Merry Christmas from Kirstin & Kryptonite

A very Merry Christmas wish to all and here's hoping for a wonderful New Year! Kirstin took Kryptonite to his first parade. She was riding in this parade as the upcoming 2011 Princess for the Comal County Sheriff's Posse. Krypt did amazing. He did get a little concerned when some airplanes did a low level fly over(as did others), but by the third pass he was ok with them.

We're Home!!!!

A little late in posting this, but we are trying to recoup from a extremely long trip. 17 hours; each way, driving time pulling a horse is not fun. Actually Patriot was a real trouper. He did excellent the entire trip. Kirstin and Patriot finished in the top ten-Tenth to be exact. They went into the finales on Saturday and placed 9th overall. Patriot decided that Saturday afternoon in front of everyone, he was going to act like a 2 year old. He did not want to stand still or walk-trot was great, even got a lope but not what Kirstin was wanting. So she was not able to do most of her finale's performance, but they did well just the same. Patriot is now back home and happy to be out of a stall. Kirstin will start training him to ride in the near future so keep watching for updates. She now has a job of getting Dyno back to riding. He is a little difficult to ride right now, not enough time spent on his back. But he is well trained and it should not take long to accomplish this.

Tennessee Makeover 2010

The inhand trail course and showmanship are over. Kirstin and Patriot did really well. Patriot just didn't want to back today. Go figure, it is always something. Kirstin was the only youth trainer that could call her horse to her in the catch and release. She walked into the pen after letting him go, stood there called his name and he came straight to her which the judge had told them at the beginning that would be bonus if they could do that. He did all of the course great with the exception of backing-he backed, but she really had to cue him. Ground tied for picking up the hooves, loaded right away into the trailer and trotted like a champ. Went over the poles without a single click on the hoof. Showmanship came and he wanted to sleep-trotted but not great, set up prefectly and stood like a perfect gentleman during the question portion, but Kirstin forgot to back. She thought she blew it. But, I think the judges could really see the connection between the two. It was very apparent that they had something that not all trainers share with their horse-a true connection. She made the top ten again this year and will once again be performing a free style routine tomorrow afternoon. We are so proud of these two!!!

Kirstin & Patriot's busy weekend

Part of Kirstin's job as an American Mustang Representative II requires that she give a presentation to both a youth group and an adult group. This weekend Kirstin gave the presentation to both groups. As about a 10 minute speech on the mustang, their plight as well as some training tips, Kirstin took Patriot out to the arena to run through what she has planned for a possible finale. He did fantastic of course.

Kirstin answering questions after their performance.

Kirstin showing one of the guest how to cue Kryptonite for leg reining.

The RyKo Wilson Band(half of it anyway) was the entertainment for the afternoon! Great music! Derrick is the lead singer and just happens to be Kirstin's brother. And Ryan is like Kirstin's second brother. So we are very lucky to have both of these guys around.

Kirstin and Patriot doing part of the finales that they plan to do if they make the top 10.

Isn't he gorgeous!!! For those of you who have followed Kirstin for the past 3 years, you know that she has always put her yearlings up for adoption. Not this year, she will be bringing Patriot home with her. As her parents, we feel that she is ready to finish her first out completely and Patriot is the perfect student for her to learn on.

Kirstin also did a short reining pattern with Kryptonite. The people there could not believe that a year ago, he was a wild horse. So many could be heard saying "He's a Mustang" Like a mustang looks any different than a domesticated horse. But, I think what was more impressive was the way both Kryptonite and Patriot behaved. They were awesome, both of them. We had a couple of other Mustangs there as well and all of the attendees were able to ride afterwards if they wanted to.

Kirstin explaining to the crowd about the freeze brand on Mustangs.

Took Patriot to the vet yesterday to get his health certificate and to have some bumps checked out. He did great, didn't even flinch when they took his temp. Turns out that he has rain rot. I have never seen rain rot before and we have 5 other horses. I thought that he got bit by some insects such bees. We are treating that condition now, but he will have spots still showing when we go to the show. Bummer. He is such a beautiful horse, I hate to have those bumps all over the place. The vet was impressed with Patriot and how well behaved he was. Also got the papers signed for the title to both Kryptonite and Dynamite, so they will be officially ours shortly.

Patriot and fire!

As you can tell, he really could care less about the fire. Maybe it is because Kirstin is next to him. He trust her completely and knows that she will never put in him in harm's way.

More saddle practice. This is a child's saddle so it is perfect for him. He is really starting to accept having something on his back.

More tarp work. Kirsin wants to make sure that he is ready for just about anything.

Blanket. Not sure of where Patriot is going from the show, but we are pretty sure that a blanket will be need. Kirstin thought it best to do that work herself so that he is ready for whatever happens after the show.

Kirstin has one problem and that is with trailering. Not getting him into the trailer. He walks onto a trailer without any cueing what so ever. The problem is getting him off. He just does not want to leave the trailer. He truly likes it in there. He doesn't back out yet, so Kirstin would turn him around and lead him out. Before his last outing that was never a problem, but ever since it is. I think he likes to go places and we don't take him places often enough for him. That will end as the next couple of weeks will be on the road each weekend.

Patriot's first show 9/18

Patriot's second outing, first show. We took advantage of a local horse show in town to expose Patriot to a show environment. When we first arrived, he was a little nervous, but it took him about 2 minutes to calm down. This was a pretty big show with a lot of horses. But that didn't bother Patriot at all. He ended placing 3rd in the halter class and 7th in showmanship. Pretty awesome for this little guy.

Showmanship class. Keep in mind that Kirstin does not show horses, so this is all new to her. The judge really liked Patriot she said that he reminded her of a horse that she used to own when she was younger. She especially loved his ears. He has the cutest ears ever.

This was the beginning of the showmanship class, Kirstin was waiting her turn to go.

She entered a color class as well, but didn't place in that class. This is from the color class.

There is little Patriot and Kirstin waiting to go into the color class. Notice all of the horses around Patriot and notice how calm he is. Even when horses backed into him, he would just turn his head as if to say, hey watch where you are going!

Going back to the stall. His first time ever on cement. That didn't bother him one bit. He even walked through water puddles without a problem.

Halter class.

Beginning of halter class.

Getting love from Kirstin and Jamie.

Just a waitin around.

We were really proud of Kirstin and Patriot. Patriot was very well behaved, acting better than many of the seasoned show horses there. Kirstin didn't go there expecting to walk away with any ribbons, so she was thrilled to get the two that she received. She is now more confident than ever about how Patriot will behave at the real show. She also got to pinpoint some things that she still needs to work on, like trotting at a lead and sidepassing.

Patriot's first outing.

Took Patriot to the arena on Sunday; 9/12. This was his very first outing, very first trailering since pick up and he did wonderful. Kirstin was a little concerned that he might be a little nervous, but it was like he had been going to the arena on a daily basis.

He even trotted very nicely. Kirstin is still having issues with the trot, but I think he's getting it.

We did trailer him with Mr. Reliable; himself. Trigger is the most level headed horse in the world. He is Mr. Reliable, we turn to him anytime we need help. We did have to separate them though, because Mr. Patriot kept wanting to nuzzle Trigger's side which Trigger mistook for a bite. Didn't want to take any chances. It was a fantastic trip. Patriot was very calm the entire way and he got to meet all of the horses from Kirstin's drill team. Great Exposure. Everyone loved him.

Kirstin hasn't done much this week. On Tuesday she had oral surgery to remove 2 teeth and to have an impacted tooth exposed. Now the orthodontist gets to manipulate the impacted tooth into place. Sounds like a ton of fun doesn't it. She is still very sore and swollen from the procedure. Today was her first day back at school. She attempted going back yesterday, but was in too much pain so she called us to pick her up. She didn't train much at all, yesterday she spent about 15 minutes with Patriot and that is all the training he has had this week. But, even still he is doing fantastic. Things should get back to normal this weekend.

TAZ & Kirstin

Kirstin is runnig for the Posse Rodeo Queen. They have to do a reigning pattern. She hopes to use TAZ. He is a smooth riding horse, he has fantastic lead changes, spins and has the look to boot. TAZ did not like the house next to the arena. She plans to practice with both TAZ and Kryptonite so that she has a back up horse. Both are former EMM contestants. TAZ from 2008 and Kryptonite from 2009.

Monday, Sept 6, 2010

Trailer training. Patriot loads into the trailer without a problem. Kirstin can lead him onto the trailer or drive him onto the trailer. Today, her dad moved the trailer around a little bit just to see what Patriots reaction would be. He was OK, but a little more work needs to be done before we hit the road.

Putting a little bit of weight on Patriot.

Leaning completely over Patriot.

Fun stuff

Introducing Patriot to the big ball. He is not terribly sure, but is willing to let Kirstin play around.

Kirsin's nephew; Daniel, giving Patriot a kiss! Isn't that cute!

Patriot checking Daniel and the big ball out.

More new stuff for Patriot.

Hey what are you doing? But, it didn't seem to bother him one bit. The look on his face was so funny.

Intro to the saddle. Dad is helping Kirstin out with this one. He is just holding on just in case Patriot is against having the saddle on his back.

No big deal with this one either.

Walking around with the saddle on.

Lungeing with the saddle on.

Removing the saddle. None of this was any big deal for Patriot. He just does not care what Kirstin does with him.

Here's the latest update. As you can tell, Patriot is having no trouble learning new stuff. He's picking up the pivoting in the box nicely.

Introducing the saddle pad to Patriot....

Doesn't even faze him....

Kirstin even leaned up against him with the saddle pad and he was as calm as ever.

And then....the dreaded horse eating tarp...

"You want me to do WHAT on this horse eating tarp?"

"So this blue thing....it won't eat me....right?"

Walking all over the tarp...after he realized it doesn't eat horses

"Okay so I've conquered walking over the horse eating tarp... now what am I suppose to do? Wait, wear what?"

Like this?

"NUH-UH!!!! No way!! I thought this blue thing wasn't going to eat me!!!!"

Ok...so maybe if I stand real still it won't eat me....maybe...maybe it'll just go away...