Dennis:
The conclusion of 100 days with the Extreme Mustangs…
The last three months have come and went like a blur! It has as always been a great time filled with all sorts of life lessons. Though the lessons are present on a daily basis some of them go unnoticed for awhile then down the road a bit you think to yourself ,so that’s why that happened like that!
The lesson of facing and overcoming fear every time my foot went into the stirrup of the pretty little grey mare named Rainbow was a unique experience for me! I believe this was given to me so that I could have more compassion for the people who come to me for help in overcoming their own fears with their horses! We spent last Wednesday at Dan and Susan Bailey’s ranch. Both Starbucks and Rainbow were on high alert. The attachment that these two horses have for each other caused them to feed off of each others emotion! This is a self preserving instinct these horses have to protect themselves from potential danger. In their minds fleeing sooner rather than fighting later is a whole lot better choice. This however presents a pretty big problem for Lance and me to overcome. It is here that we put to use the foundation we have been putting down for the past three months. This foundation consists of softness and the ability to move the body parts of our horses, forward motion and freedom for these horses between clearly established boundaries. Them mind of these horses tested our foundation pretty strongly! There were times when Rainbow had her front feet up over the top of the corral fence with her mind set on going over it even with me on her back! She was also content to try to scrape me and the saddle off of her back by mashing my leg into the solid steel fence!! Boy was that fun!! Just like the emergency broadcast that comes on the radio sometimes though it was a simply a test! A test to see if our foundation was laid and solid or would it crumbles under pressure?
We took the horses to the fair grounds at Sedalia Wednesday afternoon. There is something about the setup at these old fairgrounds that has a good feel about it. This feel is pleasant to both people and animals. The horses were stalled a good ways apart and after a little while they settled in and were quiet again. Even though we kept them separate for most of the time we had them they were both unconcerned about other horses but when they saw each other they both would call to each other and get a bit bothered. Now to stay focused on each step as it comes this was our task at hand!!
The preliminary rounds went ok however a few minor glitches for Lance kept him out of the finals. This is such an intense journey and the competition is so strong!! This is much more than just another horse show. It is in fact a life changing experience and it was a pleasure for me to take it with Lance Dixon in fact the biggest compliment that I have received is when Byron Hogan said to the crowd that Lance was a mini Dennis Cappel.
Thank you all for joining us on this venture
Dennis
Lance:
100 days ago I put the very first ride on my mustang Starbucks. Throughout these past 100 days I have learned a lot on training horses, life, and myself thanks to the Cappels, my family, and friends who have supported me along the way. The past 100 days have been amazing but also this past weekend at the Extreme Mustang Makeover Sedalia Missouri was even more inspiring. There was so many great people there who all were there for the same reason. To take a horse that before this program didn’t have much hope for being able to have a life outside the holding facilities and overpopulated range land and give them hope. Along with helping these mustangs we are able to learn a lot about ourselves and gain many opportunities by making new friends with people. I may not have won this past weekend or even sold my mustang for thousands of dollars. But I was able to take a wild mustang and turn it into a horse that someone else could adopt and love. Some close friends of mine were able to get her and I am more than happy with her new home. This was a humbling experience and I plan on doing it plenty of times in the future.
