In June NLH took a trip down to Fort Worth, TX to do some training demonstrations at the AmerEquine Festival of the Horse event. This was the first year that the Festival was held, and hopefully there will be many more to come. We had a good time, got to meet new people, make some new contacts, and see some old faces. Later that month I went to Pony Club camp for 5 days, which was a blast. I got to hang out with my friends, and have fun with my horses. I took Jack, one of our mustangs and he was a champ that whole time! He loves to jump, and he did so good for not being away from the farm in a while. Then that Monday we went cross country schooling with Jack which was also very fun. I also took my Quarter Horse mare Jamie to Pony Club camp and played polocrosse with her. For those of you who don’t know what polocrosse is, it’s basically lacrosse on horseback.

In July, we went to a SVRA reining show. My mom and I took our reining horses Cisco, Red, and Kahula, and another horse Nugget. Over all we did pretty good. I was really proud of the horses, and what they accomplished that weekend. They are all coming along pretty well with everything. I really enjoy going to any type of show, also it’s a great way for your horses to get away from home and see all sorts of different things. Also, even though its not an event, we hauled some of our horses out to Rock Springs, where Ag Progress days are held. We went there, because the girls with their mustangs needed to get out in a bigger arena and practice some things like flying lead changes, and such.

In August we went to the mustang challenge on the 10-12th, at the Dream Park, in Gloucester County NJ. That’s where Sarah and Anna competed with their 90 day mustangs, and I was asked to come do a freestyle with my mustang, Jacuzzi that I previously got Reserve Grand Champion on when he was a yearling and I was 9yrs old. We performed for the crowd while they were tabulating the scores for the freestyle finals for the competitors. It was amazing to perform in front of so many people – I’m so proud of Jacuzzi. He never lets me down – ever! You can watch our run on the website videos if you want to!

In October I will be competing in the All American Quarter Horse Congress, Cinch Freestyle Reining with my Quarter Horse Red! Stay tuned for details!

Well thanks for listening, best of wishes to all from NLH!

~Brooke

Some of you might be wondering how I can still ride horses while I’m in school, maybe some of you aren’t, but what I’m going to explain to you in today’s blog is a normal day for me.

First I drag myself out of bed at 5:00 a.m. and start to get ready for school. My bus comes around 7:15 and I have to leave my house at 7:00. Don’t ask me why I get up so early but I just don’t like to be rushed and I like to have some time to veg in the morning.

Then I get on the bus and enjoy a nice 45-minute bus ride. When I get to school we all wait in the cafeteria until our teacher comes to dismiss all of us. This year I have Language Arts and Math and also Science and Social Studies depending on what day it is. Now I’m also taking keyboarding, music, gym, and art. It keeps me very busy but homework is not actually that bad – yet!

When the bell rings I get on the bus and am on my way home to go ride horses… unless I have drama club practice or yearbook which I would stay after school until 6:00 p.m. and then I wouldn’t be able to ride because it would be too late by the time that I got home.

So if I ride the normal bus home, I would get home and go inside and go change and get something to eat, then head outside to ride horses!
When I’m done ridding I will get cleaned up and then go to bed and set my alarms for another fun filled day!

Recently Mom and I went to an expo in Maryland to give demos and talks. I took Jacuzzi, my mustang and did a round penning demo and also showed people how easy it is to build your confidence around horses when you can get them to do cool stuff in the round pen and other stuff like bowing and laying down. It was really fun but mom and I were very busy!

We got to stay at a Sheraton Hotel that was attached to a very big mall! After the expo we would walk to the mall and shop a little bit and then have dinner at some good places to eat.

We’re doing it again in Harrisburg PA in February – I can’t wait really! Maybe I’ll see you there!

NLH gals with Einstein's Revolution: courtsey, Kyle Ranch.

Hey Everybody,

I haven’t had a chance to write a blog since we all got back from Texas, and that was all the way back in September, but it’s never too late! I’m just going to tell everybody about our trip to Texas for the Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover. First we took two mustangs to Tennessee. Leslie Lloyd is the owner of Viggo, the mustang that my mom trained, and Mary Kay Soergel is the owner of Sparrow that Lauren trained. I was going to train a mustang along with my Mom and Lauren, but there was an age limit on this particular mustang challenge.

When we got to Tennessee we stayed over at our friend’s house, who was also participating in the challenge, and we took their two horses down to the competition too. Instead of taking two trucks and trailers the whole way from Tennessee to Texas, we drove together. We both wanted to go down a few days earlier than the actual challenge started, so our horses could get a chance to adjust to the heat and get some rest from the long ride.

We stayed at a place called Kyle Ranch, which is where Pete Kyle and his wife Tamera live. They are huge into the sport of reining and we got to see a famous reining horse named Einstein’s Revolution. He lives at that ranch – it was so cool! It was really nice for us because we could relax a little and they had a swimming pool, so when it was super hot we went swimming and got a refresher. I even did most of my homework just with my legs in the pool, hoping not to drop anything . While we were staying at their place we also got to haul out to a couple other ranches and work some cattle, because in these patterns you have to either jump or work cattle, and both, Lauren and Mom chose to work cattle because they didn’t really have the jumping ‘type’ of horses this time.

Now its time for the challenge and we are on our way to the Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover! The first day was just haul in and a trainers meeting. Then the second day was the start of the competition and both mom and Lauren did their trail course and a ridding portion where you have to perform specific maneuvers. The next day they both did the course where they had to work a cow. That is a lot harder than you think it is especially when you don’t have cows to practice on everyday! We didn’t do as good as we would have wanted to but lets face it, we only worked cows like twice and the cow work class was really important in this competition scoring wise. Overall we had a total BLAST and we got to go out to eat mostly every night, and we went to the Stock Yards which was really cool.

I also have some more great news to share: mom and I are going to be doing special clinics and demos at a couple of expos next year! I can’t wait to show people how cool my mustang Jacuzzi is!
So I’ll see you all in the next two weeks and share some more exciting news about what’s been happening at NLH!

Brooke

So I started middle school on the 6th of September, and it is just SO awesome!  My teachers are cool and so is lunch and all of the subjects in between!  I really love my locker too.

Also, with Mom and Lauren doing the Supreme Extreme Mustang Challenge, we are all getting ready for that.  So we all just packed the trailer two nights ago and we left on the 8^th at 6:30 a.m.  So right now we are at our friends house, that live in TN.  Which is like our half way stop.  So today we will be hauling to Texas!  You know I LOVE road trips!  I mean don’t get me wrong, I love sleeping in my own bed, but I also love sleeping in the truck on road trips too.  I’m kind of sad that Annie (my Pembroke Welsh Corgi) can’t go this time, but that’s ok because she will be staying with my dad and he loves her too.  So that’s my little ‘blurb’ for right now, and the next blog I will tell you how we did and what the challenge was like!

Also, if you’re old enough, we will be keeping you posted by the hour on Facebook so check out our Next Level Horsemanship page!!!

Wow! Do you ever feel just like your summer is just flying away?  I mean every two weeks we write our blogs and it seems like every two days!  The fact is that at NLH^TM, TIME FLIES!  So I’m going to give all of you a little ‘mini’ update of what has been happening in the  past couple of weeks.

So first my mom and I went down to Tennessee to do a clinic for some of our good friends that compete in the mustang challenge with us, Chase and Kerri Dodd.  So that was really fun, we took two of my horses, Jamie and Jacuzzi.  They were both just little gems.  We got there late at night and unloaded the two horses then went to bed for just three whole hours! W e got up and started setting up our booth for the clinic.  Then people started to arrive, the next morning.   We got introduced to all of the people attending the clinic.  Then we started.  Each demo was about three hours long and there were two going on at once at two places on the grounds.  There were four clinicians in all and my mom was one of them.  So we would do that in the morning then have lunch then switch off clinicians  and do the same thing in the afternoon.  We did that for two days.

A couple of weeks later we loaded up and went to a reining show with our reining bred horses.  We took my horse Jamie, Nikki, a reining horse that we are showing for a client, Kahula a two year old horse that we purchased at the Oklahoma reining sale in 2010, Durango, Lauren’s mustang that she made the top ten with at the 2009 Mustang Challenge, and then Sparrow and Viggo the two mustangs that Mom and Lauren are competing with in September at Texas.  We took Sparrow and Viggo just to get them used to going different places and get de-spooked to a lot of stuff too.  On the first day of the show I entered in two classes and I won the first class and the second one I got second in, and I was showing Jamie in both of them.  On the second day I got first again in my first class and  in my second class I got third instead of second.  I learned a lot and really like going to the shows because it gives me a chance to compete!

So I’m in a little fun club called Pony Club.  They held a camp at Center Hall and you can bring your own horse(s.)  I took Jamie and then later in the week we brought Apple Gray over, my little Shetland/Welsh pony.  He is amazing to jump too!  So anyway at camp you can receive lessons, play games on your horse/pony, go on trail rides, ect. and it is basically just a really fun time for you and your horse to bond together and to make lots of friends.  The camp was five days long total, but was defiantly a lot of fun, and worth it!

Tomorrow mom and I are going to go to another reining show.  We will stay there on Friday and over the weekend and take Jamie to show, Viggo, Kahula, and Cisco, just to get them out and about.  So I will keep all of you posted on how I do in that show!!

Have a great summer and try to beat the heat!

I trained a Wild Mustang in the TN Extreme Mustang Makeover. This is what the competition is all about!!

First you have to pick up your mustang at a holding facility. In Jacuzzi’s case his holding facility was in Fallon Nevada. All the mustangs for the competition are picked by random draw. So you don’t get to chose which mustang you will train. Then when you go to pick up your mustang you have to back your trailer up into a cattle shoot. Then two guys are standing up on top of either side of the shoot and they give you a choice whether or not you want a halter on your mustang. If you do they will very quickly and carefully slip the halter over the mustangs nose while he is in the shoot and tie the halter really quick. It’s very hard to do because the mustang is wild and doesn’t want you to touch him at all!

After that, you can bring your wild mustang home. After a couple of days you can start your mustang and by that time you should have a name for your little cutie! From the day you bring him/her home you have exactly 100 days to train him/her. If you have a yearling you just have to do an in-hand course, but if you make the top ten you have to do a freestyle on the ground also. If you have a mustang over 3 years old you have to do an in-hand and a riding portion and then again if you make the top ten you have to do a freestyle under saddle too. So before you even go to the challenge you should have a freestyle planned out.

After you are done training your now broke and loving mustang you haul your horse to the competition. They can be all over the country. In Jacuzzi’s case his was held in Murfreesboro TN. Then you have a trainer’s meeting the day that you haul in and when you are at the trainers meeting you get your pattern for the in-hand and/or and riding course. The next day is the competition. After the in-hand course you get your scores and have another meeting to find out who is going to the top ten. I was a top ten finalist, so the next day I got to do my freestyle with Jacuzzi. After the freestyle they place the winners of the competition. The next day there is an award ceremony and you get rewarded for your placing with prizes. I got Reserve Grand Champion, out of 57 competitors, so I received a framed picture of mustangs and a $1000.00 check! Now I can spend it on my three horses Jacuzzi, Apple Gray, and Jamie!

Finally, the last day, there is a live auction and you can buy your mustang back if you want. I very much wanted my mustang, Jacuzzi and I was the first one that weekend to adopt my very own mustang. But the one great advantage of being in the youth competition, is that they allowed the youth to buy their mustang before the live action for the price of a wild mustang which is a fee of $125.00. So I handed over my cash right away! Because they didn’t know what they had with Jacuzzi! Now I’m doing Hunter Jumper Competitions and Reining with my little Cuzie Meister Boy!

So that is what the competition is all about!! But Having a mustang is so much more.

~Brooke Myers

Boots, chaps, and cowgirl hats are you ready to ride? Paddock boots, half chaps, and velvet helmet are you ready to jump? I know I am. Every day I’m doing something with my horses and even getting ready for some shows!

Wow! Where has all of the time gone? I can just remember talking about going to the Ohio Equine Affaire and now look, we’re already back. I feel like everything has just taken NLH ^TM like a whirlwind! But in all of that great rush, I’m having a huge blast!

So I guess that for Jacuzzi and I, you could say “Versatility here we come!” Jacuzzi and I are going to his first hunter jumper show of his life. Jacuzzi will also be reining with Jamie and I. I’m really excited about going to the first hunter jumper show in two weeks. Which is not that long away from now when you really think about all of the work that you have to prepare Jacuzzi for.

Another cool thing that has happened around NLH^TMis that we got two wild mustangs! So there was a mustang adoption held live on RFD-TV with Superior Livestock Auction Company. Leslie (one adopter) was lucky and ended up getting the horse that she really wanted all along – #97. She has to give him a real name now! Mom will be training her horse for the Supreme Extreme Mustang Challenge in September. Lauren got one for her adopter too – #88. They already named him Sparrow and they will be competing too. I did not get one because there was an age limit on this peculiar mustang challenge, but I’m just fine giving a helping hand to the other members of the NLH^TMteam.

So I will have a follow up on Jacuzzi’s and my hunter jumper show! I hope that everybody will have a happy Easter!

“Whew!” Those two weeks flew by so quickly!  Right now in school the grades 3-6 have been tested  on what the school calls the PSSAs.  That stands for The Pennsylvania State Standard Assessments.  The grades that take the tests alternate the math and reading tests, and the 5^th grade (the grade that I’m in,) had a special writing portion and the 4^th graders had a special science portion of the test.  So as of right now my class just completed the last writing test that we had to do this year!   Also as of then I had a half day on the last day of the writing test!  Don’t get me wrong I love school, but  the NLH^TM team left  for our first reining show last weekend and I was so excited to go!  I took my reining horse  Jamie!  I think that Jamie and I did excellent.  I think that I am really great at remembering and comprehending the patterns.  Jamie did so good for how big the ring was.  The ring was like a ocean waiting to mess you up on your pattern because you were used to a smaller arena!  Then we went home for  two days and now tomorrow morning we will be taking the horse trailer straight to Ohio for the Ohio Equine Affaire. We’ll be giving demonstrations there all week!   I hope to see some faces that I have met before and maybe some that I haven’t too!

“Neigggggghhhhh!”  I just love the sound of a happy horse, and that is why I love being a professional horse trainer.  Well, back in February the NLH^TM clan went to the 2011 Road to the Horse (RTTH) event. RTTH is a competion between three top horse trainers and you only have so much time to train a horse that has not had much human contact.  You get two hours in one day and 30 minutes of that time has to be resting time for the horse.  Then the next day you have that same time arrangement, and then you have to do an obstacle course under saddle.  You then have a 2 minute freestyle to do whatever you want to do.  The  freestyle that you do is right after your under saddle portion and you have to do it with all of the props up.  RTTH was located in Murfreesboro, TN, and we drove the whole way there.  The competitors consisted of Clinton Anderson, Chris Cox, and Pat Parelli.

I think that the event was put together really nice.  Saying that, I mean that ‘Tootie Bland’ the producer, did a lot of work to make the event come together the way she wanted it to.  I also liked how there were venders up on the top level of the coliseum, as well as outside in a tent.  Also, I really enjoyed the event personally.  I think all of the trainers did a good job with their horses.  I know it’s hard to train a horse that isn’t started because I had to work really hard at gentling my Mustang Jacuzzi when I was working to get him ready for the  Mustang Makeover competition that I did in TN in 2009.  I worked at it very hard to get him to trust me and then to get him to let me do a lot of fun things with him.  I’m riding him now and he trusts me a lot.  Watching the trainers at RTTH, it made me remember all of the stuff I did with Jacuzzi to get him tame from the wild and to trust me.

I really had a good time at RTTH.  And on the way there we stayed at our friend’s house in TN so it was good to get to see them again too.   Also we got VIP tickets so we could go in to a room and be able to get free soft drinks and water, watch the event on TV (even though it was right outside the door), and we got free food.  We purchased those tickets because NLH ^TM wanted to get the most out of this important horse training event as possible.  We also talked to TV producers and national radio announcers and lots of people in the horse business.   We met all of the clinicians also. I had a blast!

Talk to you later ~ Brooke

This past weekend the NLH^TM team went to the Ag Arena in Penn State and performed with our mustangs.  We did a freestyle, all three of us told our story with our mustangs, then we did a ‘meet and treat’ and that is when all of the kids and adults came down off from the bleachers to the ring to meet and give the horses treats!

So, see ya next time! ~Brooke