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:
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.
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 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!
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.
Photos courtesy of Steve Kaluf, THANKS STEVE!
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.
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 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.
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.
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: 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!!
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.
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.
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.
