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!