Today was wonderful! I went out and worked with Lua on side passing! Lesson #2 on side passing and Lua is already side passing almost as good as lero is right now!Lua is also picking up showmanship well! Lunging is coming along ok. Which i can expect because i have never really lunged her on a line, only free lunge. Kahlua needs to learn to give to the rope while cantering and work on responding to voice commands .She is giving to it at walk and trot we just need to work on canter.  By the end of her lesson not only was she sweating but she was licking/chewing and doing very well with everything!

My mom came up later to work with Cord and she lunged him to a dripping sweat! The reason for this was 1 because he's not in the best shape(better then Kahlua though!) and 2 because it was time for us to start up his training for a rider again... that rider for the training is me.  :D haha! Yeah, we are going to put the bumpers on him so next time when i actually sit in a saddle on him he won't freak out if i bump him with my legs.

Valero was an angel tonight!!! I need to figure out more things to teach that boy because right now its always a big review! He side passed, set up, pivoted, lunged real well with change in direction, and layed down the first time i asked! I am so proud of all my horses and i enjoyed spending so much time with all my horses !

Oh and P.S. Valero found a friend!

I went out to the horses around 6 with my mom to play with the horses!!! Finally since the EMM I got a chance to actually do something with them! By the end of Kahlua's lesson she was side passing without the rail, (keep in mind this was the first time i even mentioned the idea of side passing to Lua! But i am not surprised she picked it up quickly because she is a smart horse!) Lunging with good transitions from walk to trot(I didn't do anything more because i wanted to get walk 2 trot good), and doing showmanship like Lero by just responding to  my body language! I have to work on reteaching Kahlua like Valero because i am just going to get myself confused! Kahlua is responding tremendously to this change! She's a star!! It was raining on and off and I didn't wanna go in( it was just trickling).I got Valero and we worked on the basic stuff. Apparently i need to work on keeping Lero out of my space again because he was not side passing very well moving away to left. Anyways i was having a great time until lightning and then thunder came. Just as we got in it started POURING DOWN RAIN!! But i was glad i got out there to work with my babies!!  :D

Sorry everyone! I know this post is way past due but at least i am posting!!!We(Valero, Kahlua, My dad, grandma, mom and i ) left for Lincoln, Nebraska! Leaving at 5 AM we arrived in Columbia at 7 AM.Karen , Brian, and Boom all loaded into the correct vehicle and we now headed straight for Nebraska! Literally as we were 10 minutes away from the Events Center one of the trainers we were caravanning with blew a tire on her truck!

My horses arrived at the Events Center before i did!!! :D When i got there i got to meet my newest best horsey friends : Stephanie, Abby, and Brooke!!

We headed to the trainers meeting after this. All of our table had Karen,My mom, Stephanie, Abby, Brooke, Shayla, Eve, and I at first... There was one open seat and Karen yelled to Jay,"Come sit at the kiddie table Jay!!" I replied, " This isn't the kiddie table! It's the Youth trainer's table!" Karen got bored...

It was raining cats and dogs! Poor Stephanie wasn't used to this kind of rain because she lives in Colorado ! So she was all bundled up in her snowboarding jacket!We left and headed back to the hotel to get rested up for what the next day held!

  Friday we had the Extreme cowboy race first.Valero went 2nd and i think he did fantastically! He did everything i asked,the only things that took him a while were the cowboy curtain and the dragging of the monstrous sled(That thing was heavy!!!)I sent him into the trailer(I believe we were 1 out of the 4 people that got there horses sent in)7 Horses competed in the youth EMM Extreme Cowboy Challenge.Kahlua's run was next and we were only competing against 1 other youth.(he was 18 and his horse was FLAWLESS with the obstacles) It was just not Lua's day... She was on the wrong lead, didn't back for me or sidepass, and when i sent her into the trailer she turned around and jumped out before i could get her out...But i was told she was entertaining. She would not go near the sled so as i was leaning over her neck to reach for the rope she dropped her head and down i slid!I landed it!I grabbed the sled, got on her and was able to finish pulling it.When we had to open the gate i unlatched it then asked her to push it with her nose like she does for me at home. There was an instant "AWWWW!" from the audience.haha! Lero and i ended up getting 3rd in the 1st round and Lua and i 2nd.   

Next was the in hand portion of the EMM and Lero did well!The pivoting,trotting through cones,trailer loading,backing the L,and the fan were all flawless.But when i asked him to walk over the 1 ground pole he jumped it and when i was getting ready to pick up his feet he was antsy.Showmanship was entirely my fault he did everything i asked but i messed up the pattern.

It was nice having everyone there to support me!

At the finals of the Extreme Cowboy race he was really nervous.(we think it was a combination of the clapping/screaming and whistling of the crowd and being by himself in the arena.)We got to the fourth obstacle(keep in mind the gate is still open) and he got startled by someone's whistle and took off for the gate with his feet flying!I got left behind because of my sprained ankle and got kicked in the stomach. Chad Kelly had Lero in the round pen and was working him like crazy.All the judges and Craig Cameron  ran over to me and were trying to calm me down.If you were in the audience this is what you saw/ heard...Craig's face was in shock as he looked up to the audience and said"You will never believe this!She wants to finish!!!"As i finished Craig Cameron took Lero and lunged the heck out of him in the arena.When he took the rope the crowd went" OHHHHHH" One of the judges came up to me and said,"I would have never done that!You are going home tonight a real hero!"I scratched Lua from her finals cause i could barely breathe.  

By Saturday i was better.Still sore , but i wanted to finish what i came there to do.I lunged Lero until he was pretty hot,let him cool, then dressed him up in his freestyle wear.He was adorable!!!I will try to find a pic.Valero's routine did not go as i expected.I wanted him to drive through the curtain,he was swerving so much i just took off his gear and led him through it, i wanted him to sidepass,we were running out of time,i wanted him to jump the barrels the first time i asked,he did it the second, and i also wanted to lead him over the tarp and teeter totter halter less but he was so hyper i just lead him over it with a halter.I also wanted to lay him down but we ran out of time so we just bowed.I do have to say though its good the judges had no idea what i wanted him to do because it was a freestyle .THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED AND SUPPORTED ME THIS WEEKEND! YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!!!I ended up in 4th!!!Can you believe it! $300 in cash for the EMM  and $300 in gift cards to Smith Brothers for the Extreme Cowboy Race and winning 3rd in stall decorations!After this i threw a pool party at my hotel for youth trainers who wanted to come.My mom went all out for it!She got us pizza,soda, and cookie cake!We had an amazing time!!!The MHF wanted the youth trainers to do a dance before the top 10 adult finals.We did the Cha Cha slide.Abby, Shayla and i decided we were going to pull Craig Camereon out! He came and danced with us!I fell in love with Lisa Sink's horse Noche!She just brought him up to me and dropped his reins in my lap!He put his head in my lap and he was just soooo cute!I really tried to convince my parents to let me have him! My dad and mom gave me the option of getting him and letting Lero go to adoption or getting Lero.Of course i got Lero!(But boy whoever got that horse it was a steal! He went for around $300!)

Sunday was sad for all of my friends...most of them besides 2 had to give up their horse.Abby's parent's surprised her and bought Jack back for her,as well as Andrea's parents,but Stephanie's horse(Who placed 2nd in the competition!) went for $150 to Chad Kelly who eventually that day adopted him out to a guy for his grandson. Ren is going to be a cattle working horse.Chad Kelly also bought Brooke's horse Apache.He gave her the option of keeping him but she couldn't. And Finally Shayla's horse went to another trainer in the EMM. So yes the weekend was mostly happy but very sad in the end.I was told i couldn't do it again because my parents were afraid i would end up crying when i have to give up the next one.My mom said she didn't know if she could force me to give up one.

Thanks to Karen For use of her photos and Thank you again to all my supporters! I still miss my Nebraska EMM friends! Although it seems as if a chapter of my life has closed i am going to view it as a new beginning! This competition has shown me how great it is to earn the trust of a once wild animal! It has me wanting to train more horses! Valero and I will have many more adventures! Until the next update!!!!


Jessi and Steen's Valero
P.S.  Valero still misses his friends he hung out with while in Nebraska(ironically it was the horses of my friends!!!)