Lynn Palm Involved with Mustangs? Why not?

A year ago, last March 2008, I was honored to be a clinician at the Midwest Horse Fair, Madison Wisconsin, and to host an Extreme Mustang Makeover. I found out about this event from a very admired friend of mine who created this event, Patti Colbert. I also was made aware of the event and the excitement from AQHA Judges, Susie Jean and Patti Campbell, who were judging this event.

Throughout the three days of the expo I heard lots of different exciting comments from attendee's - "wow, you can't believe what they did with these horses with only 100 days of training", "Everyone was having so much fun and cheering for the trainers and the mustangs!" and also comments "I can't wait to buy one of those mustangs and take him home!". I became more and more curious...

On the 4th day, Sunday morning, I had breakfast with Patti Colbert and she gave me the scoop of this wonderful idea that she had created... Extreme Mustang Makeover. Over the years I have watched Patti raise so much money for the AQHA Foundation, I knew that she had to have something very very special going with this Mustang idea. She invited me to come see the live auction of the mustangs and asked me to give a short supporting talk.

That I did! I walked in the main coliseum about 9am and this place was full of thousands of people! I was taken aback by the large early attendance and the excitement of the auction and the people. I watched the trainers warming up their horses, as they had to ride them as they were being auctioned off. The mustangs were happy and confident, which I was very happy to see.

I had no idea what I would say to this crowd, but I can be spontaneous. When the mike was handed to me, I just commented on how happy and confident the horses looked, what a great job the trainers did with the horses in a short time, and how much I admired this one particular horse. I also said, "what a 'win-win' situation it was to the potential buyers of these mustangs. They would have a horse with a good start-which is so important for the longevity of a horse's lifetime performance, a trainer that could give them lessons and coaching with this horse, and a horse that I shortly discovered was devoted to his rider.

Lastly, I had to congratulate the Champion Trainer of the event. I told the men in the audience they might not like what I have to say, however, I am going to say it anyway..... "I AM SO PROUD A WOMEN TRAINER WON THIS EVENT!!! She was the only woman in the top ten"! The men liked it, as the whole audience again cheered with joy and appreciation! It was very exciting and I was very impressed with what Patti had done! I told Patti that I would love to team together with her at my Women Luv Horse event...

The Extreme Mustang Makeover comcept is something that I truly admire. The mustangs get a great start from trainers that devoted their talents to train them. The trainers get in front of the public and can show their training talents for future business. The trainers get a chance to win money in the competitions. The horses get exposure and seasoning at the competition for new owners. New owners get a horse with a good start and can go on with him in many directions of interest. New owners can get more training, coaching and lessons, from the trainers as they are in the region where the competition is held.

The owners who buy a mustang are also special! Not only to have a very nice horse, but the money they spend; a percentage of the sale is a commission to the trainer (so if a trainer does not get in the top ten from the competition, they still take home a pay check). The balance of the money goes to the Mustang Hertage Foundation - to take care of our American Hertage horse - the wild Mustang. I had and stil have extreme admiration for this concept and knew, only Patti Colbert could come up with such a wonderful idea!

I was hooked with this concept and asked Patti if I could create something with her top ten women from the 2008 Extreme Mustang Makeover events at my Women Luv Horses Retreat in Southern California in Dec. Patti gave us names and we invited 12 women and their mustangs to do another level of competition with the mustangs. I created an event; Supreme HorseWomen Challenge. We had 6 different events they all had to participate in. It was really something special to be able watch the mustangs and their trainers at work!

Supreme HorseWoman Event:
Conditioning
Grooming & Fitness
Trail/Obstacle Course
Agility Course - In Hand
Equestrienne Equitation Pattern
Musical Freestyle

Over $5000 in Awards
Overall Champion- Custom Trophy Buckle & Sponsored Awards
Reserve Overall Champion- Sponsored Awards
Class Prizes 1st- 6th: Sponsored Prizes by Farnam, EquiMedic USA, EOUS & more!
2008 Champion Supreme HorseWomen was Corrinne Elser; Burns, Oregon
Res. Supreme HorseWomen Champion was Wylene Wilson; Queen Creek, Az.

Please come and join us at Women Luv Horses in Ocala, Florida, April 3, 4 and, 5th, 2009 as we will be teaming with Extreme Mustang Makeover and 40 male and female trainers. The live mustang auction will take place April 5th at 10am. 'Be there' to support these wonderful trainers, take home a great horse, and you will be donating your money to the Mustang Heritage Foundation! You can also get a variety of horse training education from, Linda Parelli (Natural Horsemanship & Dressage) Martha Josey (Western Horsemanship & Barrells), and Cynthia Cantleberry (Western Horsemanship & Trail) and Lynn Palm ( All Around Western & English). Lots of shopping, Cowgirl Fundraiser Party with Horsey Entertainment, Extreme Mustang Makeover Freestyle Finals, and lots of giving back to the horse industry-it just is a "good feeling and learning, & fun time"

Join Us! Learn more at: www.lynnpalm.com or www.mustangfoundation.com