Road Trip

OK, Back up again... LOL!! THIS is how it all got started. I went on the Extreme Mustang Makeover site and saw that they were having the Western States Challenge in Sacramento, CA among other challenges. HOWEVER I had missed other application deadlines EXCEPT for this one!! So I had to fill out a detailed application AND have 2 clients of mine fill out a refernce form. Draw maps of where she'd be kept and the shelter she would have. I had to answer questions about my training style, why I should be chosen, how long, so on and so forth. Out of ALL of the applicants the EMM and BLM only were able to choose 29 trainers!!! ME, being one of 29. Let me tell you the BLM does NOT screw around. They want to know EVERYTHING. How much you feed, size of your water buckets... WOW! They also stress that these horses are "Federal Property." Yeeeeeks! It's good in the long run though as I find my Acacia to be precious and holding in her blood the history of these wild horses.

Trip Time!!! ~ My dear friends and I hit the road Thursday night at 7pm from Seattle, WA heading to Litchfield, CA about an 11 hour drive BOTH WAYS... We drove until well past midnight until we stopped for some sleep in Eugene, OR.

Up at 6:30 am we had to be up and ready for another 7 hour drive to Litchfield, threw mountains, past a TON of farms and fields and finally in to the high desert, when we arrived. I had to go into the office and fill out paperwork as last year apparently, a lot of mustangs came back EMACIATED!!! WTF?!?!?!?!?! Why would you sign up for this if you don't have the means???? Any who, they told me I'd be getting a black mare with a little star and snip.

I handed my paperwork to the wranglers outside and we backed the trailer up to the chute. One of the cowboys jumped on his horse and cut her out of the herd. As she came down the chute I thought I was going to die, not knowing what to expect. I was more than surprised when this cute little darling came trotting into the end of the chute. The Cowboys cut off her ID tag, opened the front of the cute, touched her bum and she walked right into the trailer. No kicking, thrashing, rearing, nothing...

We begin to make our way back after our brief 30 minute stop to get Acacia. Very anti-climactic... 11 hour drive for 30 minutes, then we're off again... *sigh*

Acacia doesn't move in the trailer, and every time we stop to get gas I sneak peeks to make sure she's OK. She's shaking, but fine. She hasn't eaten or gone to the bathroom yet, but she's a trooper. We end up back in Eugene, OR and decide it's way too much to try and finish out the rest of the drive, as we would have gotten home at around 2-3AM, so we stop for the night. Acacia doesn't make a peep the whole night. In the morning when we check on her she has eaten and drank water and there is manure in the trailer!!

Saturday morning we wake up and hit the road again... Arriving at home, being welcomed back by a rainy afternoon. We back up to the round pen, open then door and she jumps out of the trailer and gives a "Where am I?" Snort. She circles around, we throw her feed in the pen and let her rest another night...