Wyoming Robbins is my name......

.....and becoming a wonderful reliable trail horse for MY NEW ADOPTER is my game! :-)

YES! Wyoming has a new adopter. And YES! We were boneheads and forgot our own camera so no pictures of the adoption itself. Chris J. who came out to help me with Wyoming the weekend before took a couple of pictures and will e-mail them to me, then I will post a picture of all of us! Carol Robbins and her family were at the adoption looking around and she said she kept coming back and she liked how I was handling Wy, and she thought he was very well mannered. Whew! Several times thru the day he was snorting, squealing, and pawing the air at the geldings in the pen next to him. Even tho he is going to be gelded, I was worried the idea of a stallion would concern people. Carol saw something in Wy, and she chose him. I brought him home and will put some riding time on him. I am so excited! Not only for Wy getting a new home, but for the chance to be able to work with him. He is a really neat horse, so smart and inquisitive, and I just know he is going to be fun to work with.

The other good news is Carol's daughter found a horse to adopt, and he will be heading home with Chad Kelly to work.

Here is the story of how we finally made it there:

The adoption was Friday and Saturday, and Brian and I took off work planning on being there with Wy on Friday. We got so much rain, and again, the barn lot and yard were saturated. Thursday night we even got the trailer parked at the pen just in case - that way 1/2 the battle was done.
Friday morning we waited around and finally decided it was not worth the chance so we headed to the adoption ourselves. There were a lot of very nice horses there, and some of the tallest 2 yr olds I had ever seen! One big sorrel horse that they had labeled as a 2 yr old was 16 hands plus! No joke! He was a good looking horse. A young man not much taller than myself adopted him.

I was originally going to stay with Angela and her family about 40 minutes away and Brian was going to come home, but we both decided to come home and assess the situation. The wind had been blowing like a big dog all day long, and it quit raining so the top layer in the yard firmed up a bit. I was still scared we would get stuck on the hill but Brian pushed me (sometimes I need that) and we decided to try and get Wy loaded, get pulled out in the yard and he can stay in the trailer over night. I was also scared that Wy would hurt himself because it was very dark out. He had never been ASKED to load before, so after me not thinking and just trying to get him to go in thru the little chute we rigged up, I finally decided to coax him with food. :-) Yep, it worked! So we had a very unhappy little mustang spending the night in a trailer away from his friends. Made me sad...but it had to be done.

Saturday we got up at 3:45 am (adoption was 3 hrs away from us and it started at 8:00), got everyone fed and then headed out.
He was very ancey when we got there and I knew I would have to get in the pen and show him off. Not something I am comfortable with...I like doing good things, and blend in while doing it. Yup, I have to get over it! :-D Anyways, I finally got the lead rope on him and we worked and worked. When people would walk by I would smack the whip and string around him, I would touch him all over, I would take the short whip and bag and flap it all over his head and body, we would change directions, he would face up with me (most of the time) and Carol is right, he really was well mannered. Just think...the weekend before was the first time anybody touched him, and then we had ugly weather right after that so he was not 100% halter broke yet. He did start acting like a stallion and as pretty as that arched neck and head were, I was worried about people being concerned over a stallion who acts like that.

Here is the funny thing - I had never heard him whinny until we put him in the trailer and parked him in the front yard. And I have never seen him act like a stallion, even sniffing the mares on the other side of the fence here at home. I was very surprised. I think he was just showing his 'stuff' and letting them know that HE was in town.

Several people asked about him and some people really really liked him a lot. There was a young cowboy kid who was there with someone who looked like his brother. He loved Wy! But his Dad moved him on to something else. I think they ended up with something a little stockier - but the kid kept looking over at Wy.
It all worked out because Carol came back and she wanted him. Carol has plans to trail ride with her daughter...which I think is great!
There were several inquiries as to whether he was still available or not after Carol adopted him. Chad Kelly's wife, Sherry, was also very helpful and was pointing people our direction thru the day. Sherry even asked if Vegas was still available because people were interested in gentled mustangs, but he has an adopter who is filling out their paperwork and will send it my direction soon. They also want him saddle trained, so I will be a busy girl.

The weather down there on Saturday was crazy! Lots and lots of rain, hail, snow coming in....it is Spring! In spite of the weather, a lot of people came out, and I think they had a successful adoption.

It was a tiring day for me and Wy both. He was getting bored and had enough of showing off for the public, and I was just tired from being up so early. Brian was there by my side the whole time. Having his support, encouragement, and sometimes kick in the pants, is what makes this even more great than what it would be if I was by myself. I love you baby! ;-)
The whole experience itself was wonderful. I was in a position I had never been in before, I got to meet more people than I usually do as a spectator, and Wy got the experience of coming and going and having kids run past his pen (scary at first) and all the hoop-la going on around him.

And guess what I got to do? This is the one picture that Brian got from his cell phone....I got to be on live radio! Woo hoo! Okay, it was not so Woo Hoo at first. I was a chicken but said I would do it. I really love these mustangs and I need to get out of my comfort zone to do what I can to help them. They interviewed several people and it was FUN! I wish I had more time...I had more to say! :-)



Then we headed home....weather was ugly but not as ugly as it was in other areas. We got home and got the truck stuck on the hill and it started sliding. I was sick to my stomach and started shaking! Brian finally stopped trying to move it, the truck stopped, I put cinder blocks on the other side tires to make me feel better...I don't think it really needed it, I just needed to do something. All I knew was we had a horse in the trailer and I was scared like you would not believe!

We unloaded Wy in the yard (remember, his leading skills are still very very rusty) with a bucket of feed as encouragement and he was curious about the stuff we had to walk by, but not scared of it. Of course he paused, looked, sniffed, paused again, but it was okay. We made it out to the barn lot and he had to walk thru a small gate, and sure enough, he did it! Then the llama and minis came running over to us! Oh geez! That was when he got ancey. Brian stopped to shut the small gate, so the shaking of the bucket did not distract him, then he pulled away from me. He was talking to my Arab mare (who I locked up before there was an accident)and the mini's, then we got a hold of the rope. He did not even fight us - he just wanted to visit.

Here is the cool part...he got his front foot over the rope and he did not freak out at all. Ropes do not seem to be an issue for him at all. The only time he kicked out was when the rope got wrapped around his back ankle and he could not get it off. He did not panic, he was just annoyed because as his front foot came down it tightened the back loop. We finally worked it off him, and got his attention focused on the grain bucket again. He followed us around the pen to the gate - BACK IN! Whew! By then it was dark and I was worried about him not knowing where the fence lines are.

I was out playing with the boys today in their mud pit, and Wy came right up to me. He is so tired! Kinda made me laugh. On our way home we stopped a couple of times and he was so curious and watched everything with wonder....he was not nervous or concerned, just wanting to know what everything was.

Yep, he is a neat guy and he and Carol are lucky to have each other. I am excited for the weather to clear up so I can start working with them.

I have decided I need a covered area to work. I would love an indoor area, but I would be happy just to have something that has a roof over it, and good drainage around it. Goals are good, right? :-)

Until later...Karen and Tripp