Kidd Cool - Amazing transformation!

Today I ran across a picture of Cool the day after pick-up and a more recent picture.

I believe this is what is called an "amazing transformation!"

What a task it has been to gentle, train and put approximately 300lbs + on a horse but we did it!

Kidd Cool meets Dr. Schafer - Aug. 25th

Today Dr. Schafer came out to work on Mr. Cool

Dr Schafer is a retired veterinarian who practices chiropractic and acupuncture on horses and all kinds of animals(even dolphins!) all around the United States.

He has been wonderful enough to sponsor all three of my competition mustangs and treats my horses on a regular basis. He is a Godsend!

His only fault is that he vacations in Colorado each summer so we anxiously await his return each August so everyone can get adjusted.

Cool had a few ribs out of place and was also in need of some acupuncture.

All in all he did pretty well but he was not too crazy about the needles in his back and tried his best to reach around and get them out.

He settled down after a while and did some pretty good yawning, licking and chewing.

When I rode the next day his lateral work was a little better on the side he's been having trouble with and I'm sure it will improve even more as he settles into his newly adjusted body.

I have seen remarkable results after having Dr Schafer work on both my own horses and my training horses and highly recommend chiropractic and acupuncture to anyone who wants the best for their horse.

If you would like more information on equine chiropractic and acupuncture please contact Dr. Rick Schafer at (361)939-8379.

Thank you so much Dr. Schafer for your sponsorship, support and all you do for God's wonderful animals!

Beach Cantering - Aug 19th 2009

Cool and I went back to beach today and what a great time we had!

He was even more confident on this trip to the beach and seemed to light up when I unloaded him and he realized where he was.

It is amazing what great work you can get done with these youngsters when you keep it fun.

We worked on canter departures, correct leads and leg yielding while enjoying the sand and surf so it didn't seem like work at all.

This is my favorite picture to date of the two of us enjoying our good fortune in living here on the coast in beautiful Corpus Christi.

Oh yeah, everyone had clothes on this time!

Cool on the mend - Aug 18th

Cool is back!

After taking a week off following his injury I am glad to say that his leg is healing nicely and we've gone back to work.

Unfortunately, it looks like we are going to lose 2 - 3 weeks from working on certain maneuvers such as pivots, jumps and side passing as they could re-injure his leg.

As his leg continues to heal I will reintroduce these manuvers into his training.

Here are a couple of my younger student's giving a little "Cool" down walk for me.

Thanks Ginger and Chianna for giving Cool some kid time.

Kidd Cool - Down and out - Aug. 12th

While Cool was out getting to be a horse and play with his buddy Little Man on Saturday he managed to run into something very hard and cut his fetlock.

At first I thought no problem, a quick hose off and we'll ride a little later.

That was not the case, an hour later he was hobbling on three legs.

By Tuesday he was still extremely lame so it was difinitely time to go get an x-ray.

The good news is there is no fracture, the bad news is the vet said it could be several weeks before he's ready to work.

We are also unable to do any real ground work as that stresses the leg too!

Down to the wire and even more pressure on!

Kidd Cool's - "Exposure on the beach"

Cool did get a little more exposure at the beach than just waves and riding.

In Corpus Christi we have a small “strip” of beach where naked sun bathing is allowed.

Rarely do we encounter anyone, but as luck would have it on our way back a nudist couple asked if we could take their picture with the horses.

My friends who were riding with me quickly said “That’s a wild mustang, you need a picture with that one”, so Cool and I stepped up.

Once again, Cool took things in stride, we got our pictures and off we rode.

I’d like to challenge all the EMM trainers to top this for getting their mustang’s out there and exposed!

Kidd Cool Goes to the Beach - Aug. 4, 2009

Well Cool went to the beach today for the first time and did awesome!

We started on line and he immediately went into the water like he goes to the beach on a regular basis. In fact he stepped over the line, spooked himself and managed to get loose but immediately ran back into the water as though it were a safe place to be.

Before long we were saddled up and headed down the beach with my friends Julia and Yvonne with Cool in the lead much of the time.

The only thing that bothered him during the whole ride was seeing people off in the distance, but by the time we headed back he was handling it much better.

All in all it was a great ride and I will definitely take him back again before the competition as he and I both enjoyed it probably the most of any of our rides.

Cool did get a little bit more exposure at the beach, but I will save that for my next post.

Kidd Cool(Goes to the vet) July 30th

Today Cool went to the vet clinic to have his teeth floated. Dr. Underbrink and his trusty assistant Kim were both impressed with his calm demeanor and how good he was during the procedure, they both gave him an A+!

I cannot express how important it is to have these mustangs(and all other horses) dental work done to give them the best advantage during their training. Poor Cool had a cap that was half on and digging into the side of his mouth and another tooth on the other side that needed removing.

I was noticing some resistance to the right side where the bad tooth was located so he should do much better in his training now that he has had his dental work.

Thank you to both Dr. Underbrink and Kim for their patience and understanding in working with now three of my competition mustangs and for sponsoring me during this EMM competiton.(Thanks also to Richard Olsen for offering to ride along and observe, assist, and photograph during our vet visit)

My personal horse(and love of my life,sorry Robert) Sky also went with us to visit Dr. Underbrink as he has had five minor colic episodes in the last five weeks! We are quite certain that the problem is mesquite beans. It seems that during a drought mesquite trees start producing more beans as they are in survival mode and as luck would have it Sky has decided he is absolutely obsessed with mesquite beans even leaving hay and feed to go on bean patrol.

Although my horses won't be happy(at least they'll be healthy)I'll be confining them to a smaller paddock until the beans are done producing. Cool's paddock has minimal beanage so he should have no problems as we continue our training.

Apologies for promising beach pictures this week and not producing them but extremely high winds all week and tar on the beach have postponed our beach ride until this coming Tuesday.
Look for pics soon.