Our first T.I.P. mustangs arrive! Woo hoo!

Today was a very long absofreakinlutely awesome day! I woke up about 3:00 a.m., then got out of bed at 3:45 to go out and feed, and get ready to take off. We headed to Ewing, IL to pick up a couple of horses for the Trainer Incentive Program. Weather here was pretty good, but the closer we got to Ewing, we noticed they had ugly weather within the past few days.

Here is the main dirt road that takes you to the facility, Sheep Farm Rd. The trailer tires were widening the path...it was pretty narrow. If we would not have had 4x4, we would have got stuck.



When we got there, Walt said he had been trying to call us to tell us to wait until the weather was better. He was given the wrong area code, so someone got a couple of messages from him....who knows, maybe they will eventually adopt mustangs! :-) He said we could look at horses, and he thought it was safe enough to load them, it would just take a little bit because he didn't have the chute out.
The snow doesn't look bad, but there is a thick layer of ice underneath it.

Here I am amusing myself while Walt runs up a couple of horses we picked. Walt is a really great guy, and he gave us his opinions on some of the horses there.



Here are both boys. Now here is where it is kind of funny...I thought I was looking at geldings because I said that is what I wanted. Little did I know that they had some adult stallions in with the geldings...and guess what two we picked out of the bunch? You got it! Two stallions! Too late - already loaded when we realized. I have never worked with stallions before, but I have read a lot about it, and have talked to several people who have had mustang stallions. It doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I am very excited to get the chance to do this. I just hope that when I start putting word on the street that I am looking for adopters, that they don't freak out about the 'crazy mustang stallions.' I will get them gentled first, then make a call to the vet. The other funny thing is, I still have not seen the family jewels. It was almost dark when we unloaded them...I will look tomorrow, then probably wonder how I missed the obvious! Ha ha!

Both are coming on 3 yrs old. The solid bay with the star is very stocky, and we originally thought he was 4 yrs old because that is what the paper we had said, and he was filled out more than the other one. He is very curious and didn't hesitate to rub his nose on our hands. He is from Wheeler Pass outside of Las Vegas, and was captured in January 2007. As a nick-name right now I am calling him Vegas. I want his adopters to give him his official name. :-)

The other bay has a star, stripe, snip and has 4 white socks. He is slicked off, almost like summer! I am trying to figure out if he has a short winter coat like one of our QH mares, or if he was vacationing someplace nice! We thought he was taller than Vegas, but I don't know now...will have to check tomorrow. He is from Stewart Creek, WY and his capture date was August 2006. He came in as a foal. His nick-name is Wyoming. Brian thinks I need to call them 'V' and 'Wy' to not personalize it so much. I will try...but whatever flows is what I will call them.



Wyoming sporting his American Mustang halter, and his brand shows. Both boys had their brands clipped so their numbers could be read. They have been around a while and the tags were no help.



On our way thru St. Louis we stopped to visit with Angela. They were having a Drill Team meeting, so Angela and one of the gals, Caitlin, came out to say hello.
Angela's daughter Jessi is going to be mad she missed this! She was at a 4-H event. We love you Jess!



Vegas is getting his rump scratched by Catilin, and he seems just fine. I can't wait to work with him. So far he is more mellow than Tripp was.



MUSTANG BUTTS DRIVE ME NUTS!!!
...Wyoming on the left and Vegas on the right. Wyoming is built nice, but he will fill out quite a bit.



My pictures from unloading didn't turn out that great. Lots of back scatter from the flash. Bummer! Both boys were sniffing around on the mini's. This is the better picture of the group. Looks like the little girls are discussing the new cute boys on the block!



Vegas let me come up to him tonite and rub on his face. He didn't want me beside him, but in front was okay. Vegas does not have a halter on - we forgot it! Walt forgot to shut the chute gate, so Vegas walked all the way thru, and we had to turn him around and send him back. After getting him back out and turned around again, we all forgot about the halter. I am glad it is Vegas because he is more curious than Wyoming.

Wyoming did nose around on Brian's hands while in the trailer, but that was it. He is not interested. I would not call him nervous, just distracted.

I am very excited and can't wait until tomorrow morning to go visit and play.

Do you know how many people get to actually live a piece of their dreams? I know of at least one! ME! Woo hoo! I have dreamed about this type of thing for a long time and really didn't think I would get to do it. We all know how life gets in the way, right? I am very lucky - I have a supportive husband who loves to be involved as much as time allows. Sure, I could do it alone, but it would be harder.

Okay, gotta get some sleep now. I will keep you updated!

Until later...Karen and Tripp