Open Trial show in Ft. Worth

Hey sorry it has been so long since I have posted. Well Alastor has come a long way in the last month. Every Thursday I take him to Gibb Town for a local team roping practice. The first time I took him I just moved the cattle back down the alley just to get him used to cattle with horns. He did great considering the light wasn't great. and having to open and close gates. Then the last couple of weeks I have been backing him in the box and heading off of him. I don't let anyone heal while I'm roping just because I'm not a roper and I want to keep all my fingers. But he dose very well staying quite in the box and tracking the steers down the pen.

Then last weekend we had horse O Roma at Will Rogers Coliseum in Ft. Worth. So I entered him in the open trail class. It was a great experience I was able to get him in a big indoor arena with concrete walls and people in the stands nothing seemed to bother him as I rode him around in there and people were leaning over the walls and rubbing on him. Ridding him through the course over Tiber's,bridges,through gates, and backing through an zig zag. He staid calm finishing 16th out of 28. He was competing against finished show horses the youngest being 10 and looked like it had never seen a pasture. Every one was very impressed with how calm and well Alastor did at the show.

riding at the high school rodeo

Friday night I took Alastor to the high school rodeo. Its the North Texas High School Rodeo in Saginaw. He did so good I rode the grand entry on him and it went very well he didn't spook at any thing. I rode him around there all night and loped circles in the warm up ring where he was doing flying lead changes and sliding stops. The People seemed to be very impressed with how well he was doing considering he hasn't been in that atmosphere.

Today we went on a family trail ride at the grass lands. It was defiantly a test to how long Alastor would put up with me we rode 15 miles and some of it was rough terrain. There were big trees that had fallen you had to go over and he didn't hesitant and just jumped right over it. There was some steep trails that were on the side of the hill . Also he let me crack a bull whip off his back and rope and drag a log. He was pretty tired by the time we got back to the trailer.

Over the Weekend

Well Alastor has made some great progress I was riding him in an o ring snaffle and noticed it was uncomfortable to him so I took him to the vet and checked his teeth. He walked right in to the clinic like it was no big deal walked in the stocks with out a worrie. The vet asked me how old he was and if he had ever been in stocks. "I told him he was 3 and had never been in the stocks much less a vet". He was shocked at how calm he was with the hole process. His wolf teeth were in and loose and had 3 caps that were shedding. Then the next day I took him down the road to a cutters house and worked turn back for him. For the first time on cattle he did great. I collected cattle out of the pasture and turned back. He showed a lot of intrest in the cattle. I tracked a few on him and called it a day.

For the last couple of days I have been doing ground work on a course I set up in the arena. He will back through an L go over logs and barrels . I have also been doing the course under saddle he dose great at it. And for the last thing he will drag a log or tire with out spooking going forwards and backwards.

Making Progress

Well Alastor and I have made a lot of progress in the last week. I was going to take him to the high school rodeo grounds to get him used to all the horses and loud noises in a controled enviroment. But I got there and there was no rodeo. So I ended up taking him down to the stock yards in down town Ft.Worth it is the original town of the cowboy.
He did great there were alot of people,cars,lights,and loud noises. Nothing seemed to bother him. I took him every where I could through the rodeo ground up and down stairs and down the roads and side walks. He did great considering it was dark out side. People were coming up to him and petting him. He looked like a little puppy. He was soaking all the attention he could.
Also I had him in the arena loaping circles and I set up a challange course. He was going over logs,tarps and through a row of barrels. Then at the end of the course he jumped over a double row of barrels.

day #14

Well The adventures of Alastor and I continue for the last couple of days we have made some more giant steps in training. We rode some out in the arena and in the round pen where he jumped over 55 gal. barrels and opened and closed the gate on Friday and he had Saturday off

Sunday we went to the Grass Lands. It is a big state park with miles of trails. I was able to lope him down the trail and go up and down the drop offs. We also opened and closed gates went over wood bridges. Things have been going good and hopefully the keep on moving a long

Day#11

Well I made some more progress with Alastor today I worked on picking up his feet it was long lesson that I have worked on some in the previous days. I took one leg at a time and used a rope to pull his foot up untill he was relaxed about some thing holding his foot up. Then I stepped in and rubbed on his cannon bones until he took a deep breath and soften his eye. After awhile I was able to pick up both front feet with out the rope but he still needs work on the back feet. That will come with time he is a bit of a kicker and tends to have good aim. After that I went to lunch and hung a bit in his mouth to get used to it. When i got back I got on him and used a four rein approach to get him used to the bit being used keeping him as soft as possible. He picked up what I was asking very fast. So I took him out of the round pen and rode him out side and as I saw I had as good as control of him as if I was in the round pen. I took him down the road cars were passing bye and paper on the side of the road was moving as they past but nothing seemed to bother him. It was a big step for Alastor and Me today. Were making a lot of progress this week so look for the up dates to see what we can accomplish next.

Day #9

Alastor made a huge step in training progress in the last couple of days. I have been doing more ground work with him getting him to go over tarps and through hay rings . I also did work on a rope on a stick swing it buy his head and making the rope go around his neck legs and over his back. I had done all that with the lead rope but the rope on the stick was a completely different object to get accustomed to. All this lead up to the point were I was able to get on him and ride over the tarp and through the hay ring. This was also the First day for me to introduce him to spurs. After I got done I tied him up and he let me spray him with Cowboy Magic show sheen and brush his main and tail out.
Thank You for ready about Alastor and Me will have new post soon

day #5

Alastor and I worked in the round pen some more. He is getting easier to saddle and get on him very proud of him being able to trust me as much as he dose in such short time. I was able to get him transition from a walk to a trot and a trot to a loap. He did great no hump in his back and didn't offer to buck.
He is doing great looking forward to the next couple of months with him

Day # 4

Alastor and I worked on Jeffries method, which started out slow because he was unsure about me jumping up and down by his side. He got used to it this morning and I came back in the afternoon. This afternoon, I redid the Jeffries method and was able to lay across his back. After laying on his back, I swung my legs up and layed parallel with his back. After laying on him and rubbing him for awhile, I dropped my legs on each side and sat up on him. He did great! Just looking around, had his back leg cocked, like no big deal. That concludes the 4th day!!

Day #3 Amazing accomplishment

Today Alastor had his first saddle experience. I was able to get him saddled with ease. He stayed calm and amazingly, didn't buck. I did some desensitizing exercises with the stirrups and moving the saddle on his back. He did not take too well to me trying to step in the stirrup. By the end of the session, I was able to step up in the saddle and step down without him moving. I did not swing a leg over today, but hopefully that will come tomorrow.

Day # 2

Alastor and I worked in the roundpen with a 6 yr old bay mare that is also in my training program. More progress was made as I gained his trust. We worked from the ground as well, being able to rope him and get the road around his heartgirth, and his belly, taking slack out of the rope preparing him for the saddle. I also used the rope to desensitize the insides of his back legs. Also, getting the rope behind his butt and under his tail until he calmed. By the end of our session, I was able to lead him from the ground. He learned to stand tied as he got his first bath.

day #1

Well, the first day went well. I got Alastor to lead, and I was able to rub all over him by using my 5 yr. old gelding Smokey. When you use another horse, it is easier to build trust with them because they are drawn toward the other horse without worring about you. Alastor seems to be very intelligent, learning fast and gaining trust in me. I felt like that was a huge step in progress for us in the first day.