Preparing for the Worlds

By Patty Wilber

My next Big Thing is coming up–well coming up as I write this.

Already Here as you read this.

The Appaloosa World Show

Buckshot (A Para Dox, owned by Whispering Spirit Ranch) is my ride!

It has been two years of preparation.

Buckshot will now let me do just about anything with him, but at first he was edgy, somewhat suspicious and hard to catch.  Today if I walk in his pen, he comes to me.  (He will still dis most people.)

Here he is a month after he'd arrived in Dec 2010. T is in the background and they are both stallions at this point. (T became a gelding.) I wasn't completely sure about Buckshot yet, but one thing was clear--he is a not an aggressive guy! In public, people rarely register that he is a stallion.

Once he decided I was trustworthy, he didn't have much trouble taking the random things we did in stride.

Just for grins, this is Buckshot's daughter. She is two and he was four in his picture. It's probably the same tarp...only it is in smaller bits now (and faded)!

December 2010. He still looks like such a baby-face.

In order to maximize his reining training, I hired a reining specialist farrier. He did a fantastic job on Buckshot’s feet, but Buckshot was petrified of this guy from the minute he arrived on the property.  The farrier never struck the horse (but it seemed like he wanted to) and on the first go, Buckshot jumped, the farrier jumped and Buckshot made dust out of a cinder block wall.

Almost fixed (about 300 bucks later).

Used that farrier a few more times, never ever leaving the horse’s side, but things did not  improve between them.  The last time was the last straw.  The horse began to visibly shake when he spotted the farrier.  When I saw this, my stomach was in knots.  We even administered a mild tranquilizer (to Buckshot), but the effect was minimal.

I was told by a more senior (and ruthless IMO) horse trainer, that the horse should learn to suck it up.

Why? This horse has a lot of heart. He trusts me to take care of him. I think he knew something I couldn’t see.  I listened.

Enlisted my regular farrier, Kelly Robinson. Buckshot will fall asleep while Kelly works on him. A completely different horse. And the shoe job was actually better.

Buckshot, I believe, has a rare degree of sensitivity (not to mention talent), and I (toot toot hear me blasting my own horn?) think that I was a good trainer for him because I was willing to work with that and not fight it.

I am going to have a big hole when he goes home. And no I don’t blubber for all of them. Miracle Whip, who was here before this Blog began, was the worst.  I cried for two weeks.

Here are some more photos!

Buckshot and T had a great time together even after T was cut (gelded). Eventually though, Buckshot started biting when he played (even though T was still in charge of the food and who stood where). I separated them to keep T from getting hurt.

In order to get the job done in the winter, we rode in the dark and the cold. Outside.

We are exhausted! She rides us at all hours!

April 2011. Four years old!

July 2011. Running a reining pattern.

December 2011. He filled out a lot in one year!

April 2012. Blankets! Trying to develop a show coat. Hard to do outside in the snow!

April 2012. Yep same month. Different state! His coat looks pretty good. This was an American Stock Horse Competition in Arizona. Second place by one point.

May 2012. Working our turn-arounds. It took help from Terry Berg and Troy Rogers for me to finally get this accomplished--it was not done yet in this picture! Lost my hat on the run down portion of the reining pattern.

Nope that's not him--it's his daughter, again! (He did that deed before he came to me!) I bought her. What else could I do?

Git along little dogie. And where is my hat. AGAIN???

Reserve National Champ in Jr. Working Cow Horse, July 2012! (I glued my hat on with extra hold hair spray!)

The final touches this week included: three sessions on cows, chiropractic adjustment by Dr. Diana DeBlanc, an injectable joint supplement and new set of reining shoes (“snooze”, Buckshot says). The shoes are aluminum in the front, and flat, wide sliders in the back.

We’ve had a great time preparing.  I’ve learned a ton and now he gets to show his stuff in junior working cow horse (for horses  five and under–he is five) on 10/27 and snaffle bit/hackamore reining on 10/30 at the Appaloosa World Horse Show!

Results next week!

P.S. He is for sale! That’s me on him in the ad!