Mission 007-Day 3

We're home! After a long day of traveling, Thunder, Prada, Reecie and Rudy have made it back to Columbia (their new home for the next 3 months!). It's been such an incredible experience watching the girls relate to their horses and I can't wait to see what happens this summer as the training gets more intense.

At this point, the plan is to have the girls train their horses twice a week (although a couple of the girls want to spend every waking moment with their Mustang!). Training will begin next week and will continue until we head to Fort Worth Texas for the Extreme Makeover Challenge in September.

The training will definitely challenge the girls in many ways. Vernita mentioned to me yesterday that she thinks the hardest part will be having patience with the horse, seeing as though they are wild Mustangs who have never worked with people. This morning, I watched as she stood quietly on the side of the trailer for 5 minutes holding grass in her hand for her horse to eat. Finally, Prada made her way over to her hand and gently grabbed the food. Besides the fact that this act showed incredible bravery and confidence on Vernita's part, it also proved that her patient training is already paying off.

We are convinced that the next three months will be life-changing for both the horses and the Spirit Riders. Stay tuned for more blog updates on this brave group of girls.