Kirstin & Tuff placed tenth in the preliminary round and 6th with their finals performance. Tuff didn't load in the trailer during the prelims which shocked everyone that ever saw Kirstin train him. He has been loading in a trailer since 2 weeks after we brought him home. Her patience paid off in the backing portion, at first he just didn't want to back, the third try Kirstin told him just one more try Tuff, just one more try. And it was great, the crowd burst in applause for their effort. Tuff went to a great family in Oklahoma. Can't wait to hear from them on how he is doing.

Careen Hammock who was the trainer of TAZ-the mustang we adopted from last year's makeover won first in the Idols Division. This is Careen's second year to win that Division, TAZ won last year. We had a great time catching up with Careen and Surplus is a great horse. Kirstin enjoyed riding him while at the makeover.

I met somebody at the Eastern Stampede Extreme Mustang Makeover Pick up in CrossPlains, TN. and we are trying to find out their names and how they are doing with their horse. A guy with an Australian accent from Florida is one of them. We were #7 loading and he was # 8. The other two were girls that we met in a western store on down the road on our way home. There was a woman who had picked up her first mustang a year ago at the other makeover and she drove straight there and back. She had young girl as her helper. If either opf you is reading this let us know how you are doing with your mustang. Thanks!!!!!!

Ordered tickets and hotel rooms today. Can't wait for the competition! Wednesday we have a news paper guy coming and he wantws to follow the competition from now until the end. He is very interested. The local radio station as well as the local television station is also interested. The interest in mustangs grew faster than I guesss we expected. The Incentive Program is our next goal to get people intersted in adopting the mustangs after being gentled some. We are putting up some of pictures from the beginning of the breaking process since we were late in blogging. My husband corrected me; you "BREAK" domestic horses, you TRAIN wild horses!!!

Went on a 3 1/2 hr ride today with 2cool! One of his best yet. Along with 7 other riders we went thru water up to the stirrups, hills and valleys with thick wooded areas as well as VERY narrow trails. None of which gave him a second thought. I have truly never had a horse accept things as quickly as this one. Thinking of letting my 5 yr old grandaughter ride him in the at best, unless of course they consider her as a prop. Ha!! Looking forward to starting the obstacle course practice tomorrow. If anyone has any insight to the obstacle course let us know. You can reach us at promiselandfarms@yahoo.com. Have a Blessed Day!!

i would like to know who did what and that everyone had a great time at the make over

Sorry about the delay in posting but couldnt get the site to work for me. However, now we have the condensed version. Since the day we picked up 2cool in Tn. he has been nothing but amazing. Tony was riding him the next day! He has never had another horse here mustang or domestic as lovng and trusting as cool is. He has been to town on more than one occasion through the woods water up very steep embankments and seems to have nothing that he doesnt want to do to please you. We live near a very busy highway with semi-trucks and alot of traffic. From day one he has took right to anything that I asked him. My 5 year old grandaughter was sitting on his back in saddle the 2nd day he was here. There are things that seemed to concern him from time to time but as soon as I let him know that things were not going to atack him, one time was all it took. Right now we are working on the maneuvers and obstacle course as well as trying to find a suitable song for the finals( finding a song is harder than it sounds). Will try from this point on to blog regularly. Glad to hear everyone is coming along so well. Cant wait to see all in Tennessee!!

WOW! What a weekend! It was great watching everyone ride and perform! Great job yearling trainers and congrats to ALL! Enjoyed meeting many of you trainers and ALL of you did an excellent job. A special thanks to Patti and ALL her staff and volunteers! YOU GUYS DID AWESOME! Another special thanks to ALL the BLM guys and gals, you ARE and REMAIN my FAVORITE people!!! Flash and I will continue our training and find an adoptive home for him. Thanks to all that helped make all of this possible! As we continue our quest......to find homes for MUSTANGS!!!
Congrats to all the Mutt participants! You guys did an AWESOME job with your dogs! We were truly entertained with your "tricks"!! Keep up the good work!

The big weekend is over and I saw a side of Tess that was beyond inspirational. The emotions are beyond description. Excitement, nervousness, anxiety, elation, frustration, fear, amazement, happiness and deep sadness. It was good to be back amongst horse people. I had forgotten how kind and big hearted they are. I used to be a 'horse person' in my younger days before I got into dogs. I often found myself watching the horses with a tear in my eye thinking that just 100 days ago, these horses were wild and had been transformed by some of the most amazing people on the face of the earth.

When this whole thing started, I remember the words of Patti Colbert in regards to the mustang competition ... "It's not about Showmanship, its about Horsemanship". These words rang true for us dog trainers as well. "It's not about Showmanship, its about Relationship". It was truly the relationship I had built with Tess over the last 6 weeks that allowed us to make it to the finals. I didn't find out until just before the finals that Tess had been considered one of the least likely to 'train up' because of her aloofness and minimal motivation.

It wasn't until Saturday afternoon that an interested adopter came forth. An elderly gentleman, recently widowed who had lost his black lab of 15 years was all alone and he was looking for a companion. Although I had made a promise to Tess that if we won, I would keep her myself, I was beginning to think that maybe that was a selfish thought.

During our finals performance I saw the side of Tess that I knew was in there somewhere from the first moment I had met her. She gave her all and she absolutely LOVED the audience. I honestly thought I was going to lose her focus when the crowd roared when she jumped on a square box and gave me a kiss. From there I saw the glint in her eyes come even more alive and she was pumped! I don't really even remember our routine, but I remember when I called her to me from a distance she lept into the air and ran to me with enthusiasm and a big smile was on both of our faces! Due to her physical limitations, I had put together a routine that emphasized control and her desire to comply to my cues. Although we were not perfect and I had to repeat cues a few times, she never blew me off and I was able to maintain control. I could tell she was playing to the crowd and her eyes were full of mischief and her energy was on fire. Our final piece of the routine included turning off the lights, going to bed and saying our prayers. She gave her all for the audience and for me and I'll never forget it.

Sunday was very bittersweet. I loaded Tess up into her adopters car, kissed her on the head and walked away. I know I had promised to keep Tess if we won, which we did; but I think there was someone in this world who really needed Tess more than I did. I have no doubt that she will transition into the quiet lifestyle of this elderly gentleman and will help ease his pain of loneliness. We will stay in touch and make sure that all goes well. A big piece of my heart goes with her. I hope I have given her back her trust of mankind by giving her the power to love unconditionally.

I am looking forward to next year and giving another little piece of my heart....

Karen Deeds
Canine Connection

Man, what a weekend! This was my first exposure (close and personal), to horse folk. I like 'em. (Actually, my wife was horse folk in another life and I will admit, I like her a lot!) What an incredible group of people. Getting to share the stage with these cowboy and cowgirl trainers was an honor that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Now, I've said all along, that if my dogs got adopted, I would be a winner. Both dogs got adopted to wonderful homes, close enough that I can help them transition, so they will never end up in a shelter again.
About Samson and Maverick...I was so proud of what these dogs did. I knew going in that I had one of the easiest dogs to train (in Samson) but, without a doubt, one of the hardest dogs to handle. Samson was awesome. You could see his level of concentration as he tried his best to block out the distraction of the crowd and horses. He was able to muster a fourth place ribbon, and he was able to get a home with two of the cutest kids you have ever seen. (...A home that knows JRT's!!!) The hardest part of the weekend came when I handed Samson over to them. Samson, in true form, walked away and never looked back. I had to remove myself from the group standing near by, where for minutes long, I cried like an 8 year old. Man, this was tough. I didn't think it would effect me like this, but it did...Boy, did it!
...Same with Mav. He's got a wonderful home with a gal that will is committed to keeping him, forever. Maverick deserves this. He just wants to be a dog...Which is one of the noblest pursuits I've come to appreciate. Maverick is a good at being a dog. Maverick will live with horses, another dog, and various other critters. He SO deserves this.
Now we are back home. Karen and I are numb. This emotional mix is a butt-kicker. I look over where the hole is in our den, the hole where just last week sat Samson's and Tess's (Karen's EMM dog) crates. There are no crates there. Last night I stared at that spot for several minutes only to turn and see Karen looking at me with tears streaming down her face. The 8 year old in me reared its ugly head again...I cried, and cried, and cried...
On another note. The EMM staff is one of the most professional groups I have ever met in my life. (Melissa, you rock!) No matter how much chaos knocked at the door, they were cool and calm. Dog people can be a little passionate and the EMM people handled our passion with compassion...Great job, you guys!!! And, as for the Humain Society of North Texas, gals? You know you have always been and will always be my heros. (Sandy Grambort, God blessed this world by placing you here!) Before I went to bed last night, I wrote an email to Patti Colbert and asked what we could do to help her prepare for next year. There is no way I would miss an experience like this!

Thinking of you all in Texas....We hope you are having a great time! From Stan Smith, Athens AL and Jeff the Mustang from Nevada.

Kirstin, Priscilla,
That's great you can go to J-Dub's and take a rest! We'll be leaving on Thursday morning really early to arrive mid afternoon. Can't wait to see everyone! Drive safe all trainers!

What a difference in this little guy. It's amazing what some good quality food and plain, old fashioned TLC can do for anyone or anything. Tuff was a rough looking guy when Kirstin first got him. Now he is a beautiful horse with great potential. He is going to make someone a great working horse. For the past couple of days, I have left Kirstin & Tuff to themselves to spend some quality alone time before the competition. She is no longer worried about training him, she goes through their paces, practices different things that Tuff can do but it is a very laid back session. More fun time than anything else. Which is probably what both of them need now more than ever. Kirstin knows that come Sunday, she will turn him over to a new owner which is never easy.
We leave tomorrow morning. We are taking J-Dub on his offer to spend a day at his place. Something new and exciting for both Tuff & Kirstin. Hopefully, it will help to get some of the jitters of traveling so far out of both of them. That will put us in Ft Worth first thing Thursday morning and Kirstin will have all day to get Tuff acclimated to his new surroundings. Can't wait to see all of the trainers and their horses & dogs, everyone has done a wonderful job as always. Be careful on your trip to Ft Worth, See everyone soon!

Time is quickly running out for my time with Tess. Tess has blossomed into a dog with a heart as big as Texas who would go to the ends of the earth to please me. She is still cautious of strangers, both dog and people, but is quicker to warm up now that she has learned to trust people.

She has a blast learning new things, however she is a very soft dog and training has to be slow and positive. Tess has taught ME as much as I have taught her. Relationship is so important and part of that relationship is trust. She has to trust me to be fair and kind and I have to trust in her that she is trying her hardest and she usually is!

I ran into some technical difficulties, so I have not posted for a couple of weeks. Since then, Samson has been doing pretty good. He is such a cool dog. His nemesis is still focus (or lack there of...). In the ring, next week, he'll either look to me or he won't. The thing I'm seeing, though, is one REALLY cool dog, no matter what happens at show time. I was talking to my wife, Karen, last week and we both agreed that this has been a wonderful experience, overall. If I was given the chance to "re-draw" for my dog, I would turn it down. Samson is COOL! He has a heart ten times his size. This week, I want to focus on public access. The rain has limited working on our property, unless I can find SCUBA gear Sam's size. (He'd probably love that, too!)

And on another front...WELCOME "Maverick"!!! A couple of trainers, Phil and Diedra Marr, of Park Cities Obedience, in Dallas, had to drop out for personal reasons. Blake Ovard took on the little Rat Terrier they were working with. Karen and I took in "Maverick". He is a mammoth bundle of Husky mix love! "Mav" is a great boy. BIG...What ever is added to the mix was also big. He has done well on core behaviors. I really have not done any "show" stuff with him, yet, but will add some this week. He is great with people and should adopt out easily.

I'm going to try to get at least one more blog in before the arena, in Fort Worth. In case I forget, I want to say to the Extreme Mustang/Mutt Makeover people, what an honor this has been...Thanks for asking me to play!!!

I can not believe we are only one week away. I will be leaving out on the 16th to Fort Worth.
Good luck to all EMM trainers. And safe hauling.
P.S. kick it up.

Kirstin took Tuff to the arena this morning and things couldn't have gone better. Tuff was a complete opposite of last weekend, he behaved himself and did what Kirstin asked him to do. There were a couple of times that Tuff tried to kick up his heels, but Kirstin quickly put him in his place and he decided it was a lot less work to behave himself. Kirstin spent this entire last week going back to basics and reteaching leading both to Tuff and herself. She only worked on leading, her cues and release-nothing else. Her cues are much more precise with the correct release and Tuff is really starting to listen to her again.

Tuff got a beauty treatment on Saturday. Kirstin started Saturday out by giving Tuff a bath and then Saturday evening Tuff got his very first hoof trim and he did amazing. As you can see in the picture he wasn't bothered in the least bit. What a good boy he is. Told Kirstin that all of her hard work was evident by his behavior. I am so proud of the 2 of them. Time is down to the wire now, Tuff still kicking up a little bit when she trots him, but I think he is starting to get the picture. Going back to the arena today, so we will see how he does. A big Thank You to Sara Harborth for coming out and taking care of Tuff, she did a great job.

Hey, guess you dont have to work on that water crossing thing anymore. It's coming down to the real deal soon, I've been keeping up with you two. Sending out a a big go get em! I know how hard it's been... Don't forget where it all started. keep it up hope to see you in the finals....robbie and Element

I am going to miss Ergon so much. If he wouldn't have to go up for adoption he sure would be keeper. We sure have been working hard to get ready for the competition. It rained last week. WOW!! We got 4 1/2" of rain. Go to my blog and see the new pics and you will see what it looked like before and after. Good luck to all EMM trainers !! See ya in Fort Worth.

Mustang trainers are the BEST!!! Kirstin was having some last minute troubles with Tuff and you guys were awesome with all of your suggestions and tips. And all you helped, Kirstin has incorporated a little of everything suggested: she is giving him more "play time" to work out the bugs, a little more lunging for respect, changing his high protein feed to something not quite so high and going back to the beginning and working on just paying attention to her cues. She has already seen an improvement in him.
He is such a great little horse. He is so level headed-nothing spooks this horse, he's sweet and easy going, has the best temperament a horse could have, he will make a great riding horse when he grows up.
Thanks again for all of your help!
Kirstin's mom,
Priscilla

Well I know I'm farther behind than some, but I still think we are doing really well. I took Kizer off of his grain completley and went back to just feeding hay. It's helped a lot. When I was feeding grain my sweet not at all aggresive horse, had become quite aggresive and had started chasing people and biting at us. So now that he is back to his good lod self we are back on track. I rode him for the first time on Sunday. He did amazing! He only bucked once when I first stepped up beside him in the sturrip, but once he got use to that everything else went well. I flexed his neck to the left and got on, he was an old pro at it, when I did the opposite side he got spooked and took me around the round pen at a trot about 5 times but never offered to buck or anything other than trot. Didn't get to ride yesterday had to work, but today we will do it again, I believe it will all be down hill from here, but I'm sure he will suprise me again and prove me to be wrong on that comment!