Holly Golightly Meets Cowtown

I’m sure all of you are sitting on the edges of your seats, waiting to find out what happened with little Miss Holly and me down in Cowtown; wait no longer, it’s update time!

I wasn’t actually able to make the 22-hour drive along with the boys and the horses due to work, so I flew in on the morning of Tuesday, September 16. I met up with the crew in the historic part of Fort Worth; we boarded the horses in the hundred year-old Exchange Street Livery, right beside our hotel. Holly was simply the “Belle of the Barn;” she had all the boys in the stable beside themselves!

I gave her Tuesday to get settled and rested before we hit the ground running polishing our act; I took the opportunity to do some Texas-sized shopping!

Wednesday morning we were up with the sun; Holly and I were both primped and preened by 8 a.m., then we took to Exchange Street for a little mustang photo shoot. That’s one of the coolest things about Fort Worth; it’s perfectly acceptable to embrace the cowboy culture, horses and all. Holly was such the parade pony, hamming it up with anyone and everyone that would give her a second look.























After the photo shoot, we headed over to Will Rogers Coliseum to check-in our steeds for the competition. While leading Holly through the hundreds of rows of stalls, I realized she was one of the few horses that weren’t wide-eyed and whinnying. She was calm, cool, and collected while she sashayed by the other horses. That’s one of the things I love the most about Holly-- she is completely unfazed by change; she didn’t seem to care at all that we were in the middle of a show barn, in the middle of a city 2,000 miles from home. She is so very confident in her own skin, what a little role model!

She and I worked a lot on Wednesday, getting loosened up and accustomed to the show ring loaded with obstacles before our competition on Thursday morning. The only issue I felt like we had was with the trailer we were required to hop into; she must have felt like it was a little too high. After working with it for a little while, she consistently consented.

Wednesday night was certainly a late night; I stayed at the coliseum until nearly 1 a.m. going over the obstacles with Holly, then, of course, we had to go through the pre-show beauty regime.


The boys and I headed over to the coliseum Thursday morning early enough to watch the sun rise, then each of us headed to our respective stalls to give our furry companions the pre-game, “Let’s do this” talk. Holly was ready.

We headed down to the ring around 9:30, early enough to get her physical condition judged before it was time to go into the ring. Thankfully, they didn’t judge her juvenile warts! After the conditioning portion, it was time to show Fort Worth what little Miss Holly Golightly and I had been up to for the past hundred days! Before we walked into the ring, I was almost positive my stomach was going to turn inside out due to the colony of butterflies that had apparently taken up residence. I glanced at Holly; she was far more impressed with the bottle of water sitting on the gate then with the dozen other horse-human teams practicing around us. The moment before we stepped into the ring, I gave Holly a quick hug and kiss, said a little prayer, and hoped for the best. As we walked through the gate, I put my trust in Holly and let her take the butterflies away; we were ready.


The first obstacle was the trailer; flawless! Next up—360 to the right, then I had to pick up all four feet while she was ground-tied. The 360 went well, but Holly followed me when I moved around toward her hindquarters to pick up her back feet…I got docked there. Then we trotted off, hopped over a little jump, weaved through serpentine cones, and into a chute. From there, we backed out, trotted over spoked poles to a cone, then came to an abrupt stop. Holly did so well!




















Later that afternoon, we were having lunch with our friends from home, along with another competitor, Matt Replogle, when Matt got the call; the results were posted! “Where did we finish?” I didn’t think the answer would ever come!
“Eleventh,” Matt said.
First I squealed, then I realized that I wouldn’t get the chance to really show-off Holly. I missed the top 10 by half a point! I was, and still am, tickled pink with our performance. However, I can’t help but blame myself just a little; “What if I would’ve…”

All second thoughts aside, I’m thrilled. Thrilled with Holly. She is full of life, determination, and heart. Needless to say, that little spitfire came back to the Bar T and is sitting in my barn as I type this ☺

The bottom line is that the competition was amazing; I’m so thankful that I was able to be a part of this incredible opportunity. I saw horses that could viably compete in any discipline successfully that were completely feral just a hundred days ago. I can confidently say that I will, along with my brother and my father, be back again next year. Except next year, I’m going for the under-saddle portion!

Stay tuned; I’ll post a video of our run within the next couple of days!

Also, if you’d like to see how my father fared, check out his blog at www.thebartmustangproject.blogspot.com.

How 'Bout Them Cowgirls...

Two updates in one day...I must have news! Well, I do today was an awesome day. I accomplished one of my goals :) Instead of telling you about it, I'll show you- out-takes included! Enjoy!







And a little extra...I was the first woman to ride Pardon, my father's EMM horse. Two weeks ago he was a bucking broc! It was a little scary to throw my leg over the saddle with him, but I did it! Horses are so empowering...they take the fear away :)

The best thing for the inside of a woman is the outside of a horse...

It's crunch time now...Ft. Worth is only about a week away! I just can't believe it; the time has surely flown by. My bond with Holly continues to grow and within the past week this little horse has reaffirmed what I already knew; she has quite a heart. You know that old saying, "There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse?" It's true with her...she is so intuitive and just understands. Horses are different from people in that regard I guess…without using words they know exactly how you feel. Maybe that’s why we feel so drawn to them. Last week, when I needed this little filly the most, we took a little moonlight stroll together, just her and I. If you’ve never taken a little midnight ride (or walk as the case may be) you should. There’s no other time when you feel that special bond. I think it has something to do with the fact that you really have to put trust in your horse…its quite therapeutic.

Now that we all have the warm fuzzies, I’ll move forward to the training...
I’m working with her a good deal now on moving off of my body instead of the lead. It’s working quite well! I’m doing a lot of things now completely leadless. She’ll trot beside me as I jog around and through obstacles, sticking right to my shoulder. I hope that this will continue in Ft. Worth, however this little socialite tends to get distracted by her loyal subjects!

I’m a little stuck on when it comes to teaching tricks…anyone have any good suggestions?

Updates!

So there really wasn't a whole lot to talk about after my first post; I mean, she came so far in one day! However, since that time, we've learned a lot. She can now lunge in and out of the round pen, cross water, stand while a whip whistles by her ears, stand to have her feet trimmed, tolerate clippers, load into the trailer, and we're starting to bow. Oh, and did I mention she runs our herd? Oh, well she totally does.

We have an event coming up, where you can meet Holly, along with the boys' mustangs. Come by and watch us work the 'stangs, register for prizes and enjoy fellowship with other horse enthusiasts!

When: September 13 8:30-12:00
Where: Southern States in Pittsboro, NC

Introducing Miss Holly Golightly...

Well, after slacking for an entire month, I figure it's time to get this blog up and running. I've had Holly since June 14...what an eventful month. I'll get you up to speed-

June 13 my father, brother (from here on out referred to as "the boys") and I packed in the Dodge and headed to Ewing, IL to pick up our BLM Mustangs. The boys were both selected to compete in the full Extreme Mustang Makeover, while I set my sights a little lower on the yearling portion of the competition, dubbed Mission 007 for the year of the horses birth. We arrived at the holding facility in middle-of-nowhere, IL at around 9 a.m. on June 14 to pick up our soon-to-be loyal steeds. After checking in at the facility office, the boys received the tag numbers of their horses and raced around the pens trying to catch a peek. I was kinda given my pick of the three or four scrawny little yearlings in pen five. I decided on a leggy little bay that seemed less concerned with my standing nose-to-nose with her than her mouthful of fescue. That little filly seemed to have more guts than any of the hundreds of mustangs there that day!

When it came time for the little nameless filly out of Eureka, Nevada to get haltered and load on the trailer...well, it couldn't have been easier. She just waltzed right on the trailer like she'd been doing it all her life. The other two...well, they came out of that shoot and on to the trailer like they were projectiles shot out of a slingshot. The ride home was uneventful as far as the horses were concerned, and we got back to the Bar T around 1 a.m. on June 15.

The next morning we were up and out early to get a start on the horses. My partner in crime Molly also came over to see what we could accomplish with the filly. My dad had the round pen first, then Chapin. Molly and I felt like we could make progress just as easily in the corral as the roundpen, so off we went to ambush this little horse. Within the first hour, we were leading her around, picking up feet and spraying her with the water hose. Needless to say, we were both a little shocked. This horse just came off the range in January and has had zero human contact...how is this so easy? Not wanting to look a, ahem, gift horse in the mouth, we took full advantage!

It was somewhere between her her guarding my dad's bulldozer of a mustang from human contact and her eating out of my hand that I decided two things: 1) This little filly has the same doe eyes as Audrey Hepburn (one of my all time favorites) and the same carefree, mischievous nature as her character from Breakfast at Tiffany's. Her name just had to be Holly Golightly! 2) This little ballsy, easygoing, and full-of-herself horse would be coming right back to the Bar T in September after the competition.

Since Day One, Holly has been into all kinds of Shenanigans, from taking advantage of the buffet of feed barrels in the tack room, to jumping through the window in her stall (not quite sure how she managed that one...it's 3' x 3' and about 4' off the ground). Stay tuned here and I'll keep you posted!