Mustang Training 1/28

Tonight went well! Stretch was not in the mood for lunging snd I was pulling on his lead rope to get him to walk forward he nipped the inside of my arm. Not hard enough to I break skin but enough that I have a mark. I rode with a flag almost the whole time more for my benefit than Stretch. I wanted to take away my second hand for stopping. He did good overall but a lot more head throwing. Just when we were making progress lol. Then we ran the trainers drill twice and let the horses cool off. Stretch was pretty sweaty but he cools off really quick. I helped a teammate towel off scarface and that was my night!

Training, Stock Show, Different Ride

Thursday night Mustang training was cancelled because of how many trainers were at Stock Show which included me! We got to take the big bus instead of the van. The seats reclined and we all felt so official. We shared with Crimson because they were selling at the other show. I sold in the arena and totaled 18! It was fun and I only fell up the stairs once. Lighted Grand Entry looked amazing. On Saturday I helped catch horses in the morning. They got really fired up and were running all over the pasture. Then in class I got 100% on Quiz 2 and for the walkthrough/ride I got to be 1-7!!!! I was so excited!!!! 7th four was a ton of fun! I also was P4 in GPA 4. But sadly someone else on my team rode Stretch. She did good with him but I sure missed riding him. I had Smoke instead who surprised me with his speed. He can really boogie when he wants too. His trot pops you around a lot and his lope feels super stiff so it's super uncomfortable to ride. But he was a good horse, I hope I get Stretch back though. At 2 I JI'd and got Rooster. He did really good. Quick little gaits and turns on a dime. We were in the Red and worked on fours and some individual loping. Then I stayed and watched BL1, Shadow Riders, Glory Riders, and White Trick. I can't wait for Mustang Training on Thursday so I can see Stretch again.

Mustang Training and Cancellations

Sorry about the delay I have been crazy busy. So Thursday went well with Stretch. We finally got a different pad on him and it was so much better. We did some drill practice and rode the Mustang Trainer's drill and then had to lope individually on the rail. Stretch loved it :) Saturday all my classes were cancelled except vaulting and Nighthorse because of a lot of the horses being at stock show. It was a nice break though. We got fitted for our Nighthorse Costumes!!!!! It was super exciting. I got 100% on Q1 for Kaleidoscope so woo hoo! We finished the drill and rode it for the first time. I was P7 and 3-3. The drills were pretty scary but overall not horrible. We will get it together just like before. Stretch did better than last week but still got really hyper. Maneuvering with him as a point was interesting. I can't wait to ride it again this weekend. I really want to be a CO or ride in 4th or 7th four. We will see I guess! Vaulting was interesting. My partner and I almost got bucked off and her horse was just having a crazy day and was not in the mood at all. At 3 I JI'd for T8 on Cisco and I was impressed! They did amazing! I couldn't believe how well they were circling in fours already.

Nighthorse + Stock Show

Saturday was fun and scary at the same time. Diagramming went well, I walked 3-7 and P2 before the quiz. Then we got 17 diagrams and I had 3 corrections. So the ride was interesting. Stretch was in a class at 11 so I was a little late to my ride so I didn't get to do my exercises with Stretch. Warm ups were going great and I got him to do an amazing stop at a lope but then I'm not sure what happened. He either got super excited or spooked at something but he took off into the center. I tried to one rein stop but he fought against the bit. I narrowly avoided crashing into my teammates before he finally circled around. I was a little shaken up but not scared. Then we got to play catch up!!!! I finally got to let Stretch run! Not all the way because we would've left the other horses in the dust but the problem came at the end. I went to break and stretch didn't stop. I even started slowing down earlier but i still crashed through two fours. It was scary and I was so embarrassed.  Squirt's rider fell off but she was okay. the horses were SO SWEATY at the end. The steam coming off of them looked so cool. I didn't use my cool out blanket though because I had to race off to change for stock show. I had a teammate take Stretch and use a rental blanket on him. So I got to wear my dress reds for the first time!!!!!! It was so exciting and I felt so official. At stock show I sold programs at a podium which normally sells more but I was in a bad spot so I only sold 8 :/ the top seller sold 84. I'm hoping I'll do better next time. It was still fun and man do you get a lot of attention in the dress uniform.

First Mustang Training Class!

Well tonight was amazing! Stretch was fine for grooming he just won't stand still when you're saddling and he throws his head while bridling. When we got to the volunteer we lunged the horses for a few minutes. It took a minute for Stretch and I to figure it out but we got it together. Then it was mostly individual work. I out a flag on Stretch and he did just fine. I just worked on his stops. By the end of the night his improvement was apparent. It was a ton of fun and I'm so grateful for the opportunity.

Back to Back = EXHAUSTION

On Saturday I got to Westernaires and helped catch horses at about 7am. Then diagramming went well. I got 97% on my Flag final and a 99% on diagrams because of a few motion dots. SO CLOSE!!! My overall score for the whole drill was 99% so I was pretty apply. We started Kaleidoscope, took a sequence (passed it) and got only 10 diagrams. Batons was at 11 and we worked on some turn arounds and other tricks. Stretch was on the rail like normal. I decided to keep his pad forward this ride because we rode with Tenderfeet!!! We ran pretty hard during warm ups because we went a lot slower for the Tenderfeet. My kid was on Duke and he kept biting all the other horses. The boy did soooo well with him though. I dropped off after awhile because squishing Duke only made him more angry. It was a bit hectic but it was fun knowing we were being looked up too by the younger kids. After I put Stretch away I raced to ropes. I worked on my usual stuff. Then I got Stretch to JI at 2 :) He's so good in JI he loves it. At 3 I had Snookie for Liberty and I got to call the drill. Sadly we didn't jump. But it was an okay ride. Vaulting was at 4 and I rode base on my partner's horse. He did so good and we tried a lot more tricks on him. We haven't tried one leg hang since I fell or one leg layover. Otherwise we do everything else. It was a good day but I was sooooo tired by the end. On Sunday I made my cool out blanket for Stretch! I think it ended up a little longer than wide but I still think it'll fit him pretty good! I can't wait to try it on him :)