Cheveyo, the Nevada Mustang 

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see his photos on facebook! including the memorial roundpen and stlal space in his name thanks to YOUR generous donations.

ARRIVED January 2008, Midwest Mustang Challenge competitor
Crossed the Rainbow Bridge June 11, 2008, during colic surgery caused by massive intestinal tumor/adhesions
Memorial RAISED. thank you, everyone.
BREED/AGE

3 yo gelding (late 2005 model), Mustang, approx 15hh, brought in from the Maverick-Medicine herd in Nevada

Cheveyo's memorial fund

 

(Please tell us whether the donation is for Cheveyo's med bills or his memorial fund. If you prefer, you can mail or drop off a check at our facility.)

Did Cheveyo or his story touch YOU? thank you, for those all who were touched by him and donated in his name. the Cheveyo memorial paddock and outdoor round pen are finished and exceptional, and have been in use since fall 2010. Now, Mustangs and other horses in need of limited activity space re able to exit their stall to a tall safe fenced wooden paddock and wooden outdoor round pen, where they can see the other horses and enjoy the sunshine and their hay safely as they begin their transition into becoming a part of the herd.

Others are donating toward Cheveyo's final medical expenses, which totaled over $1,700 ($167 on-farm emergency call; $1,559 hospital). We authorized everything the vets could do to help him until we had to make a decision based upon future quality of life. The vets said he had been in enormous pain for a long time and nothing they could do would relieve that immediately, and the odds of him having any type of quality recovery, no matter what the costs were very very slim. We made the only fair choice for him, and asked them to lay him to rest directly from the surgery, and paid for an autopsy (necropsy) so that the university and students can learn from his illness.

As of 1/1/11, we raised the entire amount of $1,700 of Cheveyo's $1700 final expenses.

Rest in peace, sweet prince

Cheveyo had gastric issues apparent from his first days at CWER, but we had hoped they were relating to his adjusting to the human world. A bad bout with colic followed by 2 weeks of stall rest affected his fitness for Wisconsin, but not his spirit.

Little did we know that the entire time this darling boy was suffering from a massive tumor in his abdomen, adhering huge segments of his intestine to the wall and more. His pain must have been unbelievable, and the vets are amazed that he thrived so well for so long after the first bout we encountered.

In early June, Cheveyo was again off his feed, resting more than usual, and just lackluster. We began the recommended antibiotics, but the recovery was only brief this time before he slid backward badly and fast. An extreme episode of colic ensued, including expelling stomach contents through his nostrils and mouth (remember horses normally cannot vomit). An attempt at colic surgery found the lesions, adhesions, tumor, and Cheveyo was allowed to remain at rest, out of his misery at last.

This gallant little horse embodied everything about the American west and the American spirit. He gave his all for us at every step. We can only hope that he knew how much he meant to us, and try to ease our own pain with the knowledge that he suffers no more. Details of the autopsy are below.

   
SUMMARY... Mike Cross of CWER was selected as one of 50 trainers to compete in the Midwest Mustang Challenge version of the Extreme Mustang Makeover. On January 9, 2008, he picked up our competitor, the horse we all now know and love as Cheveyo. The next 100 days are covered in detail below, but briefly -- once Cheveyo learned he could trust us, he was the easiest horse we have ever trained, by far. He had no misconceptions and truly was 'a clean slate'. He was eager, willing, and affectionate at every turn.

Cheveyo was a great competitor at Madison and we could not have been prouder. We believe they ended up 18th out of 53, and we were the high bidders at the auction and adopted Cheveyo from the BLM. He will stay with us during the one year prior to getting his clear title, then he may remain as an ambassador or we may adopt him out to a CWER approved adopter through our normal procedures.

NAME THE MUSTANG CONTEST: As a fundraiser and to increase awareness and visibility of this contest and the plight of America's mustangs, we held a "name the mustang" contest. The winning name was....CHEVEYO!

Do you think the work our rescue does is important? If so, please consider donating to CWER:

Votes Won the Right to Name him....CHEVEYO!

Learn about

the Midwest Mustang Challenge

at the Midwest Horse Fair 2008!

 

What: The Midwest Mustang Challenge is the midwest region's Extreme Mustang Makeover competition, courtesy of the Mustang Heritage Foundation

 

Briefly, 50 trainers received 50 completely unhandled mustangs out of the wild, and have 100 days to train each and prepare to compete for a top prize of $10,000!

 

Why? The goal of the competition is to showcase the trainability and skills of the wild mustang. Significant prize money is available for the top riders.

 

When? The competition is at the Midwest Horse Fair, the largest horse event of its kind in the region, on April 18th-20th, 2008.

 

Where? Midwest Horse Fair at Alliant Energy Center in Madison WI. Directions are available here.

 

Event Schedule:

 

?? registration / body conditioning scoring test

 

Friday 11:30-2:30:

Nutrena Arena

"citizenship" judged in-hand 'ground course'.

 

Saturday 12:30-3:

Purina Coll.

Ridden "trail class" obstacle course test plus 2 minutes freestyle.

 

Saturday 5-630pm:

Purina Coll.

Finals -- 4 minute freestyle, props and music encouraged, top 10 horses compete for big prize money!

 

Saturday 7:30pm:

Purina Colleseum.

winners announced during evening show!

 

 

Sunday 1-4pm: Approved adopters only may bid on Cheveyo and the other mustang competitors.

 

More info: You can purchase videos of the '07 Extreme Mustang Makeover and find info on the other competitions in this series on the foundation's website.

 

4/18-20/2008 See the mustang compete & bid to Adopt him! The Midwest Mustang Challenge will be held at the MidWest Horse Fair (MWHF) on April 18 thru 20, 2008 at Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI. The contest is multi-part, and over multiple days. 

The final day all mustangs will be auctioned off to BLM approved adopters. 

Summary: Cheveyo arrived a truly feral, completely unhandled BLM captured mustang out of the wild. CWER's top trainer, Mike Cross, entered and was accepted into the Midwest Mustang Challenge, and the Mustang Foundation provided CWER this Mustang to train. He trained be with us for 100 days, then he and Mike competed in 3 levels of competition at the Midwest Horse Fair. Cheveyo competed fabulously, and we won the bid to return him home with us after the contest was over.

History:  

Intake Notes:

We know very little about this handsome fellow. We understand that he came out of the wild in 2006, but has been in a 2500 acre "wild setting", then was briefly in a feedlot type scenario, unhandled other than being tranquilized for gelding, shots, coggins tests, branding.

He arrived at CWER wearing a neck rope with his BLM ID# and nothing more. He was loaded through cattle shoots and onto our trailer, and we drove him home to CWER, then backed the trailer into our indoor roundpen and let him loose into his new temporary home. He obviously had no idea why these people suddenly wanted to be near him, but was happy to be out of the holding area, out of those tight shoots, and having a little bit of room to move on his own.

DAY ONE "GOOD BOY" VIDEO CLIP HERE!

Day 1 "figuring it out"

Day 3 video here

Day 1 (click to view video) notes: The mustang arrived safe and sound, healthy and fit. He has no idea what grain is of any type. While he started out obviously completely unhandled and unexposed to human contact, he has already begun to settle in, and is understanding the same body language as the other mustang we've trained. He has already allowed Mike to get within inches of him, so long as he is cautious and slow about moving his hands at all.

 

After several requests, here is a short clip of the Mustang on Day 1, being less cooperative. You won't see any "hysterics" -- we have done our very best at every point in his training to never do anything that would cause him to feel scared or trapped. But it does give the other side of how Cheveyo responded to human attention at the end of his first full day at CWER.

 

Day 3 notes: Mike can now walk up to the mustang, and Cheveyo will take hay out of mike's hand. He still doesn't know what grain is for -- we poured a bit on top of his hay, and he left every morsel, and pooped ontop of it too! AnnMarie went in the round pen with him for the first time tonight, and was able to get him to take a few steps forward to reach her and take hay out of her hand! He's making excellent progress!

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Days 4 and 5 updates: 

On Day 4, Tory got to go in with Cheveyo, and start to get to know him. In no time, our tentative boy was literally eating out of her hand! Saturday evening, Mike was able to halter him; a little later, Tory haltered and unhaltered him as well. Day 4 video is now on YouTube!

Sunday, day 5, huge progress was made again. Cheveyo nickered to Tory when she entered the barn. He was polite and respectful for Mike, but affectionate for Tory as she ran her hands on him, haltered him, groomed him with a curry comb, and even laid a saddle blanket over most of his body! He also got to meet Pam, one of our volunteers today -- and proved his confidence with Tory wasn't simply about women, as he refused to eat hay from Pam's hand, even with Tory at his side. Don't miss day 5 video on YouTube!!

See the videos, linked in the text...

Days 7 & 8 updates:

Mike and Cheveyo continue to make exceptional progress together!

On day 7, Cheveyo is now following Mike easily on a lead, even places he's not very sure he wishes to go. He will give his head to be haltered, and allows Mike to rub over every inch of his body.

On day 8, Mustang (it looks like his name will be Cheveyo, unless someone weighs in with a lot more votes soon!) learned to lead over ground rails, across a tarp, through the arena gate. He leads easily down the 5' wide aisle to the stalls, and enters and exits stalls like a gentleman! Even the stalls without stall grates, he'll stand inside and wait for Mike to come back for him, a little nervous but more relaxed than most new horses on their first days in OUR stalls who've been inside stalls all their lives!

CHEVEYO LOADS!!! Today, he progressed from walking in and out of the arena gate, to in and out of stalls, to in and out of the horse trailer, to the horse trailer OUTDOORS! We're so used to retraining projects that have had bad trailer experiences...but this boy doesn't have any reason to think trailers are scary, and sees it as just another stall. He easily loads on and off...and this evening even did so OUT DOORS....his first trip outside of the training barn. 

What a joy to work with this young man is. He will only eat grain if Mike is holding the bowl -- he sees it as a treat, a reward from his companion and his protector! He comes to the arena fence for hay, and has now learned to eat horse treats. He's even starting to understand how to give his feet to his trainer-aka-farrier. Someone is going to get an amazing horse out of the auction at Wisconsin. Amazing.

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Photos courtesy of Steve Kaluf, THANKS STEVE!

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Days 11 & 12 updates:

Day 11: It's been a busy few days, and we've not had chance to shoot much video. We hope you enjoy today's outdoor excursion! Day 8 was the first time Cheveyo'd been out of the training shed at all (video above). He'd not been out again until today, day 11. Today, Cheveyo got to get lead all over the property excluding the pastures, as well as having a light exercise session inside the outdoor arena. He showed perfect manners while our dominant geldings attempted to challenge him over the fence, and walked in, out, around, and over obstacles that would be totally foreign to him. We hope you enjoy the video, which includes his 2nd time loading on the horse trailer with it parked outside, not at the end of his aisleway in his safe haven. (remember -- click the underlined "day 11" to view the video clip!)

Day 12: Cheveyo continues to progress so nicely. He's such a joy to work with! In today's video clip, you can see Cheveyo having all 4 hooves cleaned while he stands calm and relaxed; lead over small jumps, have a saddle (no girth) on his back and lead, then a saddle on his back and weight set onto the saddle. Since we've gotten past his initial timidness, nothing seems to scare Cheveyo. He trusts Mike amazingly - as the down the bank photo shows, left! -- and adores Tory.

  Days 13-15 updates:

Cheveyo is getting a few well deserved 'easy days'. We're focusing on cementing the earlier lessons -- leading, cleaning hooves, walking over poles. And, mostly, we're working on getting this thick mud gunk off his belly! His hair is matted and stuck, and with sub zero weather, getting it wet isn't even close to an option. So, we're using a product called MTG, and a lot of slow easy work at it, and finally got his girth line completely clean and made sure he has no skin irritation, sore spots or rubs along that line.

With his belly in reasonable condition, Mike was able to put a driving surcingle on Cheveyo -- a soft padded belt that wraps around where his saddle will go and has rings on it to slide reins through -- and then he and Cheveyo practiced ground driving. Cheveyo walked and trotted with Mike behind him, to his left side and to his right side, steering him and getting him used to having instruction from a handler he cannot see and from reins at his bit.

Day 16 video! 

HE RIDES!

Day 16 update:  CHEVEYO RIDES!

Did I mention Cheveyo rode today??? What a joy this fellow is. Yesterday, 1/24, Mike was finally able to tighten a girth on him without risk of irritating the skin on his belly. Cheveyo was as nonchalant about girthing as he's been about most things since the end of his first week here. He looked at Mike with his 'mad face' when Mike first tightened the girth, but then relaxed and proceeded to lead all over the barn in his saddle, seeming to walk proud along the way.

This afternoon, Mike and Cheveyo practiced the last stage before riding...Mike straddled Cheveyo -- one foot on the mounting block, the other on a round pen rail, and set weight on and off his saddle repeatedly. One Cheveyo backed out from underneath him, but with no fuss and no excitement. Mike stepped down, lead him back in place, and did it again. Cheveyo stood like a champ.

So, this evening, with the camera rolling(!), Mike set his full weight into the saddle, and relaxed. Cheveyo stood, ears up. Mike picked up his stirrups. Cheveyo stood. He picked up Cheveyo's reins to make full contact. Cheveyo stood. He shifted his weight aft in the saddle, and asked, and Cheveyo backed away from the mounting block, and stood. And stood. Despite Mike's nudging, coaxing and working, Cheveyo would only back or stand, no steps forward.

And Tory to the rescue! With her smiling face and a handful of hay, she walked up to the boy, who was so obviously happy to see her. With some love, a bit of hay, and some coaxing, she soon had Cheveyo taking a step...then two, then ten. In a few minutes, Cheveyo was following her around the arena. Mike could stop and turn him without Tory's guidance. A few times, Cheveyo chose to stop on his own, and, with some encouragement, Mike was able to get him forward again.

At no point did he act aggressive or make any effort to buck, bolt, or fuss in any way. He just tried, and gave his best. What a fantastic young man this is going to be! (Enjoy the video!)

Day 17 video Day 17 update -- Andrew Kaluf rides Cheveyo! Andrew was out visiting, and was Cheveyo's 2nd rider. There was no fuss for mounting, and no fuss at moving forward with Mike in the arena. Once Mike stepped out Cheveyo was unsure for a while, but eventually moved forward for Andrew. With Mike back in the arena, the boys even trotted several short sessions! Enjoy the video.
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Video coming soon!

Days 21-24 update: Cheveyo is really doing fabulously. A few brief updates...(photos/video to follow soon, I promise!)

Wednesday -- had his dental work, sheath cleaning, belly scrubbing done, and did great. Took very little tranq, handled things like a prince, didn't even blink at the actual stick of the needle. Doc was so impressed with our boy!!

Friday -- Cheveyo's had about 6 rides as of Friday morning. Friday mid day he got to ride outdoors for the first time. For those who don't know, we have an indoor round pen/training space, and then a large (larger than a competition dressage arena) outdoors as our 2 easy riding spaces, then our 35 acre pasture for really adventurous rides. He did exceptionally well riding outside, esp when you realize he's only been outside of our training shed maybe 10 times total. He walked and did brief trots, stood for mounting and dismounting from the ground, halted, and backed very, very well! He's still obviously green (or greener than green!), but he's making terrific progress.

Friday evening, I even got to ride him briefly indoors -- his 3rd rider now. He was more tentative for me under saddle than he is for Mike, but we had 3 or 4 very brief jogging stints (3-5 strides roughly), and we did back and also some pivots that were part turn on forehand, part turn on haunches.

Saturday -- Cheveyo got to ride outside again today, in our thick, deep snow, and seemed to have great fun playing in it. He and mike worked outdoors for at least 20 minutes today, and were doing trotting figure 8s (again, very very large), and even had several very brief canters (all straight line, let Cheveyo move forward when he chose, then halted shortly.) He's still a bit steering challenged of course, and the concept of trot to walk to halt is a challenging idea. He prefers forward trot to dead stop head up in "looking for a lion" pose! 

What a blast we're having with this young man. It's such a joy to see mike so involved, so engaged with this horse. And Tory, too, continues to be interested and active and, well, pretty much in love with this strapping young fellow.

day26toryfirstridebridge.jpg (71427 bytes) Day 26: TORY RIDES CHEVEYO!

This evening, after work, I walked into the training shed, and was treated to a pure delight. I watched Cheveyo stand, tied, while Mike left the round pen to get his tack, then was quite reasonable during saddling (he's still nervous about being girthed up); Mike unhooked his lead and walked him over near the arena gate. 14-year old trainer-trainee Tory walked into the arena, kissed the wild mustang on his nose (!), stepped into his stirrup, and swung aboard with ease. She fussed with her stirrups, teased her dad, and finally told him to step back and walked forward on Cheveyo. For the next 10 minutes, together, they did figure 8s, halted, stepped over to the rail and away off the line, and generally did whatever she asked of him. Occasionally he argued, and Tory simply, confidently, asked him to move on, and he complied each time. She rode him across the foot bridge, and backed him about 20 strides, including backing down off the bridge without any sign of nervousness on his part. She praised him, rubbed on him, and dismounted like she'd been riding him for years. This, by the way, was the first day they'd ridden together, and their second ride.

For Mike, Cheveyo is trotting with ease, including figure 8s, and had a few very brief canters during his outdoor rides. He's not yet ready to canter in the more confined indoor space. Together they are working on relaxing, stretching toward the bit, transitions down that aren't sudden stops, and more graceful turns, as well as just overall balance for Cheveyo.

Day 30 video!

 

Day 30: Cheveyo in the big pasture for the first time ever....under saddle! Mike and Cheveyo rode in the 35 acre pasture, while the rest of the herd watched from the west bank. Cheveyo was certainly interested in the others but, as you can see, remained respectful and manageable for Mike. There are several canter clips in this video as well as Mike dismounting, opening a gate, and remounting with ease. ENJOY!
photo coming soon! Day 32: 

Feedback from our first offsite trip today, courtesy of one of our adopters (we went to her riding instructors' barn):

Hi everybody!  Wow, where to start…  Cheveyo is amazing!!!  Mike & AM brought him to the barn where I’m currently taking lessons, so he could experience a different place, different horses, etc.  He walked in, looked the other horses over a little, and proceeded to act like he’d been born there!  There was even a 2 yr old gelding making mean faces at him from his stall, & Cheveyo just ignored him.  Mike led Cheveyo around the barn, had him jog, checked out all the scary new stuff (barrels, cavaletti poles, orange cones) then tacked him up & away they went.  Cheveyo wasn’t thrilled with the girth, but after some minor fussing he stood & got saddled like a champ.  He bridles better than my seasoned old horses do!  I really just can’t say enough about how gentle and trusting he is.  He allowed everyone there to pet him, fuss with him, anything that we wanted to do he was ok with.  I even got to ride him a little!!!!  Well, it was really just a pony ride, cause Mike was leading him – but I was still in the saddle!!  J  But here’s the really amazing thing – and I wish all of you could have been there to see it, it gave me goosebumps!! ! – the barn owner’s husband has built this platform-thingy for their horses.  It’s a round metal frame with a platform on the top – it looks like the thing that elephants stand on in the circus – about knee high, maybe 3 feet across.  Anyway, Cheveyo has never seen anything like this before – Bill (barn owner’s husband) rolls this thing out of the corner into the arena…Mike RIDES not leads Cheveyo over to it…Cheveyo is a little cautious, but very curious…he walks close, looks this strange thing over a little, walks around it a little…Mike lets him take his time checking it out…couple of steps closer, he sniffs this strange thing, then puts his foot up on it!!  Then BOTH FRONT FEET – and POSED!!!!  It was just unreal… he had absolutely no fear.  Mike backed him away from the platform and took him back to it several times, & Cheveyo walked right up to it & stepped right up on it like he’d been doing this trick for years – he even wanted to get on the platform with all 4 feet, but Mike said no, not with a rider!  Sooo, Mike gets down, we move the platform to a better spot in the arena and Mike leads Cheveyo back over to it.  Cheveyo steps up again, no problem here!  So Mike encourages him to get up with all 4 feet, Cheveyo isn’t sure what Mike wants – “why are you in front of me like that?” – with a little more encouragement, Cheveyo steps up with all 4 feet, and poses again!  Then he won’t get down!  Mike & Tori posed with him for pictures (I really hope AM is able to post the pictures she took!), he still won’t get down…so Mike loosens the girth…still won’t get down.  Mike takes the saddle completely off…nope, not ready to stop posing yet….we all walk up to him & pet him…that’s fine…we all walk away – he looks at us like “hey guys, don’t you see me still posing over here?!”.  Finally Mike convinces him the show’s over, & he steps down.  Bill & Linda (barn owners) were just standing there in awe.  Linda said she’s never seen anything like it – they couldn’t believe that a little more than 30 days ago Cheveyo was running with a wild herd.  I could go on all day about everything Cheveyo did, and how wonderful he is, but I’d bore you all!  Suffice it to say – Mike & AM…you guys are GREAT!!!  Keep up the good work!!  

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Day 39 video here!

Day 39 -- Cheveyo rides in the pasture for the 2nd time...and was nothing short of fantastic. Cantering toward the ridge where he can see the rest of the herd, cantering back toward the main gate and the road. Begging to come visit AnnMarie (aka camera person), playing with the dogs, up and down steep banks. What a joy this young man is. It doesn't get any easier than he has been, once Mike won his trust. 

He has never so much as threatened to buck, to rear, to bolt or panic under saddle.

 

Photos to follow. Day 51: We had a GRAND day with Cheveyo today! We took him to the local lesson barn again, and played.  What a great way to celebrate the half way point for this gorgeous guy.
  • AM rode Cheveyo bareback; 
  • several of the barn's folks rode him as well! 
  • He did his first solid objects jump on a lead rope over some empty barrels, 
  • he rode indoors with 2 unfamiliar horses, all the while respecting and listening to his rider.

Thanks so much for hosting us, again!! We had a grand time!!

Sorry, no new photos. They rode to town on their own, so no one to take pictures for us. Day 58: Cheveyo and Mike had a GREAT day today. They rode to town! Yes, the 3-ish miles into our local little community, complete with its library and grocery store, local newspaper and post office. And, from what Mike says, apparently most of the community came out to meet the mustang! Cheveyo trotted along the red brick main streets, visited with everyone, and tried to let himself into the library!

This boy REALLY likes to go out exploring. He wants to go see new things, go new places, figure things out. He rides fine indoors and in the arena but, like his trainer, his real pleasure comes from going off new places -- preferably just the 2 of them -- and seeing the world.

Someone is going to be VERY lucky at Wisconsin. They're going to get one heck of a capable horse, with a fantastic disposition, a great personality, the right amount of curiosity, and tons of heart.

cheveyo jacks river ride.jpg (89424 bytes) This boy is going to be one GREAT trail horse for someone. He LOVES to go, and will go about anywhere. Here, he's trotting up the river in water up to his belly, happily leading along while the experienced trail mare, Jackie, lets him go and follows behind.
Video here! Day 70 update: Cheveyo continues to do fantastic. He is doing a lot of bareback work, cantering regularly, and often riding outdoors, on roads, around traffic, and in a variety of scenarios. We're trying to keep Cheveyo as well rounded as possible, so he appeals to all sorts of possible adopters.
Day 72...

photos to follow

Just 28 days to go....With just 28 days to go, Cheveyo got to visit with and play with some great CWER supporters today. Today, the Shaw family of Chicago came by to visit...the nice folks who had provided Cheveyo the only horse treats he would eat, who sponsor memphis belle, and who otherwise have been great supporters of the work we do. Young Miss Kate got to ride on Cheveyo, and successfully had him trotting nice and forward on her own (congrats!). Young Mr Alex got to ride on the four wheeler and throw hay, and the whole family visited with the entire CWER herd. Thanks, Shaw family, for your continued kindness and support. Can't wait to see you in 4 weeks at the Midwest Horse Fair!
Day 89 Cheveyo came down with a nasty flu, cold, infection, something at day 75. He was off his feed and has a mild fever. Dr King has put him onto a course of antibiotics, and he is essentially on stall rest for about 2 weeks until he was really well again. He lost A LOT of muscle during his down time, especially top line muscle along his backbone and the top of his rump. it's going to hurt him at Madison score wise, but most of all we're just glad he's healthy again.
Midwest Mustang Challenge 2008 -- Madison Wisconsin -- event report!

 

photos and video to follow

BOY those last 3 weeks went fast! It's time to compete....

We arrived at Madison on Thursday mid afternoon, and after a bit of confusion on the grounds, found our way to the right barn, checked in and settled into our stall. We'd had Cheveyo spend a lot of time stalled in groups of days to get him used to how the event might be, while letting him live in the training barn, then in a small pasture with a mare in for training the rest of the time, and he was comfortable in the showgrounds stall. He hated it having a top door so he couldn't hang his head out and visit all the guests!

 
We'd done all we had access to for exposing him to new things, loud noise and crowds, and it showed immediately. He didn't mind any of what was going on at the event, during practices or during competition.
 
Cheveyo had a flu 4 week before the event, and was essentially stall bound for 2 weeks, losing all of the top line muscle he'd built over the 2 months previous. As a result, he scored poorly on the fitness test, very poorly. The judge understood about his illness but had to judge him fairly compared to the others.
 
For the in hand course, Cheveyo was terrific! In fact, he posed for photos with a little baby girl just before entering the arena, letting the girl love on his entire face while everyone else was tensely watching the ring. He entered, squared perfectly, trotted the cones with ease. He did his front hooves easily but when mike went for his left hind, mike shifted the lead meaning to put it more easily in reach but Cheveyo took it as instruction to come to him. Mike tapped his side, and he stood again, and got his feet done all the way around (they have to stand, mid arena in front of roughly2500 people, with no one to help hold the horse and no tie ring) like a gentleman, then went to the trailer. Cheveyo put his front feet up and hesitated. Mike tapped his crop on his boot, intending to nudge Cheveyo forward but it startled him, and Cheveyo hopped off. Mike loved on him, settled him, and up he went like a gentleman. He backed the L perfectly, trotted to the judged, and halted at the mark with no lead pressure whatsoever. He earned extra points from the judges for his halt to trot at the entrance and trot to halt at the exit. We were now 23rd out of 53...in the top half.
 
Now time to ride, Saturday morning. Cheveyo didn't sleep Friday night and was a little off his hay, even with probios, and seemed a little tired and edgy. We took him for walks and visited with him, even covered his stall door for him to nap. When it came time to ride he entered and rode the known part of the course perfectly! He received high marks on every move, hit every lead, did his flying change without much difficulty at all, even got extra points for how beautifully he crossed the bridge. When it came time for the 2 minute free, though, his tiredness and irritation showed thru, just a little. He missed every lead, and, when mike asked him to work reinless (at home he works truly bridleless -- no neckrope -- which always starts with a halt and pivot with his reins at his neck to ensure he is listening), Cheveyo wasn't eager to listen. Mike asked a second time, and again Cheveyo slowed but didn't halt, so rather than risk a problem, he just did a few pivots and finished his time without riding bridleless as we'd hoped he would get to do.
 
When that portion of the day was over, we didn't make the top 10 and didnt make the finals. Honestly, we were relieved. Cheveyo was tired and we dont think he would've given his best for the 4 minute free. We didn't have fancy stunts to show like some of the others (a few had things go quite badly), and weren't likely to make the top 5 who got money anyway, and so we were pleased to let him rest and just go enjoy the rest of the show.
 
Sunday morning was auction time. I should mention, Cheveyo is a solid dark brown with dark brown mane and tail and no markings whatsoever. He's 14.2 and not overly stocky. He's exactly what they described in advance and what we expected to come home with us. Some of the others were more flashy, some less. One was over 16 hh!! another was only 13.2, which made it very hard for her trainer. So, come auction time, the crowd and announcers tended to focus upon the event winners and on the bigger or more flashy looking horses. Cheveyo spent little time in the sale arena, which was ok with us. We were able to bid and to bring him home inexpensively. Now, we can take our time and at our leisure determine if Cheveyo will fit in here permanently as an ambassador and a part of our permanent programs for special needs kids, etc, or if we will work on finding him a forever home that WE choose, rather than him going to the highest bidder which, IMHO, is never an ideal way to place a horse.
 
We had a great time at the event. I encourage everyone who has an interest to consider competing in one of these. It was really a blast, and we've never had so much fun nor had such an EASY horse to train. once we got through his fears and showed him he could trust us, his trust was complete. He had no misconceptions, preconceptions, bad habits or other issues. He learned everything we asked, quickly and easily. A trailer was just another stall to him; a tarp just another human toy. Tractor trailers no more scary than a car or 4wheeler. He was a joy and we really had a grand time. We hope to have time and resources to compete again next year with another wild mustang.
June 11, 2008

goodbye, spirit warrior.

On June 11, Cheveyo colicked horribly. The university vets came onsite to try to ease his pain and prepared him to transport to U of I for what was expected to be colic surgery. To our heartbreak, the surgeons called to say he had a massive tumor in his abdomen -- larger than his stomach! -- and we made the only reasonable choice, to lay him to rest.

The autopsy is back. Cheveyo apparently had a case of strangles at some time in his past, prior to coming to CWER, possibly as long ago as at weaning or at time of roundup. Approximately 20% of all strangles cases metastasize and result in a 'bastard strangles' or "carrier" situation, with a strep infection elsewhere in the body. In Cheveyo's case, that infection was in the gutteral pouch, outside his intestines. Sometimes, that infection will create an abscess and attempt to vent, just as strangles does when it is in a lymph node -- the classic symptom. In Cheveyo's case, due to the location, there was no way to vent outside his body, and the abscess grew and grew. Eventually, his body began to fight it and built a fiberous, granular ball around the abscess, attempting to stop its growth and spreading.

This granular mass was an amazing 12" x 14" x 5" at time of autopsy -- roughly the size of a horse's stomach. It has entangled blood vessels and nerves and multiple loops of his intestine. The colic was caused by the mass finally strangling a point of intestine shut, creating a blockage just like a twist would do.

The mass obviously had been growing for months upon months -- possibly years. There was nothing we could've done to stop it or to reverse the damage. The vets were amazed he lasted as long as he did, that he was able to ride let alone work so admirably just weeks before in Wisconsin.

In addition to everything else Cheveyo has taught us, he has changed the way we vaccinate. We have always only vaccinated youngsters for Strangles, believing that was the right approach and that strangles held little threat to adult horses. We now understand the risk of bastard strangles secondary to what can be a fairly mild "strep throat' infection in an adult horse. Every horse in our care will be vaccinated for strangles every year.