I've had my girl for nearly a month now, so I thought it's time to let the world know how we are doing ;-)

I called my mare Chispa, that's Spanish for "spark, sparkle". It's a really good name for her - she is very sweet but certainly does have a spark to her, if you know what I mean!

These pictures were taken on the first day I had her. The first one was taken 1/2 hour before I ever touched her, the second picture was taken 1 hour after I had first touched her.

In this picture she has the bridle on her for the first time.

All in all she's handeling everything pretty well. I've come off her a couple of times but we've worked through it and now we are fine. Now I can slowly start enjoying riding her :-)

I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks of working with her. What an experience!

Hi all,

I just wanted to share a few pictures of my Gatorland Makeover horse, Faith, and my first mustang, Rocky (who's 18 now).
We took Faith on first trail ride today.

I'm very proud of her considering we've only had her 22 days. She handled everything fairly well. It was my BTDT horse who was acting "special."

There are more pics on my website.

Michelle :)

http://www.ourextremedream.com/

Rebecca,
Kirstin's mom here. What kind of problems are you experiencing? I don't know much about training for the riding competition but maybe someone out there is going through the same thing or for the ones that have been around for awhile, they may have already gone through what you are going through and might be able to shed some light on the issue. I know when Kirstin had some problems with her yearlings, all we had to do was post them here and we received a lot of help and encouragement. Good Luck.

Priscilla

Hey everyone.. is anyone else having issues with these mares? My mare is progressing and accepting a rider etc, but has some real dangerous tendencies... anyone else experiencing this? I would love to talk to some of the other trainers...please contact me.. horstrainir123@aol.com

Thanks, Rebecca

Wow I can not believe its been already 10 weeks and only five more to go. Hope is doing good with the ground work but still not riding yet. she gets a bit up sit with the ropes around her back feet. she is getting better about it now..
I started driving her on Monday and she is getting allot better. She is wearing a bit and saddle but I have not rode her yet. I have sit on her bare back and she was OK with that so I hope by next week I will be ridding.
I think of her as a 16 year old that was told to get off of the couch and go out and find a job, Theres a bit of a attitude that we are finally get through. She is a good mare don't get me wrong just a tough one.

Hello All:
I picked up our two Mustangs on Sunday in Marianna, Fl, and could not be more pleased with them. They are gorgeous! Both myself ( Marsha Hartford-Sapp) and my assistant trainer Mary Berlauk are working each with a horse. Mary's horse is a stunning black mare with a star, ( Tarimasu) and mine is a solid black mare, Onyx.
Onyx and Tari have done fabulous the last week! Both are leading, getting much needed baths, and doing great with their lessons. I have posted some pictures of them! I am also keeping a training diary on my website,( www.southernoaksequestria.com) and adding TONS of pictures. We are have a GREAT time with our horses, and looking forward to meeting and talking to the other trainers!

Thanks for all your kind words and offers of help and since I'm here I'll give you an update. Ariel has settled in nicely and I've already had first contact with her. She is very attentive of everything around her and has become friendly with my 2 year old QH Mule. She is curious about everything and as long as you move slowly she is ok. Have been using a carrot stick with the mules and just letting her come up to investigate and touch on her own... can't really run her around the paddock as the ice pack is slippery but letting her come to me while I work with the mules is working out nicely. Hoping to get a halter on her soon.


Unfortunately Zephyr, the darker mare, arrived with some serious injuries on her front and back legs on the left side. The vet has been out and we have her on antibiotics but it is going to take some time for these wounds to heal. Don't know yet if she'll be able to compete but I'm still hoping that she will. She has been pretty good about the whole thing but unlike Ariel she has been harder to make contact with and is very nervous about having any contact with people, understandable considering the severity of the wounds.

I must admit that first moment of voluntary contact is exhilarating.

Mark Lyon hosted a clinic this past weekend not far from where we live, so I took advantage of having such a knowledgeable teacher and took Kirstin & Taz there. Kirstin learned so much from this clinic, I only wished that every horseperson could have experienced this. Taz is a very well behaved horse but when something scares him, he whirls around. Kirstin learned how to prevent that whirl around. Going down into this creek bed really didn't set well with Taz. Mark actually got off of his horse, jumped onto Taz and convinced him that he wasn't going to get hurt and that he was going to listen to the person on his back. Mark walked him down the hillside and then back up and had Kirstin do the same thing. The next day-Taz had no problem with going down to the creek. Kirstin also learned how to sidepass Taz at a walk and then at a trot. That was really pretty to watch the two of them perform that maneuver. Of course they worked on basics such as spins, sidepasses etc. which Taz did like an old pro.


Here's a picture of Mark Lyon on his Mustang Christian and Kirstin on her Mustang Taz.