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I was fascinated by Becky and George's journey to and success at Tevis, so I 
asked George's owner, Ed Kilpatrick, to give me George's history.  Ed is far to 
modest to post the whole story himself, but I think it's a great read, 
especially to someone like me who wouldn't know diddly about taking a wild 
horse and working with him until we were partners.  In any event, the following 
is George's story, as told by Ed:

" the story with this mustang, gorgeous george, started in january 2001.  a 
friend of mine, david, called me and said he had a horse that he wanted me to 
ride for him because he was afraid to get on him.  he had bought the horse at 
an auction.  the guy who sold him said he was tired of getting bucked off and 
needed to get rid of him.  well, david isnt much of a rider, but he knows a 
good looking horse when he sees one.  he couldnt pass this one up.
well, i agreed to go to david's and take a look at this horse.  kathi went with 
me and when she saw him, the first words out of her mouth were, "wow, just look 
at him, he is gorgeous!"   david said, "well, i call him george, so if you want 
to call him gorgeous thats ok."   david had george tied to a pole, and as i 
approached the horse, he just stood there, on high alert, and snorted at me.  i 
untied him, led him to the trailer and he marched right in.  i agreed to work 
with george for two weeks and let david know how george was doing.
    i got george to my farm and put him in a 40' square corral.  he had a 
voracious appetite and would eat half a bale of hay quicker than you can 
imagine.  after a day of settling in,  i got started with him.  my plan was to 
start all over with basic ground work, try to find out what he knew and just 
spend time trying to win his confidence.  it soon became apparent that he had 
not been handled very well or very often.  he didnt know what a grooming brush 
was and apparently no one had picked up his feet in a long time.  i guess one 
of my first thoughts was, "well, i took this job too cheap!!"
    i spent the next ten days doing some pretty intensive groundwork with 
george. i was amazed at his strength and agility. he would move left and right, 
walk and trot on the lead line, stop and start when i asked him to. he was 
doing much better about being touched all over, and having his feet picked up. 
i had put the saddle on him a couple of times, and he didnt appear to be 
bothered by it.  so, time to stop playing around and get on him.  since he came 
to me with a reputation, i thought it best to have a someone on "standby" when 
i got on him for the first time.   i got my dad come over and supervise.
well, i got on george and although he appeared a bit nervous,  he didnt buck or 
do anything stupid.  i got him to walk around the round pen a few times, did a 
few turns, stopped and started a bit, and he did very well.  i like to always 
end a session on a good note, so we called it a day.   the next day,  i did 
some ground work and lunging with george, saddled him up and got on.   we just 
started out walking in the round pen.  since i had worked him at a trot on the 
lunge line, i thought i would give it a try under saddle.  i squeezed slightly 
with my legs, and george just shot out from under me so fast, i rolled right 
off his rear end!   he never bucked, just accelerated from 0 to 40 in the blink 
of an eye.  i got up, dusted off, got back on him, and made a mental note,  no 
leg pressure just yet.....
    for the next couple of days, we just rode in the round pen, working at a 
walk and a trot.  i got him used to the leg pressure, just had to take it easy. 
my thoughts were, that cowboy probably used spurs on him, you never know.   
the fourth day under saddle and we had worked up to a canter, though he was 
very hesitant about it.  he just didnt feel comfortable with it, but he didnt 
do anything crazy, either.   i began riding him through the fields and woods 
nearby, and found that he was more relaxed out there, instead of around 
"manmade" objects.
    i took him back to david, warned him about george's quickness and agility, 
and told him not to ride him anywhere but out in the field until they got 
accustomed to one another.      david called me about a week later, and said, 
"you have to come help me with george.  i cant even get the saddle on him!"   i 
got my gear in the truck, and kathi and i took off.  on the way to david's, we 
talked about what was going on.  the conversation went approximately like this, 
"way too much horse for him,"  i said.  she agreed.   "you have to get that 
horse for me," she said.
"what do we need with a danged old mustang that is ready to explode?!", i said. 
"that horse will hurt somebody!"    "HUH!,  i thought you were a better 
trainer than that,"  she said, besides, he is so pretty, and we have to save 
him!".    durn it, she sure knows how to push my buttons.
   we got to david's little farm, where he had george tied to a tree in the 
backyard.  i told kathi to keep david out of sight in the front yard while i 
worked with george a bit.  i suspected that david was scared, the horse was 
scared, and the mutual fear was shortcircuiting any chance of them getting 
along.   i got george calmed down,  got my saddle on him and rode around a bit. 
we did a few circles and figure eights.  he seemed just fine to me.  i yelled 
out for kathi and david to come take a look.    as soon as george saw david,  
he stopped in his tracks and snorted!  i rubbed george's neck and got him to 
relax.  we rode around a bit more, but as soon as david came into view, george 
stopped and snorted again!  i asked david if he wanted to try him, since i 
didnt seem to be having any problem with him.   david got on him, and got 
george to walk around a bit.&nbs! p; i could see david's white knuckled death 
grip on the reins.   not gonna work, i thought to myself.
david stopped george and dismounted.   "this horse will hurt you, david."   he 
isnt mean, but he is scared.  he will jump out from under you when you least 
expect it, an accident waiting to happen.....", i mumbled, shaking my head.   
"what will you take for him?", i asked.   inside my head, my rational side was 
telling me, you dont need this horse.  what is he good for?  so what if he has 
that powerhouse build and is quick as a cat, what does that matter?    david 
said,  "well,  you see those two quarterhorses over in that corral?  they both 
need a little riding time.   give me two weeks on each of them,  a hundred 
dollar bill, and he's yours!"      "DONE!"  sez i,  with a look that 
simultaneously conveyed glee and bewilderment.   i've done it to me again, i 
thought.   oh well,  "happy valentines day, kathi lee,"! i said to that 
grinning woman beside me who was already grabbing for george's lead line.
    the next few months were spent trailriding, and getting george used to all 
kinds of things.  nothing in the woods or on the trails bothered him.  deer 
could jump up practically under his feet, and he wouldnt even blink.  manmade 
objects were a different matter altogether.  you let a little girl ride by on a 
tricycle, and george would try to get on top of my head to hide from it.   its 
easy to laugh about it now, because he got over those fears.   the one thing 
that still bothers him, though, is any horse drawn carriage or buggy.  if one 
is within his eyesight,  he snorts and prances, looking for an escape route.
i guess from his perspective, he thinks, i dont know what that thing is, but 
when it finishes the one its eating now, its coming after me!
    with all the trail riding,  he was rapidly becoming a dependable mount. he 
had a nice, brisk walk and a wonderful rhythmic trot that was easy on the 
rider.  we could do several hours of hard riding, and george would seem just as 
fresh as when we had started.  we had only begun doing some limited distance 
rides earlier that year with our other horses, so it was quite natural for 
kathi to suggest that we try george out in distance riding.  the goethe 
challenge in december 2001 was george's first aerc ride.  we did the 25 miles 
in about 4 hours, and had a really good ride.  in the next few months, we did 
some more ld rides and some competitive trail rides with him.  he just seemed 
to well suited for it.   he is not a really fast horse.  i have done some 25 
and 50 mile rides with him and finished in the top ten a few times, but speed 
is not his strong suit.  he does well in rough terra! in, and has the strength 
take the hills.  i think of george as the type to just put one foot in front of 
the other and keep going.  must be his upbringing.  :-)  oh, and speaking of 
that, a little background info here.   george is not one of these mustangs that 
was captured at a young age and had been around people more that he had run 
wild.  quite the opposite.  he ran wild in nevada, and was a five year old 
stallion when he was rounded up.  he stayed in a holding facility for about a 
year, and was adopted in jacksonville, florida, by a man named cy, from 
chipley, florida.  supposedly, the cy kept george as a stallion for a couple of 
years, let him have a small band of mustang mares and just really didnt do much 
with him.  then, as the story was handed down to me, george was gelded and a 
young cowboy/bullrider attempted to "break" him.  thats how george ended up at 
the horse auction.   i had ! heard rumors for a couple of years about how 
george was adopted and handled, but didnt really know the whole story.  well,  
this past march, i got to meet cy, the man who originally adopted him, and he 
confirmed that the story i heard was very accurate.  its funny,  when i met 
george's original adopter, we were over in chipley, florida, exhibiting george 
in an event called mustang appreciation day.  i asked cy,  "what made you pick 
this horse?"   he said,  "just look at him,  isnt he gorgeous?"

Laurie Underwood
SE


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