Local News cast

For those of you who have followed the Journey with Aztec, please check out the story from the local news. It aired today at 5pm, Brock and Aztec are in the Roy's folks segment. You can see it on their website at www.myfoxwghp.com

October 25th, 2009

Well, Brock and Aztec wound up with an 11th place finish for the Mustang Makeover. We are so proud of Aztec!!! We went to the auction today to sale hi, and somehow we wound up bidding on him, and winning! We are on the way home now, and we know he has a great home! Our daughter wanted to keep him and use him for Rodeo and trailriding. We will continue to update occasionally so our fans can see how Willow and Aztec do together. It was an amazing event, with almost 100 awesome trainers and mustangs. Any one who purchased one from the auction bought themselves a great horse. It was a very fun weekend, and we look forward to entewring the one coming up in the spring in Fl. We think we will take two mustangs this time and do a husband/wife team!

It was an incrediable journey, and we are so happy to have been selected to take part in it. And what a wonderful ending, with Aztec coming home!! It was just to hard to sale him to someone else!

Extreme Mustang Makeover Day 1

We drove all night Wednesday, and arrived at the coliseum just in time for a beautiful Sunrise on Thur morning. We got Aztec settled in his stall, and let him get some rest.

Brock and Aztec competed in the In Hand portion today, and placed 6th overall! Things are looking good for him to make the top 10 Saturday night!!! He will show under saddle Saturday morning, and then we will find out if he will be doing a freestyle in the evening for the top 10.

Aztec has been great, seems like he has seen the bright lights before! Nothing seems to phase him, but that is the way we like it! We are enjoying our time here, there are some great trainers and beautiful mustangs, the bidders are going to be taking home an awesome group of horses. If you have ever thought about getting a mustang, this would be the place to adopt one. They all have a wonderful foundation placed on them!!

Go Team Baby Aztec!!!! Thanks for all the support from our friends, family and clients!!

Time for the big trip!

Well, we are 24 hours away from loading up Aztec and making the long 600 mile journey to Tennessee! We are ready for the competition, and to see all of the other Mustangs and trainers and how they have done. We could not ask for any thing more with Aztec, only time! We really love him, and wish we could bring him back home with us! The time seems to have gone by so fast, seems like yesterday we were unloading him at our barn, and he was a wild man. He is now a gentle and willing partner, to the point of our 6 yr old daughter trail riding him all by herself. I was nervous about her taking him out, but like always he was fabulous!

For those of you following our story, Brock and Aztec will be on Fox 8 Monday night at 5pm, they will be in the Roy's folks segment, They came out yesterday and did a story on him. If you do not get that channel, you can watch it online at www.myfoxwghp.com anytime after next Monday.

We want to again thank our sponsors who have helped make this possible, and all the donations we have received at local events and through our website. Our sponsors include: Purina and Davis Feed, Jackie Forlines, Pixicom, Natures Path hoof care, and Carolina Tack Traders of Ramseur, Nc

I will update the blog during the 3 rounds of competition in Tn so those of you who cannot be there can follow along. Thanks again for all the support, We have great family and friends! Wish us luck!!!

Valley Time

There is a historic place located just outside of the nc mountains, and just about every one who has horses and lives in North Carolina goes there to ride a couple of times each year. There are miles and miles of trails that range from mild to extreme, and a little western town right in the middle of it all.

We took Aztec to Love Valley today along with our other mustang Chico and our daughters pony. We rode all day, u and down the mountains, through some tough crossings and into town. Aztec handled it all like a champ, and never even so much as raised a brow. After several hours of riding, we stopped in town for a snack and something cold to drink and tied them to the hitching post for a while. There were kids, dogs, lots of other horses, mules and buggies, and we even passed 2 men riding cows! It was a beautiful day and good family fun for us.

Aztec is about as ready as he is going to be for the Mustang Makeover, and we are less than 2 weeks away from the competition! We will update again soon. Thanks to everyone who has taken part of our journey with him!

Bar T mustang Festival, Saturday October 3, 09

Today we attended the first ever Mustang Festival at the Bar T Ranch in Pittsboro, nc. Let me be the first to tell you what a great bunch of people the Thomas Family are. They hosted an awesome event for the North Carolina trainers to showcase their EMM horses, raise money for the trips to Tn and allowed local horses to come in and showcase their talents. They had in hand, pleasure and free style classes, as well as many childrens activities throughout the day. They also hosted the Bar T Trail challenge, which was very fun, many trail obstacles, and a race based on time and horsemanship. I would recommend them to anyone, they do Natural Horsemanship and are truly wonderful people. We are so excited to watch the Thomas kids compete in the EMM in TN.

Aztec was truly a crowd pleaser during Brocks freestyle performance. We are ready to go to the EMM, but certainly not ready for the auction ,and to put him on someone else's trailer at the end of all this is heartbreaking to me. Our family has truly fallen in love with him, and he is something very special. He has qualities that you will not find in most horses, and has more heart and try than any other horse we have ever trained. Guess that is all for now, we will update a few more times before the trip, and for those who cannot be at he EMM we will update during the actual show that weekend so you all can follow along.

Thanks to all those who have donated for the Aztec fund, it is greatly appreciated!

All the Pictures features in this post are from the Mustang festival at the Bar T Ranch

Open House and fundraiser

Saturday, September 19, 2009

We had our first annual open house today. We had great fall like weather, a wonderful crowd, and pretty good food! Brock worked with 3 problem horses, and introduced Aztec and a little of what they can do at this point to the Crowd. Aztec once again seems like he has done it all before, staying calm and focused, not intimidated by the crowd or chaos at all. We raised some money for our trip to Tn for the Makeover, and overall had a wonderful day! Thanks to those who sponsor, and those who donated today too! This wouldn't be possible without support from our friends, family and clients! Thanks to everyone who helped at the event today too, it really was a lot of fun! Aztec is pretty awesome and we are very excited about what is still to come in our journey with him.

Training day #56

Brock and Aztec did their first public demo today at Davis Feed & Supply this morning. It was a small crowd, but a lot of distractions in the surrounding areas with the traffic and farm equipment, they were also hosting a vaccine clinic for dogs, cats and horses. He did fantastic, was calm, cool and collected like he has done a demo hundreds of times! We even had a lady who was out to watch the demo ride him, he was a good boy for her as well! Please visit the feed store website for great friendly service and the best Purina feeds on the market @ www.davisfeed. net

We would like to thank them for hosting the demo, as well as sponsoring Aztec with one of their premium feeds, Strategy. He is really building muscle tone, and looks great in just a few short weeks of proper nutrition and exercise. Please check out our website and donate if you can, we are trying to raise the funds necessary to pay for the trip to TN!

We will be having an openhouse and fundraiser this upcoming Saturday, September 19th at our barn, if you are interested in attending, please send us an email through our website. Brock will work with 3 problem horses and ride Aztec as well, a healthy hoof demo by Rebecca Wyatt of natures path hoof care, and free food! Come on out and support us, we hope to see you all there!

He is almost ready!

We are making sure Aztec will be safe for any level rider, Our Daughter Willow is 6, and she is trying her hand at training! Aztec was a really good boy for her, she rode him for a while and they got along great! Looks like we may have another trainer for Brock Griffith Horsemanship in the near future!

Half way there!!!

Aztec is continuing to build confidence with many different obstacles and refining the mounted work. He is doing great, we really love him. Who ever gets him will be one lucky horse owner! We are getting him prepared for his first public appearance which will be next weekend at Davis Feed in Randleman NC. Please check our website if you would like to attend!

Day # 38

Aztec is really making a great horse, he is doing everything we ask of him. He tries really hard everyday and is very eager to please. This week Brock is working on teaching him correct leads and beginning to refine his body control.

day # 32

Well tonight was fantastic! I had to attend flag practice for the annual Jerome Davis PBR, here in Archdale nc. Brock decided to take Aztec along, and for the first time since coming home, he was hauled somewhere with us. There were lots of other horses, music, bulls and tons of traffic and people. He was great with everything as Brcok rode him all around the rodeo grounds. He even let several people approach and pet him while Brock was riding him around. We feel he is really doing well, and we are trying our best to prepare him for the big show in Tn. Hopefully all of the hard work will pay off, and he will make a wonderful partner for who adopts him! Happy trails till next time.

Day # 29

Aztec got his second trim today by Rebecca Wyatt, of course he was a good boy. She was able to place his feet in front of him onto the hoof jack and gave very little trouble, sleeping through most of it! Thanks Rebecca for all your help!! Please check her out @ Naturespathhoof.com

Day # 28

Aztec is really beginning to put it all together, today we worked on Trailer loading for the first time since he has been home with us. He did wonderful loading right up with confidence within 10 minutes. He is ready to hit the road and be hauled to some Rodeo's and Barrel Races. We are going to try and expose him to as much as possible over the next 60 days. We are happy with where he is in his training and are ready for another week with him!!!

DAY # 25

Brock and Aztec continue to develop their friendship. Up until now he has done nothing but the basics, lots of trail riding, plow reining, forward movement and gait control. He is a joy to work with. really calm, quiet, and willing .He is learning to rope and Brock can crack the bull whip off his back with no reaction form Aztec! It is now time to really begin to put a handle on him and refine his skills. We are excited about his progress and eager to see what tomorrow brings!

Please check out our good friends, Emily and Chapin Thomas as they are competing in the Extreme Mustang makeover as well, their blog can be found on the EMM website.

Day 19-23

Brock has been doing lots of good ole trail riding with Aztec, for hours at a time. He is doing great going out by himself or with other horses. He has experienced crossing water, moguls, passes ATV's and cars. He has really given himself to Brock and will do anything Brock ask with a positive attitude. We are really enjoying spending time with him in general, he has become a family friend, although we must keep in mind he is only ours for a little while. We thank the good lord for blessing us the way he has. We will update again soon!

Day # 17

Brock is still riding Aztec, working on the basics under saddle. He ha done a little ground driving, and a few other things, keeping it mixed up and always introducing new things to Aztec. He has turned out to be a big baby doll, very loving and sweet. He will lay his forehead against our chest and close his eye's, like is is the happiest horse ever. I know it will be very difficult to adopt him out at the auction, as he has already won our hearts and is part of the Griffith family!

Rebecca Wyatt of Nature's Path Hoof Care was kind enough to give Aztec his first trim today, and he did great. She worked steadily for about 45 minutes on his feet, and he was very patient and willing to get along. You can contact her through NaturesPathHoof.com or call her at (336) 391-6605. She is very patient and kind, and does an awesome job of giving a proper balanced trim for a natural healthy hoof, she is the best!!!!

It seems that once we earned the respect of Aztec, he is very willing to give his all, he is very trusting and has a very big heart. More to come soon, please check in often for more updates!

Day # 12 - 14

Despite the rain Aztec continues to make steady progress. He has had his first bath, beginning to allow his feet to be handled, and doing great under saddle. He has been out trail riding and seems to enjoy his new job. We have also posted a video under the video Q & A page of our site, it shows Brock working Aztec from horseback with his mustang Chico, check it out.

Day # 11

Brock rode Aztec out and about around the barnyard and driveway today for the first time. He is doing great, the weather is really not wanting to cooperate, we have had several inches of rain in 48 hours and things are just muddy. We will continue to work at it slowly and make steady progress.

Day # 10

Brock rode Aztec this morning, we got the walk, trot and canter from him ,he did not offer to buck, things are moving along well with his training.

Day # 9

We did the Jeffries method tonight with Aztec and saddled him for the first time. He did great, bucked only a few times for 10 seconds or so when we asked him to move off with the saddle on. He is super trusting with Brock and will do anything he ask with little or no resistance. We will saddle him tomorrow again and give him his first ride, we wanted to ride him tonight but as soon as we saddled him, it came a frog strangler! That all till next time!!

day #8

We took Aztec out of the roundpen today and let him do a little exploring around the barnyard, very uneventful! We have done tons of desentizing and lots of groundwork, he is a very smart boy. We plan to saddle tomorrow for the 1st time, I will be sure and get some good pics.

brock working Aztec from Chico

brock working Aztec from Chico

Day # 7

We would like to take time to Thank our Sponsors for our mustang, Aztec. We would like to Thank our friends ant Davis Feed & Supply in Randleman, NC and Purina for providing Aztec with the best feeds available while he is in our care. We would also like to thank Carolina Tack Traders in Ramsuer, NC for providing Good, Quality tack for him for his training and Showing needs.

Brock worked Aztec from Horseback today with our 4 yr old Mustang, Chico. He used Chico to teach him to really lead up and give to pressure, and to touch the poll area and ears, also to get him comfortable of the view of Brock being above him. We also used him to shoot a demo video for our website, he was a really good boy and is coming along great! We will update again soon, please see his video on our website

training day #5

We were able to get a halter on Aztec last night, taking it on and off several times, and working on teaching him to lead up. We were also able to touch him all over his body, down his legs and to his knees. His is doing great, we are pleased with his progress!

training day #4

Aztec continues to make progress. We can now touch him on the face, shoulders and poll area. He is a bit flighty and still scared of Human contact, but is showing improvements. He wants to be with us, but after a short amount of time you can see his natural instinct take over and tell him to flee. We are looking to teach him it is a good thing to be with us. We will continue his twice daily lessons and working on getting him gentled.

Aztec, Day # training update

Brock is now able to Join up and touch Aztec on the face, he is coming along nice, hoping to halter him within the next couple of days