5th Place At the Western States Mustang Challenge

Ali during the in-hand course, picking up her feet and being ground tied

The Mustang Challenge officially started on Friday morning. The mustangs were judged by a veterinarian for body conditioning, which was 20% of the overall score. Immediately afterwards the mustangs competed in the in-hand course where you lead your horse through an obstacle course. This was 30% of the overall score and was judged by All Dunning and Guy Woods. Ali was very relaxed going into the arena. Instead of picking through the rails on the ground, she stepped over 2 at once with her long old stride of hers. This marked her down on pints. Also, through the poles she stepped on a pole while backing up and over. She got an average score instead of an excellent. She did good in the trailering part and even backed out. She finished the rest of the obstacles fine and did a great job on picking up the feet. We finished 7th that day. That's not too bad considering I have never shown a horse before. The things I messed up on were trivial but they cost me points.

Throwing the rope around Ali's back legs in the 90 second free-style.

Crossing over poles during the riding portion of the challenge.

Saturday morning, I was very first to go through the riding course. Part of the course was 90 seconds of freestyle. We could only use props that were attached to our saddle, luckily my rope and whip are attached. I cracked the whip, stood up on her and cracked the whip, side passed her, and put the rope all around her. Then Ali and I started the riding part of the competition. She did well. We lost points on backing up over the poles again and breaking pattern on the figure 8. By the afternoon when the results came out, I made the top 10 finalist by 2 points. The top 10 selection was an emotional event.

Cracking the whip during the Finals.

That night was the Mustang Challenge Freestyle Competition. The trainers started with a clean slate. This event was a lot of fun to watch! Everyone's creativity was great! Mustangs did things from barrels, balls, jumps, bareback rides, cattle work, and even a homemade recycled can horse apparel. Everyone did good. Ali and I placed 5th (it paid $500) and I couldn't have been more pleased with her. She was extremely relaxed and comfortable and did pretty well. I forgot to pull the harrow during my routine and she was a little nervous about getting on the box that was a little tippy (hadn't been smashed into the ground) but she still got up there eventually. Corinne Elser from Burns, OR won the event. She did an excellent job and deserved to win! Joe Misner from Johnson Valley, CA received reserve champion and also did a tremendous job.

My little girl, Ali, and I after placing 5th.

Please check out the pictures of the final event by clicking on this link:

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro/mustang_challenge1.html

The placing went as follows:

1. Corinne Elser Burns, OR Dolly $5,500 (Corinne bought Dolly back)

2. Joe Misner Johnson Valley, CA Loredo, $3,400

3. Matt Sheridan Tehachapi, CA Luna $4,400

4. Madelyn Wagner Valley Center, CA Handy Hank $10,000 (Madelyn bought Hank back)

5. Matt Eric Zimmerman Adrian, OR High Rock Ali $3,000

6. Matt Replogle Las Vegas, NV Jennifer $5,800 (Matt bought back Jennifer)
Jennifer was named from a contest that the City of Las Vegas put on. Jennifer was named by a little boy whose sister is serving in Iraq.

7. Beverly Vreeland Livermore, CA Diamond $5,000

8. Janet Titus Mammoth Lakes, CA Chato $4,100

9. Jenna Nelson Loma Linda, CA Domestic Aim $2,000

10. Keith Danielson Hooper, WA Tina Turner $1,400
Keith took 1st overall on Friday and 2nd place on Saturday. His horse showed VERY well during the competition.


I want to put a special thank you to those who came to Sacramento and supported me over the weekend. My parents, Dennis and Linda Zimmerman, my mother-in-law, Patti Price, my grandparents in-law, Merrill and Betty King, Aunt Mary & Uncle Mervin, our friends, Heather, Clint, and Aubrianna Johnson, our friends, James, Kerry, Jackson, Ryan, and Hailey Irvine, our "adopted family" Jerel, Sandy, and Ashley Bowen. A special thanks to my wife, Kelsey and my kids Mesa and Mylie for all of the extra time put into this. Thanks to Kurt Nielson for holding down the fort at home while we were gone. Also thanks to everyone for the phone calls and e-mails! It was a great time!

Western States Mustang Challege Top Professional Trainer Award

One of the highlights besides placing 5th was getting voted Top Professional Trainer by the other competitors in the Mustang Challenge. (Or the "Miss Congeniality" award as someone called it...there were several excellent trainers in the competition.) The Non-Professional Top Trainer Award went to Jenna Nelson from Loma Linda, CA, who was also in the top 10.

This challenge was a wonderful experience for me. It was awesome to see the progress of Ali and to see how relaxed and calm she was in all the buzz that was around at the Western States Horse Expo. As Matt Sheridan, a fellow trainer, worded these horses..."From Wild to Mild" this truly explained all of the mustangs at the expo and it showcased their adaptability.

I also had the privilege of meeting some of the top trainers that I have always respected and learned from via books and videos. I was personally congratulated by Al Dunning, John Lyons, and Chris Cox. I also made new friends and opened up a lot of doors and opportunities for my future.

Matt Zimmerman & Matt Replogle "Hollywood"

Check Out These Websites of my Fellow Competitors:

Matt Replogle http://mattreplogle.com/index.html

Keith Danielson http://www.hooperhorseman.com/

Matt Sheridan http://www.mattsheridan.net/

Meet Hail Mary

Ali sold at the mustang auction for $3,000 to Ray Ariss who owns the infamous mustang, HAIL YEAH. Ray competed in the 1st Extreme Mustang Makeover in Fort Worth, TX last year and his horse was bought for $50,000 by the city of Norco, Ca. and the Mustang Heritage Foundation. Hail Yeah is the sponsor horse for Horsetown, USA (Norco) and used to promote the adoption of mustangs. Ray told me he needed a Hail Mary and Ali would be a great match for him. He'll use her most likely in dressage and she may have a possibility to be shown throughout the U.S. It's exciting that Ali will be in training with Ray and she will continue on to be a phenomenal horse! Check out his website at http://www.StarBriteRiding.com

And We're Off

I got to ride Ali one more time on the home place today, between the drenching rain showers. We leave very early in the morning tomorrow. We'll sure miss having Ali around! We'll see how she handles all of the comotion of the horse expo the rest of the week. I'm sure she'll be fine. She's very easy going. I'll write a post about how it all went at the challenge and where Ali ended up after adoption when we get back home. She's been a wonderful horse to train.

A BIG THANKS

Thank you to the following who have

helped along the trail...

*Flynn's Saddlery---Boise, Idaho for the protective boots for Ali
*Jerel and Sandy Bowen & Black Jack Butte Ranch---for ALL the help along the way and the use of facilities
*Mark and Danette Bowen & Stuck on Vinyl---Adrian, Oregon for making a performance box for Ali to stand on.
*Jim Thomas, cattle rancher---Homedale, Idaho for donating corn for feed
*Jaci Weishaar & Victory Acres---LaGrande, Oregon for showmanship help
*Lonnie and Amy Bezona & Amy's Hair Design---Ontario, Oregon for clipping and trimming Ali
*Bret & Jen Neilson---Adrian, Oregon for music and cattle to practice on
*Steve Breshears---making a competition CD

*Ryan and Stephanie Etter--Wilder, ID for the use of the spur straps
*Rod and Patti Price---for helping take care of my girls, helping out with everything, and for being great in-laws
*Joel and Heather White---for helping set up our arena at our new location
*Patti and Tom Johnson----Marsing, Idaho for helping set up our facilities
*Sage Bowen---for being the best 7 year old water boy in a 50 mile radius
*Neighbor kids---for desensitization of Ali
*Kerry and James Irvine--- Rockland, CA for a place to stay and for the help building the round pen and catch pen at our new place
*Merrill and Betty King---West Sacramento for a place to stay during the competition this coming week
*Dennis and Linda Zimmerman, Tillie and Evan Zimmerman and siblings--- Nevada, Illinois, Texas for their love and support

*Lisa Johnston---Adrian, Oregon for helping fix up my website http://www.zimmermanhorsetraining.com/

*TO THE BLOG READERS! Many of you I have talked to in person or you have called me up saying how you were tracking Ali's progress. It's been fun.

We leave for the Western States Mustang Challenge Wednesday, the 4th of June. There will be some tough competition down there. Wish me luck and give me prayer or two. On Friday there will be an in-hand competition and on Saturday there will be a riding course. Ten out of 30+ trainers will be selected to compete in the finals at 7:30 pm on Saturday at Cal Expo. After the competition, all of the mustangs will be auctioned off and Ali will be headed to a new home. Who ever buys her will get one heck of a horse! It's great how many well trained mustangs will be up for adoption. If you would like to adopt one of the mustangs or even Ali, the Mustang Heritage Foundation asks the potential adopter to fill out a little paperwork. Even if you are not able to attend the event in California, you may have a representative at the adoption or bid by phone. I know Ali is going to go to a good home, and someone will really enjoy her. It's been fun having her around the last three months.