Amazing how time can seem to fly or just stop depending on the circumstances surrounding your emotions. It is as if the whole weekend just flew yet certain moments seemed to be so still, as if going in slow motion. Waking up this morning and driving over to the arena I felt as if I had just arrived in Ft. Collins. Let’s face it today was the culmination of 90 days of training! In retrospect, I think we were all more nervous than Ramon ever was at any given point of the competition.

Cow work was first up on the day’s agenda. We were happy to see that the cows were “good” but we crossed our fingers that Ramon & Castro would get a black cow and not one of the brown or white ones. Apparently, crossing your fingers doesn’t really work so well, and Ramon pulled the only white cow in the lot. Not really sure why we worried, Castro wasn’t even phased by it. The pair worked the cow on the fence, Castro was extremely responsive and I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that Ramon is very fluent in “thinking cow”. They rocked and took home the most points. We were excited as this pushed him up to the first spot in terms of points; he was in the Top Ten officially.

The “top ten” had their official meeting and so Marijn, Deirdre, Sandy McFadden (our neighbor located in Greybull, whose indoor arena Ramon and Castro trained in) and I all went to grab dinner as we had to be back by 6:15pm sharp. With Deirdre’s assistance we were able to recruit the help of three college students who were in the CSU equestrian program, as we only had a short amount of time to set up the props (including a wooden box holding a dog) this was awesome and proved to be very helpful. Ramon had been drawn to go third in the Individual Competition and I have to say I think it was a good spot to be in, not first, not last, but just right!

At this point I will pause and say that up till now we were all under the impression that the points earned in the Individual Freestyle would be added onto the points accumulated thus far to determine the winner. Alas, it was not so. The points accumulated in the technical areas, only determined who would be in the top ten. Once in the top ten it was a clean slate and the overall winner was determined solely from the Freestyle portion. I had a couple choice comments on this scoring method however so it goes!

The first two riders to go did a good job; one rode bridle-less and the other performed a handstand on the saddle and then back flip off his horse. We got a little jumpy when the second performer’s music was the same as ours, luckily only the last portion! Then the judges were talking to the second performer and giving his scores and it was a whirlwind of activity for Team Hideout.

Truck, with props on bed, backed into arena. Run obstacles out and set them up in the proper position. Make sure the rope is in the right spot. Make sure the dog stays in the box. Get the bridge in the proper position. Get out of the arena. And don’t forget to breathe!

Then it was happening. The drum roll started over the P.A. and my arms started to tingle. This was the moment. This was the 4minutes where time would slow down and 90days of hard work were to be judged and critiqued. I had the camera in hand and my hands were lacking a certain steadiness. As the performance progressed I went from a little shaky to all out adrenaline hand tremors. (Makes it a little difficult to hold the camera!) But it was on…

Cue music. Enter arena at a walk, over the bridge and kick through the blanket of balls. Nice job Castro with the rear hoof to the soccer ball. Trot to lope and into right circle, flying lead change and into left circle. Stop, back up, spin to the right and listen to the crown show their appreciation. Stop. Spin to the left and listen to the whistles. The music started to grow louder. Back up Castro. Good job Ramon, into a fast trot, short lope, and over the jump. Perfectly executed jump. Rollback and then trot back to pick up the poll and carry it out of the way. Trot it back to the box; listen to the music start to reach its crescendo. Ramon leans down and grabs a rope on the top of the box and has Castro drag the box forward. Crowd applause. Castro trots back to the box and Ramon leans down to open the box – out jumps Ramon’s dog Panda! The crowd clapped and laughed and “awwww”ed. On command, and with Ramon’s help, Panda sits behind the saddle on Castro. More applause. Now, to the finale…the music continues to play and Ramon has Castro go down into a bow, then all the way to the ground. Off jumps Panda and off comes Ramon. Listen to the music and listen to the crowd as they cheer. After taking the rope off Castro’s foot, Ramon remounts and Castro gets up. 30seconds left. Perfect. Take a trot and take in the crowd’s approval.

Just like that it was over.

I don’t really know how to explain the pride, the joy, the sheer adrenaline rush from watching the performance. For me it was the first time seeing any of the freestyle – to me it looked good. Marijn and I just looked at each other and smiled – words weren’t really necessary. Of course we did need to pay attention to what the judges had to say. The total score given was 76 points. We were happy – it was the second highest performance so far. Ramon came out of the arena and he smiled down at us and said “He was good. It is over!” We just laughed and congratulated him.

Ramon took third place overall and while I could go on about how I think it should have been second (as I think the guy that took second put in a truly great performance as opposed to the guy who took first) – I think that everyone is in agreement that to come in for the first time and place third in a group of contestants who have competed in this event 4, 5, 6& 7 times (it was the 7^th time competing for the winning trainer, and his first win) is truly impressive. More impressive is the quality of horse that we have in Castro. Castro was among a group of 4 mustangs that were truly elite of the 50 total. I say that, based not on a slightly biased opinion, but based on the remarks that I overheard from other trainers, from people in the audience, and from the judges. Ramon is proud of his horse and of the work he did. He should be and The Hideout is proud of him. Ramon and Castro represented themselves and The Hideout in the highest standards of class and excellence possible.

I asked Ramon on the drive to the hotel, “Did you have fun?” He looked at me and just smiled and said “Yes, he was a great horse to train and I am very happy with how we did.” At the end of the day, at the end of 90 days, what else is important? Ramon said “I was asked to train a horse that could perform well, I did my job.” That he did, and he did it excellently.

Congratulation Ramon & Castro – You Rocked It!

Tomorrow is the auction; let’s see if we can bring Castro home.  (update from when this post was written – Castro is coming home to The Hideout)

Truck, hooked up and ready to go –  Check. Dog – Check. Mustang – Double Check. Trainer, Excited yet Calm – Triple Check. Load up, Ft. Collins here we come! The Hideout entourage (Ramon, Maricella, their kids, Marijn, AJ & Deidre) headed off to Ft. Collins, CO to get checked-in and settled in for the first day of the Extreme Mustang Makeover (EMM). After 90 days of training it was finally the weekend everyone has been waiting for. The support from guests has just been unparalled and Team Hideout rolled out knowing that the full support of those who could not make it followed with them on the journey.

Pulling into the B.W. Pickett Arena a collective sigh was heard from all followed by the check-in which was organized and smooth. All the contestants are being housed in the branding stables of the Colorado State University (CSU) Equine Research Facility. The stable is impressive. After Ramon did all the paperwork, Castro was unloaded, paint branded with a hip number (6) and settled into his stall. For a horse who has never been in an indoor stable area (or housed in a stall) he was calm and steady- the same can’t be said of all the mustangs. An objective (and opinionated) critiquing session from our group, found the rest of the mustangs to be an impressive variety in horse confirmations and colorings. About 90% of the mustangs were small and narrow chested. In comparison to most, Castro is well muscled and overall well-built, a biased Hideout oppinion would say there are only a handful of the mustangs that match him in the looks department.

 At five o’clock there was a trainers meeting. Once all the rules, regulations, and formal introductions were made it was off to the arena for a 30sec self-introduction to judges and audience and 90sec “performance” by each competitor. This competition is the flagship (so to speak) for the EMM to have a “team competition.” In the team competition, Al Dunning and Ken McNabb would be acting as “coaches” for Team A and Team B. In the 90sec performance each competitor would show off what they could bring to the table and the coaches would decide if they wanted that rider on their “team”.

The riders went in hip number order. Hip #1 scratched, and we were surprised to see that not all the trainers are able to even ride their horses. Ramon introduced himself in an ever dashing fashion: taking off his hat, thanking the arena for the opportunity and saying what an amazing experience this has been. And then it began. Words can’t explain our teams feeling watching Ramon and Castro in those 90seconds. Ramon started with the beginning of a reining pattern. Flying lead changes were performed in stunning execution followed by several beautiful stops. Man and horse were one. Man and horse ended by executing two reining circles. When the trainers in the arena watching let out some hoots in appreciation, you know something is happening. Marijn, AJ & Deirdre were breathless and all grinning from ear to ear. We have a winner in Ramon and Castro. 

Based on the overall performances of the day I would say that we can preliminarily pick who the top 8 are. Some of the competitors will be a force to be reckoned with and it won’t be a walk in the park. However, I would say that Ramon is without a doubt the best horseman in the arena. He has a connection with his horse like something akin to “Avatar” – they are plugged in together. It is amazing and I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the performances as the days progress.

 Tomorrow morning is the “Coach’s Workout” and we will find out which team Ramon is on and with what coach. 1pm is the Individual Competition in the Reining and Trail Course. It is a big day, we are all excited but not nervous. We are confident. We are confident in our trainer and in our mustang.

 More to come…(For more on the event visit www.extrememustangmakeover.com and click on Ft. Collins link)

With the Extreme Mustang Challenge quickly approaching, Ramon has been working harder than ever with Castro. A portion of the competition involves correctly executing a reining pattern. This past week The Hideout was pleased to host Dominique Reynaud and Jean-Pierre MrArrot (JP), both of whom are top French horsemen specializing in reining competitions. Bet you didn’t know that Europe has a highly competitive reining circuit; top producing countries are France, Italy, and Belgium! (www.euroreining.com)  Dominique and JP spent the week working with Ben and Ramon in the arena on the finer techniques of the sport. (Check out Dominique’s website www.cm-quarterhorses.com)

So what is reining exactly? According to the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA), founded in 1966, reining is a “judged event designed to show the athletic ability of a ranch type horse within the confines of a show arena.” For the NRHA shows there are ten approved patterns and horse and rider must perform one of the ten patterns. Typically patterns involve small slow circles, flying lead changes, 360 degree spins done in place and, of course, the amazing sliding stops. (www.nrha.com for more info!)

(Watch 2007 NRHA Championship Ride http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od8lj_FOkh8&feature=related)

Under the tutelage of Ramon, and guidance of Ben, Castro is coming along. Our esteemed French guests remarked that Castro has good potential as a reining horse and there is no reason Ramon shouldn’t win the competition. Well, we agree with the last part for sure!

Other happenings this month is a “Wrangler Safety Training” that Ben, Shawn, Marijn, and Luke attended in Jackson Hole.  In June, Ben and Marijn will be going up to Billings for a two day “Horsemanship and Cattle” clinic with Richard Caldwell (http://www.vaquerohorseman.com). What does this mean for you the guest? That our wranglers have more info stuffed under their hats to share with you!

Well, the guest season has officially opened with sunshine! We have 3 little cowgirls and 1 little cowboy (along with their parents) partaking in some riding and cattle work this week.

 Whenever our guests partake in our Cowboy Adventure Week we like them to walk away, with not only – the best adventure of their lives, but something that money cant buy. Being a cowboy, is not just saddling your horse and riding after cows every day, it’s a lifestyle. One of the best illustrations of this lifestyle, is Cowboy Ethics, the Code of the West book, written by James Owen.

 Here are some unwritten cowboy codes, which the staff at The Hideout try to live by, not just in work, but in life.

• - Live each day with courage – Real courage, is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.
• - Take pride in your work – Cowboying doesn’t build character, it reveals it.
• - Always finish what you start – When you’re riding through hell….keep riding.
• - Do what has to be done – The true test of a man’s honor was how much he would risk to keep intact.
• - Be tough, but fair – The golden rule was nothing less than a key to survival.
• - When you make a promise, keep it – A man is only as good as his word
• - Ride for the brand – The cowboy’s greatest devotion was to his calling and his way of life.
• - Talk less and say more – When there’s nothing more to say, don’t be saying it.
• - Remember that some things aren’t for sale – To the cowboy, the best things in life aren’t “things”.
• - Know where to draw the line – There’s right and there’s wrong, and nothing in between.

The cowboys and cowgirls working at The Hideout have a great life and look forward to sharing it with our guests. We want our guests to step out of the everyday, and live the Western lifestyle while they are with us. What more could you ask for than a good horse and room to run?! Don’t you wish you were here right now?