Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Day 69




Pilgrim got an extra long bath today because he worked really hard; and he LOVES water.  I was taking pictures of Pilgrim's conformation, he's a good looking little horse :)


Pilgrim's latest jumping pattern, this morning we tried it with the poles straight across...is there anything this horse can't do?  He jumped over all three jumps in a row with ease!  That little guy sure knows how to flaunt his good side!
So today Pilgrim and I concentrated on jumping, trotting through a pattern of poles and backing up in a straight line.  At first he was super lazy with the barrels, knocking them all over this afternoon but once he figured out what I wanted he was ready to go!  A little girl and her friend came over to meet Pilgrim and she asked me if i could make him sit down for her...nothing warms my heart more than a little girl asking me to do something with Pilgrim, so I laid Pilgrim down right next to her as the two little girls petted my Pilgrim. 

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Day 68

This past Saturday I captured Pilgrim on camera while he was laying down...

Sunday was the first time Pilgrim's actually had the tarp on him, we've gone through it while it was hanging up, but i'd never tied it to him.  He didn't seem to care about it very much so we had alot of fun with it.

We were going for the Batman look... unsuccessful but as you can see Pilgrim's care free!


That tarp was so big it was dragging behind Pilgrim.  It suprises me how comfortable he is with all the crazy things we've thrown his way...like tractors, bulldozers, cows, four-wheelers, guns, unicyle's, juggling knives...this horse has seen it all!

I just really liked this picture of my Pilgrim :)


This picture was probably from two weeks ago in Houston. Though he may NEVER look in the camera, this horse knows how to make things look good when he wants to.

Pilgrim's and I had a great weekend and start of a new week! With the competition right around the corner, Pilgrim's been working on his routines including jumps!  He sure can jump for the little horse he is!  Let's hope we get a chance in Tennessee to show everyone what he's made of!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Day 63

Pilgrim and I went for a walk! It looks like he's licking the light-post...but he's really just making faces at the sewage drains nearby.  The two that horse doesn't like, bags filled with leave, and sewage!

I found this pretty little flower...

Pilgrim working on his plank, he's gotten really good at it.  But every time I pull out the camera he's off!

Pilgrim's been an amazing little horse to train.  With only a little over three weeks left until the competition, I know Pilgrim will be ready! Next time i'm getting him a taller plank to walk on...

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Day 62

Pilgrim's been doing really well lately.  We've been working on lunging the past couple of days, trying to make him super crisp before we get to Tennessee.  He's gotten really good at side passing too!  Yesterday we even tried side-passing at a trot!  It lasted for all of 3 seconds, but it sure was pretty!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Day 60

This horse NEVER looks at the camera...so i really like this picture!

Pilgrim laying down...

I caught him in the act of eating while on the job!

Pilgrim's learning how to walk on this little plank, he walk right across it now, but he doesn't like his picture being taken, every time I pulled out my camera he would get off!  That silly horse!
Wow I can't believe I've had Pilgrim for sixty days...time has gone by so fast!  Pilgrim's a great side-stepper too!  He's learning how to trot while side-stepping now!  It looks so pretty :) I side-stepped him over two sets of calvetti poles, some barrels, and that plank in the above picture!  That horse likes to move his feet!  I think the things he does best would be pivoting and side-stepping.  He also jumps really pretty, climb over anything, is practically bomb-proof(and doggy-proof) I don't know what this horse is afraid of!  I can't wait to show everybody what my little super-star is made of.  With only one month left, the goal is to make everything as crisp and good looking as possible!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Day 55

Today my friend Rachel came over to check out Pilgrim.  She like horses just as much as I do and she's also a big gymnastics person.  So I watched her as she did flips off of Pilgrim, and summer saults off his back as he just stood there.  I was pretty impressed with both of them.  Though I personally can not do those things, I know Pilgrim will make a great trick horse now!  Oh I also asked Rachel if she would lay Pilgrim down for me, Pilgrim layed down so fast I thought Rachel had carrots in her back pocket for him!  I was so impressed with my little boy today! Oh we also walked across a plank of wood, at first he thought I just wanted his front feet up there, but one he figured out what I wanted he walked right onto it.  I'll take Pictures soon!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Day 53

Pilgrim and I have been having a great week! Today we worked on lunging, he did fabulous!  He is picking up my cues really quickly now!  I can't believe how far we have come!  We worked on side-stepping in a straight line today.  He didn't fancy that idea very much at first but after a couple of of tries I think he got the idea.  One thing that I really like about Pilgrim, is that whenever he doesn't know the right answer to something, he keeps trying until we figure it out :) He was a little slow on laying down today so i think I'll work on that tomorrow :)

Monday, September 12, 2011

Day 52

Pilgrim decided to take a tour of our tack room...this was not exactly intended, but the second he found out where the food was being kept he kept coming back for more!

My mother surprised me this weekend by giving me this! It's such a pretty belt buckle and I'm never going to forget training Pilgrim for the mustang makeover :)

So today Pilgrim and I have been working mainly on speeding things up, now that we have all the ground work in place we are working on making everything crisper.  Sidestepping is coming along pretty nicely too!  He's getting super soft with every little command, I'm so impressed of how easily he's learned everything.  I tried getting my 6 year old quarter horse to side-step on the ground and it wasn't nearly as good as Pilgrim's.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Day 48

This mornings experimenting....

Pilgrim has never refused to do anything for me, but even I was a little worried about walking on this bridge.  Pilgrim climbed aboard in 2 seconds!

Pilgrim did great with this bridge! He didn't even notice the rotting possum in the left hand corner of the picture.

There was this rickety bridge when Pilgrim and me went walking, so I decided 'hey...why not give it a shot?' so I got Pilgrim to climb all over that bridge and back up through it. 

A mustang in the big city of Houston....what now?

Pilgrim in the big city...lot's of cars...

My sister Jennifer sitting on her Mustang for the makeover.

My sis sitting on Pilgrim!

My sister Kathryn's first time standing on Pilgrim...

My sis giving Pilgrim a bath...
So it may seem like there's a huge gap in my numbers...i know...sorry, but this is actually the day after the last day I posted!  My little sister Kathryn decided she wanted to try some things on Pilgrim, and before I new it she was doing flips over his back and leaps over him! Pilgrim and me also went on a little adventure today...we decided to tour the neighborhood :) we found some scary things...including a rotting possum...the one thing Pilgrim really despised when we went on our walk was the sewer system...he stayed clear of it!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Day 38

Today's new experiment with Pilgrim!  He seemed to misinterpret for a sign to get up the first couple of times.  But I think he's starting to figure it out.  If any of Pilgrim's followers are coming to the makeover in Murfeesburro, TN...Pilgrim will be one of the 20 wonderful yearling horses up for adoption along with a hundred adult saddle trained mustangs.  I cherish every second I have with Pilgrim.  And I'm so excited to show everyone just how good we really can be in Tennessee this October.  

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Day 37

 Pilgrim jumping two barrels in a row!
 Pilgrim and me practicing trotting in and backing up in a complicated chute...we didn't do so well the first time but after a few tries we figured it out :)
 Pilgrim posing for the camera!
 Jennifer and Magic rolling a barrel...



Meet Bucephalus! Or Bu for short.  The name was Alexander the Great horse who was afraid of his own shadow and none of the noblemen could ride him...Alexander found out what the problem was, hoped on him and rode in towards the sunset.  Similar to Alexander horse, Bu is also a little skidish of himself :) so the name really fit!  This was my first time riding him after being at Teryn Muench's place for a month...I adopted Bu this past December and he's turned out to be a really good mustang and horse :)
First  day in Houston!

This morning's before school session with Pilgrim.

Magic's laying down practice...my 10 year old sister's mustang for the makeover.

Pilgrim chowing down!

Another shot of little Magic laying down...
I haven't updated in a while...been busy working with Pilgrim and keeping up with school work to update my blog.  Pilgrim's been doing wonderfully; he's getting a lot softer when I'm lunging and pivoting him on his hind quarters, lays down whenever I ask him to, stops on command beautifully, still working on making the trotting side-by-side look a little prettier, but i'm sure we'll get there.