze. Ruby stepped on the
reins and when she raised her head the thin leather strap that held it on
her head snapped. Once again this experience just reinforced my confidence in
her. She was free and she knew it, but she made no attempt to seek
her freedom. I was able to halter her and correct the
situation.
For the first time Ruby wore splint boots and bell boots. It was quite an experience for her. She looked like a funny walking horse traveling around. I let her adjust to them and then removed them. I did not like the way they looked on her they seemed to take away from her natural beauty. Her willingness to allow me to put them on her astonished me. I have missed most of the riding on Alice, and Ms. Priss. Yesterday after I got home from work my oldest daughter (17) and I took the Mustangs for a ride. I was shocked to see how well Alice responded to her. We rode in the small arena until I felt comfortable on Ruby to take her out in the open without the bosal on her. We conquered the Obstacle Course
without any problems. (YEA!) and I was very much impressed with Alice! Once our
confidence bloomed, we headed out the driveway when Trinket
came shooting between us like a run away train. I think Trinket startled
me much more than the mustangs. Then we were off down the
road. Trinket continued darting back and forth occasionally
startling me but not phasing the mustangs. On the ride back
something spooked Alice, since she spooked Ruby thought she should spook
as well. What a recovery... They both took about 5 steps to the side
let out a little blow and then rode on! Lets talk about impressed, I
was very much impressed. The
mustangs have also been moved to the stalls so that they can get use to
them before we head down. |
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UPDATE: I just got an e-mail from MikMar Bits and they are sponsoring us by sending us a MikMar bit to try with the Mustangs! YEA and thank you so much MikMar...
http://www.mikmar.com/index.html
THANKS SO MUCH MIKMAR! |
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March 23, 2009 - What a weekend, Team Sorting on Saturday (What a
blast!) and company all day on Sunday (Roping). I went to ride Ruby Saturday after the Team Sorting and she was full of herself. I thought she was going to jump out of her skin! Even with me working her she would not come down and every time I moved on her she would want to jump sideways and run... My husband and his son had to leave and go catch a clients Bull that jumped the fence. He just bought the bull from an auction Friday night and he refused to stay in the field the bull was placed in. Needless to say once they roped him and loaded him back into the trailer the man who bought the bull was taking him back to the auction. Anyway, I tried to ride Ruby on the obstacle course while some other people were their so she could get exposed to them. I decided it was not safe for the little kids to have a half crazed animal running loose... (It really was not that bad, it just sounds better to over exaggerate). Once Buddy got home we cleared out the large round pen and I mounted up on Ruby. Tossed the reins down loose and let her move out on her own accord. At first she just walked until I started moving around on her and then off to a lope we went. The goal was not to touch her reins and let her learn that she could trot, lope or run and that would not stop the moving above her. The only thing that did make the movement to stop was for her to stop. I was waving my hands and slapping my leg and after a few about 10 mins she settled on down and stopped. Once all 4 feet were still I stopped what I was doing, she dropped her head and licked her lips. I stepped off and unsaddled her! Okay - I believe this new behavior is an Alfalfa overload! Some of our mares are having a hard time holding their weight and Bucks mustang won't hardly eat at all. We have tried all different types of feed and so far the best feed we have found has been a sweet feed from a local feed store. They do not like the Alfalfa pellets at all, however they do like the Alfalfa flakes. Honestly I think they would prefer acorns and dried leaves... They tend to want to eat the same thing as my goats do.. HUM.. Idea maybe I should try Goat Feed (just kidding). Once again I feel that not all animals handle pressure the same way and this accelerated training program was just to much for her. We are now backing off of her and just moving on with the ground work on Sally. She will not be ridden in Ocala. Barry rode his mare all during the Team Sorting and no one realized that he was event on her. She did an excellent job and Barry has done wonders with her! Buddy's mare Alice is progressing well too... She has been on numerous trail rides and is a real sweet heart. She only stand appx 14 hands and reminds me of a hackney. When I say this I don't mean today, but I do think when her training is completed that she would be a nice horse for a child or small adult. She is so pretty to look at and such a sweet natured mare. She does exceptionally well with having her feet picked up and loves to be brushed. ______________________ Sunday afternoon I rode Ruby again and she is back to normal. No issues and I did ride her with a group of people, we were back to trotting, loping, and tracking cattle. I think she just had to much pent up energy on Saturday. Sunday was a day off for the rest of the Mustangs... |
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March 19, 2009 - Today I feel concerned about the competition...
Even though the Mustangs are doing well, I believe the exposure is going
to be keep overload to them. I know I hate going to the mall at
Christmas due to the amount of people there. I have already been
warned to watch for well meaning people to try and push their baby stroller
right up to Mustangs for the baby to touch them. Can say
STUPID! Ruby is so loving and so precious to me I know without a
doubt she has bonded to me.
We are always in some way fixing fence on our place and the boys had the generator going, circular saw, hammers banging, and across the fence the irrigation system was running to water the hay field. I kept working with Ruby by all the noise because I know in comparison to what it will be like Ocala it was nothing. I was able to take Ruby down by the banging of the hammer but the irrigation system totally freaked her out! I did ride her in the bit last night and I did not like it. She did not fight the bit but she was not as responsive to it has the bosal. I also know that this is a time thing and with time she would adjust. Time is just something we don't have an abundance of anymore. All of our Mustangs are holding firm to their winter hair and I can't deicide to try an blanket them or just let nature take its course with them. I am leaning towards the second of the two... I don't know if you are aware of how the competition is judged: 50% of the competition score is based on the Mustang Horse course -
basic riding challenges
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March 18, 2009
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March 16, 2009 One more thing.. Pictures, when I downloaded these photos the first thing I thought was that I looked like "Humpty Dumtpy" trying to set on the wall. And what on earth was going on with my jeans, they were high watering in every pic. I was slumped over in the majority of them and resembled a hunch back. Want to talked about a diet reinforcement, have some one take pictures of you! Trailer loading is going
okay... She leads and loads at her will not mine. I am terrified
that on the day of |
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| March 13, 2009
- I no longer have to lounge Ruby before riding. I spend
time working her on the ground prior to saddling and putting the bosal and
snaffle on her then we mount up and away we go... I have more or
less settled into a routine with her. We start with a full body
brush to include the mane, tail, legs and belly. Then we move on to
picking up front feet and then the back feet. Sometimes this is
quick if she is willing to cooperate and other days it may take what seems
like forever.
Since I learned yesterday she was not found of the rope being swung around her that is today's challenge for us. I am pleased to announce it was a successfully accomplished. We went to the small roping arena while the boys roped in the larger one. I played with Ruby touching her all over with the rope, clanking it on my leg and all over her body (while riding her). I allowed her to move where she wanted while keeping slight pressure on one side of the rein. The clanking of the rope would only stop when she stood still. Once she figured out the rope was not going to hurt her I move on to swinging the rope over her head. Once again she was not to found of that idea either and she moved until she put herself in a corner of the arena. I still have not figured that one out, but she seemed to feel safe in the corner. I allowed her to stay there while I took a few practice throws off of her. Once she relaxed and no longer flinched we move back out into the arena to practice some more. As soon as I felt her let out a deep breath we quite. I will reengage the rope with her next week. We also accomplished our first official down the road and through the woods trail ride! Ruby did wonderful... We did the majority of the ride at a nice paced trot. She spooked a couple of times but only scooted sideways and when the neighbors dogs (mixed breed and great pyrenees ) came running after us barking at full volume she jumped a little sideways and looked back at me out of the corner of her eye as to ask me, "Okay boss lady what do we do now? You got any bright ideas?" We just maintained forward movement and the dogs did not follow us for very long. We were out riding with Alice (Buddy's mare). Ruby tends to be a follower not a leader and she let Alice lead the majority of the way. All in all it was a nice ride! |
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| March 12, 2009 -
Yesterday was once again a terrific day with Ruby, she is now accepting a
bit and we will start changing over the next few days from the bosal to
the snaffle bit. We also started on trailer loading, this is not an
issue for her however willingness is. That seemed to be the theme of
yesterday. We would be walking and she would just stop and look at
me as if to say, "Now whatcha going to do." The same held
true with trailer loading she would walk right up to the edge and just
stand there. It was no big deal and I loaded her and unloaded her
several time. She reminded me so much of a child after a couple of
time of unloading instead of coming off she would just stand at the edge
and look down at me... She even leaned down and gave me a kiss
yesterday.
I did try to swing a rope off of her yesterday. She was not to fond of it swinging above her head. However, she did really well having it bump into her body and me moving it around her. I will keep working on the rope though. I still can not get her to walk through the tire on our obstacle course. Michelle, I saw Faith walk right up and through it without any problems ( you have got to tell me your secret!) Just kidding, I know each Mustang is as different as people are... When we finished for the day and turned her out instead of leaving me she wanted to stay with me. No halter and no lead rope, she wanted to be rubbed on and scratched, when I went to leave she followed me. I told Buddy for once I think she finally likes me, he told me yea that's the problem you (meaning people) bond with them and then it becomes very hard to sell them. I can say he is right because I am already dreading the sale day! I do pray that whoever buys our mustangs will be good to them and love them as much as we do! I am going to be working on a Bio for each of
our mustangs and will be posting them soon... |
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| March 11, 2009
Last night was completely unbelievable Ruby was so wonderful. We did not start in the round pen as usual and went straight to the big arena after saddling her up. By the way she stood perfectly still for me to saddle her and ignored the clanking of my stirups. I ride in the crooked stirrups. I currently own 2 pair of them and any saddle I own will have a pair of them on them! If you want to see a pair of them look for me in Ocala, the will be on my saddle. Anyway, I mounted up did a few neck bends... let out a deep breath and off we rode. Anna was riding with me I had her trot around the arena and we followed in behind her. Our first official time trotting under command! She has greatly improved on her backing up and she is starting to understand the request of side passing. After a good little warm up we headed down the road and finally back to the house and the obstacle course. Some of the obstacles took some encouragement to get her to go through them, but she did not spook at any of them. The biggest obstacle we faced was the mustang eating cat that was lurking in the woods! By the time we made it down to the wooded area it was already getting dark so I don't have any pictures of her riding through the tunnel but she did it! I was so pleased with her. |
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This picture was from this past weekend (3-8-09). This is Michelle and her Mustang Faith. You can see our 4 Mustangs in the Arena... This confirms what I have wondered, now I just would like to know how. Somehow they knew that Faith was one of them. I almost suggest letting Faith out with them for a while, if I would have seen this I would have. Michelle, I am so glad you,
Coral and Faith made it |
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| March 10, 2009
Last night Ruby was introduced to a tarp. It only took her a few tries and she stepped on it. After the first realization that the tarp was not going to eat her she stopped hesitating and walked right over it. The major obstacle for night was the pig pen. The pigs were in full play and squealing like crazy. Ruby shot her ears forward and before I knew it she was pivoting on her hind end and ready to hit full sped to leave Brooks County. When Ruby turned to run it took me by shock, since I was trying to figure out what she was looking at. The rope semi burned by palm as she went to put, however once she felt the pressure she turn back around as to look at me asking me, "Why are you not running?" I gave her a treat and attempted to reassure her that everything was alright. After she calmed down I walked her closer to the pigs, we did not go all the way up to them since she was on high alert. I also introduced the clippers to her last night. She was
pretty accepting of them, this surprised me. I did not clip her but
rather just ran them over her body. I can not believe how quickly we
are approaching the show date. We have came so far yet still have so
far to go... |
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| March 09, 2009 | |||||||||
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Can you find the 4 Mustangs in the picture above... |
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Here is Ruby and I taking a few warm up lapse. |
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Here is a picture of Ruby's feet... |
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This is Michelle and Faith They came up from Fl. |
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Michelle even rode Faith around on the |
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| March 3, 2009- Well we did not get Ruby rode
until yesterday. This weekend was so cold and miserable we really
did not do to much with the horses except feed them. I did take
these pictures Friday afternoon. The boys were taking Ruby out for a
trail ride. She did not get rode solo until yesterday and she did
great. We are currently riding her in her halter, since she will
still not allow you to touch her face beyond her checks. She will
eat out of my hand and will take treats from me, however her ears and just
about any other part of her face is off limits. I am able to pick up
her front feet now, however due to her nature to kick I am just now
starting with her back feet (yes I am chicken.) Again, there is no way I could have gotten as far as I have with Ruby if it were not for the help of my husband (Buddy Johnson) and our friends. I will quote Michelle www.ourextremedream.com until this is over and then probably continue quoting her. "There is no I in Team" and that is what this makeover has been about. Team work... With us having a total of 3 mustangs at our house to work we are ALL putting in alot of time and TEAM work! The mustangs have required way more time to break than a regular colt due to the fact they were not socialized nor acceptant of us (humans) and their fear factor is so great! I will also say again how much I feel like the trainers who got the mustangs that had been previously socialized at the BLM facility have missed out on.
To view pictures of
Alice and Ruby click here... These have been taken over the last few
days. |
