More news about Chopper

Holly, Chopper, & Casey (new owner)

I received some emails from Chopper's new owner and some pictures too. We are still in Reno, Nevada where Zane is competing in the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity. He has qualified for the open finals which will run on this Sunday at 8a.m. Pacific Time. You can watch along on live feed on http://www.nrcha.com/ . His filly is named "Handle It Playgun", a three year-old gray filly.

Chopper receiving his ribbon at Ft. Worth

Chopper & his favorite pastime, grazing! His pasture buddy is Slim Jim another EMM horse.

Casey & Chopper on their 1st ride.

Highlights of the Extreme Makeover Contest

We had a lot of fun with this challenging competition and we have already decided to do it again next year. They are going to add $50,000 to the contest. They are also having a smaller makeover in conjunction with a horse fair in Wisconsin with $10,000 added. They are looking at doing other regional contests as well.

It was interesting to compare our horses physically to others in the challenge. Ours were on the smaller and narrower end in the size range.

Our horses performed so well. Mine felt like a broke show horse. I was able to ride him one-handed with the neck rein through the horse course. We were 2nd in the horse course only a .5 point behind Zane. It's a calming feeling to know I could trust him to perform. Any three year old can get stage jitters but Chopper rose to the challenge! I wasn't prepared for the difficulty of the in-hand course. I haven't shown halter since 4-H and this was much more technical than that. I'll try to summarize it for you: 1. Enter at walk 2. cross cavalletti (.5 pt deduction for every tick) 3. walk into "L" and back through. 4. Pivot 270 degrees to right 5. Trot (in very short space) 6. Stop and p/u feet. 7. Walk through Brush obstacle 8. Load in trailer 9. Trot cone slalom.

Zane and I really strategized on how to complete this correctly. It paid off. Algore was 3rd in hand and Chopper was 15th. Chopper's greatest difficulty was the trot. He has such a big walk and long trot that I had to really run to keep him running to keep him from just walking with me. Our penalties in this part were a nick at the cavaletti and breaking stride at the slalom. Boy were those cones close together! It was amazing to see Algore work. He has always been more nervous and he just dropped his head and did every maneuver so calmly.

The horse course was also very technical. Even an older, broke horse may have had difficulty with it. The transitions between obstacles were very hard. 1. walk in & mount horse. 2. pick-up left lead to cone (we had to pass right in front of all the judges/scribes who were sitting in folding chairs). 3. Stop at cone. 4. 180 pivot to the left 5. pickup right lead 6. lope around obstacles to center of arena 7. complete lead change to left lead (simple or flying) 8. Continue in Left lead to cone and break to trot (without stopping) 9. Trot into box and do 2 360's to right and 2 360's to left. 10. Pickup trot and trot through 2 W/W Panels. 11. Pick up right lead and lope to bridge (only 2 horse strides to show this)12. Cross bridge at walk. 13. Trot over cavaletti (again those penalties for nicks) 14. Trot into 'L" and back through.

After the intricacies of this course I was glad that I incorporate so much transition work into my daily training. Chopper had one nick at cavalletti and "L'. (As I said earlier in my blog, he was having trouble plowing through them). Other than that he was clean. You should have heard the crowd roar when Algore completed his course. Zane went 9th and no one had been able to correctly execute the course. Algore did reining spins in the box. The crowd roared when he did the first two. I'm glad Algore didn't jump out of the box with all the noise. Like I said before, he performed just like a seasoned show horse. He really put it all on the line.

There was some confusion on the composite scoring with my horse. Initially they miscalculated and left off 40 points of my score. As a result, when they announced the finalists, I wasn't one of them. We got it straightened out though and Chopper and I went onto compete. Unfortunately, this didn't give me as much time to prepare, but he did great in the finals. Next year I will do a more complicated finals presentation in the freestyle. I already have lots of great ideas.

It's hard to believe this is all over. I was impressed with a lot of the other horses and how far they had come especially since some had fairly green riders. A lot of the horses were very well groomed and presented. I felt bad for some of the exhibitors who forgot the pattern as they worked and got zeroes. Many of the horses "sold" well.

I have to tell you all a story about my horse that is so special. When we were waiting the judges' final decision, the finalist horses stayed in the arena. I walked Chopper around to greet everyone. (We were in a concrete ring with the crowd above us). A mother brought her little girl down the steps to see him. She had Downs Syndrome. As she petted Chopper she laid her head down against his forehead. He stood so still and quiet. Then she reached out and grabbed each side of his bridle in her hands and pulled. Most horses would have pulled back especially since his head was elevated anyway, but Chopper just stood and let her pull on him and lay her face against his. It brought tears to my eyes and those sitting by the rail when it happened.

Guy Woods from Texas (who is a very good cutting horse trainer ) won. Kitty Lauman was 2nd from Oregon, and Zane was 3rd. I was 7th.

I was very emotional the last day during the adoption. I wanted my horse to go to the right home and I know he did! He loaded up perfectly for his new owner and she has reported in the comments that he is enjoying his new grass. I have a feeling they are going to go well together. Hopefully we'll be able to post some photos of him in his new home.

pictures for Mom

I will update the blog tomorrow on all the exciting events of the last weekend. In brief, Zane won the horse course & preliminaries on Algore. I was second in the horse course and 3rd in the preliminaries on Chopper. Zane finished 3rd on Algore overall and he was adopted for $5300 to a Texas family. I finished 7th overall and Chopper was adopted for $5000 to a nice couple from College Station, Texas.

THe pictures are for my Mom. She's looking at a ranch horse!

READY!

Chopper & Algore left this morning for their odyssey to Ft. Worth!

I am feeling the butterflies already and I am still 1000 miles away. Zane and I rode Chopper and Algore yesterday morning. It was 35 degrees here and we rounded up the buffalo for Zane to work. Buffalo aren't like cattle. They usually go everywhere at a full run (snorting & "growling" the entire time) and then turn in a heart beat and run right at you and between your horses. Most three year olds aren't happy to be a part of all the action. Chopper & Algore were golden! (and I'm not just saying that). It was a good test for a 100 days of work. Chopper is looking great. Algore has decided to get a head start on his winter coat. He's definitely fluffy.

Here are some pictures of Chopper from yesterday. It shows him being ridden bareback in his blankets and moving the buffalo once they were penned. There is also a photo of him standing for the farrier for his final trim.

Hopefully the horses will perform to their potential this Saturday. Please come by and say "hi".

What is "broke"?

Thank you to Rachel Thorp (and husband) from Idaho Falls for hauling our horses to Texas. They will be leaving next week on the 19th and pulling into Fort Worth on the 20th. Our horses have been hauled so hopefully they will adapt well to the trip. Chopper never passes up a chance to drink! Zane is competing at the NRCHA Futurity in Reno and is taking a load of horses there first and flying from Reno to Ft. Worth. I am flying from Bozeman to Ft Worth and then returning after the competition and hauling another load of horses to RENO! So a big thanks to Rachel for being willing to haul Chopper and Algore with her horse Teton.
Algore has been on the road the last week and a half with Zane. They have been at the Idaho Cutting Derby and are now in Utah at a friends ranch where they are working cattle and doing some fencing. (I hear) I am sure he will be in dire need of some grooming (Algore) when he returns. We have an ongoing debate on the length of his mane. A large portion is rubbed out and I think it will look better shortened to all one length. Thankfully he has a beautiful, full tail. I had a grooming consult on Chopper with the neighbor who shows in halter. We worked on making his mane more attractive and I had a "banding" lesson. (Thanks Lara & Martha).
Two days this week I have ridden Chopper down to the neighbor's place. Today we rode down and worked on some trail obstacles. He is a dream to ride in the open country. We went down the highway, through the barrow pits, over ditches, through fields and we passed donkey's, dogs, trucks, and cars without any hesitations. A horse that is truly "Broke" or trained is fun to ride! When you can control all parts of the horse in any situation, the hindquarter, forehand, shoulder, neck, jaw, and poll -- that to me is a "broke" horse. Physically, Chopper is always easy to maneuver. Mentally, he is perfect! We loped through the fields with the greatest of ease. He was up in the bridle and light on his feet and felt so smooth. He is getting lighter each day to the neck rein. Now, if we can only guarantee he'll perform to the best of his abilities at the show.
I hope the competition is successful for the Foundation. I hope they get a good crowd and an enthusiastic set of bidders. It will be fun to meet all of the trainers and all of their horses. It will be interesting to see the progression of each horse. I wonder how many will be ridden?
Please scroll down to see interesting pictures of Algore and Chopper. Algore has became quite the ranch hand's gelding. Chopper could be too, he's tracked and turned back a lot of cattle and buffalo. Algore's been roped and doctored off of several times. Both horses have been ridden out on the ranch and fine tuned in the arena. Please call or leave a comment if you have any questions on these geldings!
Holly

14 days to go

In 14 days we'll all be in Texas. What a journey this has been! I am thrilled with the progress Chopper has made. He is feeling like a well-broke horse now and everyday he is getting more and more solid. Today I rode him twice and this evening I had my friend and her husband ride him as well as my mother-in-law. He wasn't nervous with the new riders although a little speedier than he is with me. He was able to follow their cues for stopping, backing, leads, and turn-around. They were surprised at his walk. He has quite a ground-covering walk that is a lot different than a quarter horse walk. It's definitely a "running" walk.

I have gotten quite attached to my horse. He tries so hard and is so fun to ride and train. It has been several years since Zane had a mustang in training and I had forgotten how loyal and willing they can be. There is no "B.S" about them and once they learn certain skills they just don't regress. When they learn to tie, lead, clip, load, shoe etc.. they just do it when asked. It is amazing their level of trust and respect for the rider. It is easy to forget that Chopper is only three. He has a mature mind and I am only reminded of his age when he sometimes mouths his bit like the baby he is.

Zane is gone to the Idaho Cutting Futurity in Boise. Algore made that trip with him and they will be gone for a week. I am home taking the kids to school and taking care of chores and the other 14 horses here. Today I loped some of the cutting horses. I rode a 2 year old filly who has been in training since January. If you compare her level of training to Chopper's, I am proud to say he is much more advanced. As we near our competition, all that is left is fine tuning Chopper's presentation for the judges. I am still deciding the best discipline to present him in and how best to showcase his talents.

It is cool here this evening and over the next week temperatures are expected to dip into the 30's at night with day time temps in the 70's. Tomorrow my little girl, Zayle, is supposed to ride at the high school rodeo. She is a rodeo princess and will ride in the grand entry. I am taking Chopper along for more exposure. I had hoped to take him to a BLM adoption in Livingston, Montana this weekend but with Zane gone the scheduling just didn't work out.

Thanks to my friend Sharmen for the pictures of Chopper. We would love to here comments from anyone out there visiting our blog. (Especially if you want to adopt Chopper or Algore!)

New Today

Algore & Chopper worked in the heat of the day. It is 90 here in Southwest Montana. Algore is working on mastering his obstacle course. He wasn't happy about the kid's swimming pool but still settled in to try it. Chopper is still working on mastering the perfect circle. We do lots of shoulder exercises to try and keep him from leaning in. He's doing better to the left but needs lots of work to the right. I hope he minds his manners in Texas! They both had full baths today and I told Zane he needs to do more grooming time with Algore. Mostly he gets brushed where his saddle goes and that's it! His coat is looking good anyway but it could always be better.