Kelly....

[desperatehorsewife]

Here's my gang

Jet, now officially a 4 year old Warm Springs mare. She's the butterfly brain.






Sandy, my Western States Makeover horse. We adopted him back, which is good because it would appear my daughter has taken over He's the one horse here that other horsemen look at and say, "Now, this horse looks like a mustang"...what do they mean??? ;D





And my daughters gelding, Dude, who is three this year and not yet started. Tomorrow is her birthday and she said for her present she wants to get on him.



And with us right now is Steve Holt!, my makeover gelding for the upcoming competition in March. Yesterday was his second ride.
[youtube]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=22X3d1L4gis&feature=channel_page [/youtube]

[angelsdream]

Very nice tracy - for his 2nd ride, he did really great!! He's really giving to the pressure nicely and you can see him trying to figure it all out and his brain is thinking!! Looks like a nice boy. Do you find that they get really attached to you, how do they do if you sell them after the competition and handle there new owners?

[desperatehorsewife]

Thanks! I really like his mind...and you're right, he listens and gives it his best shot. Too bad it's snowing like the thingyens today; I won't be hauling to the arena

I'm sure a lot of horses really struggle. I worked very hard with Sandy so that he'd be exposed to different people. Jay was with me daily to help build a relationship outside of the one he had with me, and Curt (despite being hurt) managed to work his way into that circle as well. I think it's really important for these horses to have that kind of exposure so that the transition is easier on them.

[canadiankigers]

DHW:

Thank you so much for posting the pictures of your beautiful horses!!!! I would be hard pressed to pick which one I like best. It looks like you are doing a wonderful job with Steve. You can tell that he really trusts you and allows you to make the decisions. It is so obvious in the video that he is really trying for you. When you first asked him to go forward you can see he was really thinking. It took no time at all for him to figure out that walking forward and giving to the rein pressure is what you wanted. His mind and kind disposition really show in the video. Please keep us updated on his progress. Maybe you can post another video as he progresses in his training.
Kelly

[desperatehorsewife]

Thank you, Kelly. Yes, Steve Holt figures things out quickly; today I introduced sidepassing (from the ground) at the end of our session and he picked it up so quickly that it surprised even me. Just pointed him in the right direction and it was a done deal! I'm really going to have a tough time parting with this guy...

[canadiankigers]

When you train a Mustang for something like this, are you allowed to bid/adopt the horse you have trained? He sounds like he has such a great mind and has obviously learned to trust you. It almost seems a shame to let him go.

[fantasykiger]

I love all your Mustang beautiful horses. That is a wonderful picture of your Daughter with Dude ;D How exciting it must be to have a daughter to share your joy of working horses with. Thanks so much for sharing the great pictures.

[desperatehorsewife]

I've joked about starting a Steve Holt! syndicate, lol! Get a few folks interested in adopting him back and helping to fund getting him out into the public eye. He's got a very strong Morgan look to his face, a super expressive eye and that darned cute curly forelock. The fact that he's tall and athletic doesn't hurt.

I didn't think about adopting Sandy back until the last week. This guy I'm already crying over parting with.

Tiff, this is the first year we've had horses broke enough to ride for DD, so she's just now getting into it. It's nice that Sandy is so good to her because she's been out almost daily in this cold, snowy weather to ride. She brings her video camera out and sets it on posts to record herself. I've seen her trotting circles with no hands and doing 'around the world' while he stands there waiting patiently.