Week 3 - Jackpot goes to a PRCA Rodeo!

19 days into it on the 4th of July, 

we find Buddy and Jackpot at the....

That's right!

The Worlds Oldest Rodeo

Prescott PRCA 4th of July Rodeo

This a big one folks!

Jackpot says "_______??!!"

you fill in the blank

Bulls

Buddy's more interested than Jackpot

Working in the arena

and in the warm up arena

complete with rodeo queens riding around

The only issue all day was this one gate...

the rodeo queens whizzing around made 

Jackpot unable to concentrate

but never fear!

rancher and friend Jeff Solper 

appeared to lend a hand

and a big grin

you can do this Jackpot

The following picture is perhaps one 

of my all time favorites

Jackpot spooks his way out

but Buddy never loses his cool

or his light hands

It looks like they're doing a waltz

Jackpot composes himself and

pulls it together

which is good

cause the Grand Entry is coming

A family portrait

Buddy, Kim and Jet 

(he's 6 years old!)

There's the Grand Entry lined up to go in

That's a lot of flags waving

not to mention the NOISE

Can you BELIEVE this horse was wild 3 weeks ago???

They sneak closer

A lot going on in that arena

Next to the stock pens

Buddy says to Jet

"Son, lend me a hand,

and lead us up this alley"

Obviously, horsemanship runs in the family

Good job Jackpot

and Jet

and

God Bless America!

Superman and Jackpot

2 weeks into it

Lots of great things are happening with Buddy and Jackpot. I'm a little bit behind here. These were taken 2 weeks into the 100 days. Thanks to Mike Thomas for taking all these great pictures!

I should also mention this fact. It's been 112 degrees here for the last 10 days. At night the lows are in the 90's. It's HOT.

Working with ropes and feet

This teaches Jackpot to give his feet

Also makes it easier to pick up his feet

for the farrier

Not to mention in the future

if he catches a foot somewhere

he's not going to panic about it

Buddy is using a long soft cotton rope

See that crazy tarp thing in the background?

It's a teaching device

Buddy rides horses thru that

The rope is also the first step to teaching a horse 

to stand hobbled

It's the big scary rug again!

It gets closer

and closer...

and Jackpot handles it real well

don't forget... both sides

Buddy swings up

and they work on some basics

What a nice pair

It makes me want to adopt a mustang

Please adopt more mustangs!

Feds consider euthanizing wild horses

Clinic and Comments

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Saturday July 12th

6 a.m to 11:30 a.m.

Horsemanship

and 

Cattle Working Clinic

plus a 30 minute

demonstration by 

Diane Johnson

of Double Docs Horse Chiropractors

Wickenburg, AZ

Jackpot will be there!!!

So come one - come all 

and meet the mustang in person!

35370 S. Hwy 89

Take Hwy 93 out of Wickenburg 

to Hwy 89 toward Congress

on left side

look for signs

See you there!!

Day 4 - The FIRST RIDE

That's right folks

The first ride happened on Day 4, 

the 19th of June

Ground work first

Before you put pressure on in the saddle

do it on the ground

Buddy tests to see if Jackpot is ok with weight

Looks good

Jackpot says "What are we doing now?"

Saddling up

A kind word from Buddy goes a long way

More ground work

Working the stirrups

to let Jackpot know it's ok if he sees them 

out like this

Sometimes horses will catch that out of the 

corner of their eye and it's very scary

Best do it on the ground first

Both sides

Buddy's thinking on putting that foot in the stirrup

But first

He puts his weight onto the saddle

and this happens

Jackpot didn't like that so much

Buddy remains calm as always

and tries it again

This time is much better

So Buddy puts a foot in the stirrup

and he will do this again

and again

and again

As many times as it takes

until he feels the time is right

the horse is comfortable at this point

and he swings a leg over!!!

A moment to let Jackpot figure out what happened

and at this point Buddy isn't guiding him

just reassuring him

and around they go

Now the next picture is a rare thing

don't faint

Buddy cracks a smile!!

A good first ride

Buddy dismounts

and gives lots of love to Jackpot

Strip off the saddle

and rub all those sweaty spots

That makes a horse feel goooood

Excellent first ride

THAT is how IT'S DONE

More to come soon!