The Road to Ft. Worth

Today is Saturday, June 13, I arrived rather early in the morning at the BLM pens in Palomino Valley just north of Reno, Nevada to pick up my second makeover mustang. I was hoping for a dark gelding. It was cool and over cast with a chance of rain in the forecast so I wanted to get my mustang home before it began to rain. Terry Russell and her camera man Walker from Reno's Channel 8 KOLO TV had already arrived and were ready to begin filming the story of this mustang's journey from wild to tame.

It was not like the first challenge where the computer had randomly assigned a mustang to each trainer. This time, the first mustang into the chute would be mine. It turned out the first one into the chute was a well put together bay gelding with three white socks and a star, stripe and snip on his beautiful face. As I watched him move through the chutes and down the alley toward my trailer he trotted out and he is a moves very nice. When I enquired about his history they told me that he had been rounded up in Ely, Nevada in September 2008 and brought to these pens where he had spent the winter.

After much difficulty and several attempts the fellows at the BLM finally got my halter and long lead rope on him, and he was ready to load into the trailer. When the gate in front of him opened he walked into the trailer and turned around to see where he was coming from, as if to say good bye, and stood there quietly on the ride to his new home at my house.

When we arrived at the my house - lovingly referred to by friends as the Mustang Nanny's mustang hotel - we backed up to the pen and opened the back of the trailer where he walked out into his new life and world. He was greeted by many of my friends and who had come to welcome him and my big Quarter Horse, Presley, who I had put next to him for company. The mustang checked out his new quarters and had a sip of water all the while keeping an eye on his new fan club not quite knowing why everyone was there with those funny little silver boxes looking at him, but did take the opportunity to extend his nose and sniff several of the outstretched hands.

Later in the afternoon after the mustang had settled a little I went into his corral and was able to hold the end of the rope and talk to him. He was leery of me but made no attempt to bite or kick out at me. For the rest of the afternoon I just left him alone to adjust to his new home and surroundings, let him relax and his adrenalin to subside. His day had been extremely traumatizing for him.

The look on my sister's face sums up the whole ordeal of this day for my new mustang.

Let the challenge begin...