Extreme Mustang Makeover with Dennis Cappel

Sunday September 21st

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:20:00 +0000

Sunday the day of the auction. I was not looking forward to this day. Knight was fairly far down in the order of the sale. The horses were not selling very high. Five hundred to fifteen hundred seemed to be the majority. Jim and Dawn Blackburn of Moscow Mills had talked to me about purchasing Knight and donating him back to Hope Givers Working Ranch and they were willing to pay up to $3,000 for him. I felt confident they would be able to purchase him for that amount or less based on how the others were selling. When it was his turn to sell the bidding was brisk and he was quickly over $2,000. However the bidding stopped at $2,500. and Knight was on his way back to Missouri. Thank YOU Jim and Dawn Blackburn.
It's been a good journey over the last three months and I am looking forward to next year!
Thank You all for following and supporting Knight and myself. God Bless each one of you.
Dennis Cappel

Day 101, Sept 20th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:07:00 +0000

Saturday morning the riding competition is under way. I let Knight have Friday off to rest.
He is irritable like a tired child. After the competition on Thursday we are setting somewhere
near the end of the pack. He will have to have the best ride of his life and allot of favor to have a shot into the finals. All the horses were body conditioned scored before we are to ride them in the competition. He turned in a fairly high body condition score and will help as it counts for 20% of the total score. We again drew up late in the competition , went in as drew 64.
We trotted into the arena and stopped in the center and started the run. Knight turned around at about 50% of his capability. His circles at the lope weren't bad. The obstacles that were in the arena went well and the 2 minute freestyle after the obstacle course went well.
I side passed him all the way through the poles on the ground in the shape of a W, walked him up over the bridge, then I backed him over the bridge and the announced there was 30 seconds left to go , so I got off and laid him down and rode him up off the ground to complete our run.
I feel it was a pretty good run. We ended up placing 17th. The body condition score and this run brought us way up from the in hand course to finish in the middle of some very tough competition. I feel it was a success to be competitive in this field.

Day 99, Sept 18th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:56:00 +0000

Thursday morning the in hand competition is under way at 8am. Firsts the stars, then the idols,
and then it was time for the legends. We drew up 54th so it was in the afternoon before our turn came. I had been working with Knight to get him to trot when I ask him too. Finally its our turn and we entered the arena, the first maneuver requires us to trot , we headed for the first poles
and Knight started off trotting and following well but as I got closer to the poles he broke down to a walk and refused to trot up beside me. This was a HUGE setback. We finished the course and he all of the maneuvers well expect he was alittle reluctant to load in the trailer and once again refused to trot. However we did finish the course and turned in a completed run. Failing to trot has dug a hole that has made it almost impossible to make the finals.
This portion of the competition counts for 30% of the score.

Sept. 17th, Day 98

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:52:00 +0000

Arrived in Fort Worth in the afternoon. We had a trainers meeting. After the meeting
I saddled Knight up and rode him around in the warm up arena over some obstacles.
He felt pretty good so I put him up for the night.

Day 85, Sept 4th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:59:00 +0000

Wow time has flown by! Its hard to believe this is the 85th day. I have been riding Knight around our neighbor on the gravel roads. With all the moisture we've had, his feet soften up and
he was sore. So today I put shoes on him. At first he was pretty skeptical of me tapping on the bottom of his feet. But after he threw a temper tantrum and got through his anger issues he excepted shoeing. I am pleased with how Knight is riding. We have been working over obstacles and various maneuvers and I am looking forward to Fort Worth.

Day 76, Aug 26

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:20:00 +0000

Knight continues to improve. He's turning around easier. Driving from behind better.
Guiding better. He's really starting to do stops and turns. He's in rotation with all the
other horses here at Cappel Systems. We're looking forward to the competition.

Day 64, Aug. 14th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:41:00 +0000

I ride Knight early each morning. I work on keeping him soft and responsive. I ride alot of straight lines. I usually walk until he feels comfortable. I usually have him move his hind quarters left and right at a walk. Then I will ask him to skip the trot and go right into a lope.
I lope straight lines across the pen, diagonally, and down the center. Sometimes I will side pass at the lope towards the center of the arena, then back out to the opposite corner and do that on each side of my arena. I change often to keep him from anticipating. Mostly working on him traveling forward freely. He usually starts out resisting not wanting to go forward and finishes up free and willing.

Day 60, Aug. 10th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:26:00 +0000

Sunday afternoon we're headed or Springfield, IL. We're going to Calvary Temple Christina Center where people will be gathering for a western day at their church. Their having a chuck wagon cookout, a world champion gun spinner, bird dog pointing and retrieving exposition,
a cowboy prize for best western cowboy and cowgirl outfit and we will do a demonstration with
Knight before we listen to the band of the "Sons of the San Joaquin." When we arrived they had a tent set up on their church parking lot where people were to gather to eat. I have rode Knight up near the people and as usual people gathered around him and wanted to touch him. He's getting to where he really eats this up. He loves all the attention. The only seemed to have trouble him was a gentlemen came in and had his son up on his shoulders. Knight did not like that. But after alittle while he calmed backed down again and I rode him over to the baseball field where we were to do our performance. I was the first to go. Knight was ready. He felt pretty good, but there's still more resistance in the forward movement than I would like for him to have. He allowed me to do everything I asked him to do. But he hasn't quite yet given all of him ability over to me. I was pleased that he let me lope him around and he gave me a nice flying lead change and we finished the demo with a nice sliding stop.

Day 52, Aug. 4th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:10:00 +0000

Early Monday morning trying to beat the heat. I discovered at the pre work Saturday that Knight needed some attention on learning how to trot while I am leading him. So that was the first thing we worked on this morning. After awhile he is catching on and doing pretty well.
So I rode up to the outdoor pen and continued on our routine of loping straight lines, stopping, turning, leg yielding, backing. He is getting lighter and more responsive and starting to put more enthusiasm into his work. At just over the half way point on our journey, things are looking pretty good.

Day 50, Aug. 2nd

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:00:00 +0000

Early Saturday Morning on our way to the Pre Work in Columbia, MO.
Looks like its going to be a warm day. The day would prove to be good for everyone. We accomplished what we set out to do and that was to provide an environment similar to the show to prepare our horses in. We all spent some time in the arena letting our horses settle in, then we had a small meeting and started to work. It was a needed time for Knight and I am pleased with how the day finished. Thank You !! to all the spectators and participants who attended and
made this event worth while.

Day 46, July 29th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:18:00 +0000

This morning we are in the outdoor arena early loping more straight lines, riding diagonal lines.
Knight is feeling good! He is improving on his impulsion and is becoming more willing all the time to stay between the bridle reins and my legs. I am looking forward to the Pre Work in Columbia this coming Saturday August 2nd.

Day 45, July 28th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:05:00 +0000

Early Monday morning, more riding in the arena. Loping and going forward is what I am concentrating on, guiding around at a lope. Knight is beginning to get the idea to move away from pressure where ever it comes from. I am looking for him to develop a better attitude about it, it will come. Monday afternoon, I took Knight to a Christian Cowboy Youth Camp for a demonstration. It was Hot, the horse flies were thick, very humid. The horse flies don't' seem to bother Knight very much. As I talk to the kids at the camp and demonstrated some horse handling techniques I noticed there was a girl in the crowd with a bull whip under her chair.
I asked her if she knew how to make that whip pop? She did! So I had her begin to pop that whip and walk pass Knight while she was popping the whip and he just looked at her. After our talk I loped Knight around the field where the camp ground was. I can feel resistance in him to go certain places, so I rode him pretty aggressively to show my lack of approval for his attitude about moving forward. The more he rebels the harder I ride. The freer he becomes, the softer I ride. He is starting to develop a better attitude and I am pleased with his performance.
I feel like we are at a good spot.

Day 42, July 25th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:57:00 +0000

David, Tell and I are going on a ride. David is riding a Peruvian Paso, Tell is riding a quarter horse and I am riding Knight. As we start out the ground is very muddy and I noticed that David and Tell's horses were laboring in the mud. They seem to be sinking and struggling to move forward. While Knight seemed to just glide along on top of the mud. The ride we took lasted nearly two hours. By the time we got back to the barn, Tell and David's horses were ringing wet with sweat and had the look of exhaustion , while Knight barely broke a sweat. He must be one tough horse. He seems to really enjoy being outdoors and away from civilization. So do I!

Day 41 July 24th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:46:00 +0000

Its time for Knight to have a real job. Today I started working other horses on him. He seems to be alittle concerned but as we work he becomes more aware that I am there to help and protect him. The longer we work the more settled he's becoming. Working other horses I feel gives me an opportunity to work on stops and turns more efficiently because the horse I am working gives the one I am riding a signal as to what we're going to do. When the horse I am riding is in the position I need him to be in to properly control the animal I am working. the horse I am riding will feel a sense of freedom and relief. Knight is quickly starting to know what he has to do to get me to give him that freedom. I feel this helps keep his mind clear, I believe it will help in all aspects of his journey.

Day 40 July 23rd

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:34:00 +0000

Wednesday morning early, I thought I would try putting a Monte Foreman bit on Knight and see how he would handle that. I took him to my outdoor arena and just walked around , let him get comfortable with the new signals from a new bit. He seemed to be accepting it pretty quickly
I trotted him around, then ask him to lope and I was concentrating mainly on forward motion when I applied leg pressure. I feel like that I need to develop in him a more willing attitude to move forward when I ask him too. He's feeling pretty good right now, I loped him around the outside premier of the arena, straight lines across the arena and asked for a few lead changes.
He seems to be trying so I put him up and wait for this evening.

That evening back at the Pike County Fair I was to judge the horse show. So I took Knight along to ride him into the arena during the break time. When break time came I rode him into the arena and asked him to pick up a lope and he felt pretty good. He was really moving forward nicely so I loped him around the arena pretty fast and came across the center and he gave me a flying lead change so I let him stop at the opposite end of the arena that I had entered and I exited the arena on the opposite side that I had entered. It was a good night.

Day 39, July 22nd

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:22:00 +0000

We went to the Bull Buck out in Bowling Green, Mo at the Pike County Fair. We were going to do a break time demonstration. I rode Knight around the Bull pens behind the bucking chutes and up to the bucking chutes. He seems pretty relaxed about most of the activity. They called my name and asked me to come to the announcers stand so I opened the gate and rode across the arena on Knight, he entered the arena and felt pretty good. After I spoke with them at the announcers stand I rode back out and waited for my time in the arena. When our time came Knight was alittle reluctant to enter the pen and when I got him in the arena he was reluctant to go forward and every time I headed back toward the out gate I felt him looking and pulling towards it. It wasn't too bad but the desire in him to escape the arena is something I will need to work on with him. When I had finished my time I exited out a small gate on the opposite side of the pen where he wanted to go out. I rode him out behind the bull pens and asked him to do several stops and roll backs. I rode him pretty aggressively, my intention was for him to not be quite so anxious to let the arena.

Day 34, July 17th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:27:00 +0000

Early this morning I saddled Knight and headed for my outdoor arena. I started off at a walk and he feels really good. I asked him for the trot and he feels even better. I asked for the loped and the rebellion reappeared. So I repeated the process that I used in the barn Tuesday night.
Each time he would try to escape, I just increased the energy and each time he would try to be right I let him relax. Didn't take very long at all until he was loping around the arena, comfortable, both ways. He was allowing me to turn him left and right at the lope easily. All I have to do is say Whoa and he is stopping. He is guiding very well. And is carrying himself in a posture that I really like. I feel like we've had a break through. I believe we've rounded the corner and are heading towards the winners circle.

Day 33 July 16th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:27:00 +0000

Gave him the day off.

Day 32, July 15th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:10:00 +0000

Early in the morning I headed up , fed and watered Knight. Then I prepared him for another ride in the arena. He started out just like he left off, mad, pushing on my hands and legs, popping his teeth, actually popping his nose back to his chest, he refused to go forward when I Asked him and he would try to run through my legs. He is just mad and irritated. A friend of my came by and was watching me ride and asked me if I had taken a blow to the head or something
because I was riding a mustang. I just laughed it off. I will have to admit at this point it does seem like a pretty big challenge. But I just laughed it off and went on. I know if I can get all of this energy working in a positive direction that something good will happen. I rode him for quite awhile that morning , didn't seem to make any improvement, in fact I think he could more frustrated. He had popped his teeth so much that he had actually bitten his own lip. I finished up the ride by sitting in the middle of the arena. I got off, took him to the trailer, loaded him and came back home. Another blow out on the trailer on the way home. We're home again. I just can't leave Knight in the mental state he was in when we left Butler. So I saddled him for a ride in the barn. As I was loping him around in the barn, he would try to go up into each corner, so instead of trying to ride him out of the corners, I just turned his head loose and rode him for the corner. He would go left and right but when he would come out of the corner, I would relax my legs and pet him on the neck. For quite awhile he would really try to escape at each corner. After about 15 minutes he headed for the center of the arena on his own, relaxed and quite.
So I got off and called it a night.

Day 31, July 14th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:49:00 +0000

We're off for the Bates County fair in Butler, MO. We arrived at 7pm. They have a Harness Horse Show in progress. I had Knight tied to the trailer and was brushing him off, getting ready to saddle him when a team of halflingers rattled up beside of us. Old Knight has never seen anything quite like that.! He jumped and snorted but that's why we're here. I talked to the person with the team for awhile, then processed to saddle Knight so I could ride him around all of the commotion. He was fine until one of those teams with the big wagon behind them would come towards him, then he felt like he had to leave. The ground was hard and the grass was really slick. This added to the excitement of the evening. Knight seemed to be more settled up in the crowd than he was on the out skirts of it, that was strange to me. So I just rode around, as those teams would go around , I would follow them, hoping to gain Knights confidence that those wagons were not going to hurt him. I decided to go on the far end of the arena and ride him up and watch the show and I heard a commotion and I looked over and a team of Half lingers had gotten away from their handler and were in a stampede mode headed for the crowd. Then the announcer screamed for everybody to watch out. The horses rounded a corner crashed into a car one horse on one side, one on the other still hooked together , rough night for the car. Thank God no one was hurt. Also I am Thankful I was watching that wreck from a distance , if I had been on the other side I would have been in it. After that excitement the show resumed and the final class was a 6 horse hitch. So I went to the far side of the arena and sat on him to watch the last class. Every time the horses would come close to where we were standing, Knight would feel like a powder keg under me. He would whirl and pull at my hands and try to escape. After the class was over, I rode him into the arena. As we started around the arena, at a walk he was fine, at a trot he was fine, I asked him to go into a lope, he would try to take me to each corner of the arena. I believe he remembers the first arena that I rode him in at the Lincoln County Fair where the out gate was in the corner, I think he justs wants out of the arena. So I rode him around for a hour or so, at each corner we would work and I would try to let him rest in the middle of the arena. I finally just called it a night. I put him in a stall, fed and watered him and we were finished.

Day 30, July 13th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:29:00 +0000

Sunday afternoon, nice cool breeze and its really nice outside so we decided to go for a ride.
My wife makes me look bad in the neighbor because she walks while I ride. Anyhow,
Knight is feeling good and we head out down the driveway. I use riding down the road as a opportunity to help me to get him between my legs and between the bridle reins better.
Right at the moment he valuates between extreme lightness and very heavy. He gets better with each ride. But I am looking forward to him being light all of the time. He is letting me start to move his hindquarters a little bit each way. He's really doing real well. Traffic doesn't bother him at all, and we're having a good ride today. When we got back to the house, I took him up to the outdoor arena and we loped some straight lines. He is starting to drive from behind pretty well and becoming more manageable at the lope.

Day 29, July 12

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:28:00 +0000

Saturday morning early we loaded Knight and Solomon and headed North for a Cowboy for Christs clinic near Kirksville, MO. I was working with a colt to start with, so I just tied Knight to the fence where all the commotion would be going on. I saddled Solomon and was going to use him to start the two year old filly. I worked with the filly for probably 30 minutes and had just saddled her and was allowing her to work through whatever she needed to do to get comfortable with the saddle. Then a big cloud came and it rained hard enough we had to quit. We all then loaded our horses and headed off for an indoor arena that was about fifteen miles away where we started up again. I left Knight on the trailer while I finished working with the filly. Then I worked with some people and their horses which took up most of the afternoon. After we had finished I took Knight from the trailer and brought him into the barn for a drink and some hay. It was getting late so we just loaded up and headed back home about a 3 hour drive. When we were 4 miles from home, we had a blow out on the trailer. Thank God we were this close to home. I was able to get ahold of Mike Kannagh and he brought his trailer up and got the horses and brought them home for me. I unhooked the trailer and we came home and called it a night. Knight handled the long trip and day very well.

Day 28 July 11th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:58:00 +0000

Early this morning before breakfast I headed for the barn and got Knight. I led him to my tie area and brushed the dirt off him and we went out to the trailer where the saddle was and I saddled him, bridled him and we stepped away from the trailer and as I reached for the stirrup what I had hoped for did happen! The poor attitude and ill behavior from last night reared its head. Knight bowed his neck pushed on the bridle reins and was moving away from me in an attempt to keep me from mounting. I took my foot out of the stirrup and with the end of a long bridle rein gave him one swift hard swat on the behind. He had an instant change of attitude. His eye opened wide his head came up with a startled expression on his face. I believe he decided at that moment that standing still and allowing me to step up into the saddle quietly was a lot better choice. While on his back I headed off for my outdoor riding arena. I started around the arena and again felt the resistance of going forward. So squeezed on him with my legs and held firm pressure and again with the bridle rein I gave him another swat on the behind. He instantly went forward and I instantly relaxed my legs and let him go forward.
The next time I applied leg pressure he moved forward freely. I loped him around the arena both ways a few times, then we went outside. I rode around the house where he is reluctant to pass the AC while running, the lawn mover in the yard, porch deck, gas tank, so I worked on regaining forward motion with these obstacles. With each step he is freeing up. So I headed off down the driveway. We went down the county road out towards the highway. The cars on the highway don't seem to bother him at all. So we headed down the road from a walk up to a trot now to the lope. I loped him almost a mile down the gravel road. He seems to be relaxed and comfortable. He is allowing me to ride his body up to his face. He is allowing me to move him to the left and to the right while we are at the lope. So I let him come back down to a walk. We turned around and walked back to the house. He feels really nice, relaxed, attentive and responsive. Brought him back to the barn, unsaddled him, gave him a bath, walked him around for a little bit and allowed him to eat. He can relax in his stall until the reporter from the Farm Bureau magazine arrives at 10am.

Day 27, July 10th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:35:00 +0000

Went to the Lincoln County Fair. It was hot and humid. When we got to the fair Knight seemed to be troubled more than he was Tuesday night at the fair, but not bad though. I saddled him up
and started up towards the arena. He has gotten real comfortable around the commotion of the horse show and is not bothered at all when there are others horses around. I sat on him and watched the show and talked to some people. People seemed to be drawn to him and especially
people that aren't horse people want to know if they can touch him. He's getting to where he really enjoys people coming up and petting on him. I think he enjoys the attention. Its now intermission and my turn to ride him in the arena by myself. As I started for the far end of the arena. I can feel Resistance in him not wanting to go. So I trotted him around the arena and the next time ask him for the lope. He is resisting going to the other end to the point of where when he did strike off into a lope that was in the wrong lead. I was not as concerned about the wrong lead as I was about him going forward. So I continued on around the arena and I can feel him wanting to go towards the out gate. He has already established that getting out that gate represents rest. So I had the gate person open the gate and allow the rest of the horses in the arena with me. He settled down and let me ride him around with the other horses in the arena and he got comfortable. I waited until the show was over and I went back into the arena and rode him to the far end of the arena and went out the gate on the far end to try to keep him wondering. Before I did this I had ridden him out away from the show and ridden him around the parking lot and rode him places he did not want to go. After awhile he started to accept being away from where he wanted to be and was starting to trust that when I ask him for something I mean what I say. Over all I was not pleased with his attitude about the night. I will have to work on this. He seemed to be irritated with me. He was throwing little rebellious fits. He would at times grab the bridle reins and push, trying to get me to release to him. He was clapping his teeth together in a frustrated gesture. He was rebellious about moving forward, sometimes he would pop up in the front end and turn around . Sometimes he would just back up and refuse to move forward. All of these are behaviors that to me are unacceptable. We will work on these tomorrow.

Day 26, July 9th

noreply@blogger.com (dennis) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:12:00 +0000

I gave him the day off!