Natchez mustang on top after first day of Extreme competition

By Ben Hillyer (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Friday, September 19, 2008

FORT WORTH, Texas — After the first day of the Extreme Mustang Makeover competition, Natchez horse trainer David Carter and his horse, Silverado, are right where they want to be — first place.

“Natchez is at the top,” Carter said after the preliminary scores were announced Thursday evening.

Carter is competing this weekend against 128 other horse trainers from 38 states across the country. Day one included two of the three preliminary events — body conditioning scoring and the In Hand competition.

Silverado placed with the highest score in the body conditioning event. Horses were scored according to how well groomed, well fed and maintained they were after the 100 days of competition. Silverado scored 119 out of 120 points.

The second event, the In Hand competition, tested the trainers and horses on their ability to maneuver through an obstacle course of activities. Out of a perfect score of 180 points, Carter and Silverado scored 169 points to place second in that event.

The total score for day one puts Carter and Silverado atop the leaderboard.

“There are a lot of happy people from Natchez here,” Carter said.

Carter competes in the third leg of the preliminary competition Saturday morning. The score from that event will be combined with the previous scores to determine which 10 horses will compete for the Extreme Mustang Makeover title and a share of the $70,000 purse.

“I feel good where we stand right now, but there’s a lot more left,” Carter said. “If we do as good as we did today on Saturday, we will be good for the finals.”