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photo by Ben Hillyer
With Silverado by his side, David Carter takes his hat off to the crowd at Will Rogers Arena on Saturday night during the finals of the Extreme Mustang Makeover competition. Inset below, Carter walks back the stables with his hand cradling Silverado’s chin Saturday morning.
Carter takes fourth in Extreme Mustang Makeover
Published Sunday, September 21, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas — Five days into the Extreme Mustang Makeover, Natchez horse trainer David Carter didn’t know what kind of horse he had been given in the national competition to tame wild horses in 100 days.
After eight minutes of performing Saturday, it became official. Carter and his horse were legends. The two took the fourth place trophy.
Carter competed against 168 trainers from 38 states across the country.
Before Saturday night’s Freestyle Finals, Carter sat solidly in third place after an impressive third round.
Competing with some of the superstars of the horse training industry, Carter wowed a crowded Will Rogers Arena with both his horsemanship and showmanship skills.
Carter brought out all of his extreme moves. Popping balloons with a pistol, cracking a whip while standing atop Silverado, who was also standing on a small wooden platform, Carter did it all to the sounds of “Eye of the Tiger” and “We are the Champions”.
To thunderous applause, Carter and Silverado received 9 and 9.5 scores in both the technical and artistic categories.
With his son Coleman in the saddle, Carter took a victory lap, giving high fives to children reaching their hands out to congratulate the Natchez stars.
Earlier in the day, Carter was named to the list of the top 10 horses after an almost flawless third-round routine. There was little doubt in the minds of the Natchez contingent that Carter would make it to the finals.
Four hours later, those predictions came true as Carter was officially named to the competition’s elite.
Sporting T-shirts emblazoned with a picture of Carter riding Silverado, almost 50 people traveled from Natchez to root for Carter and Silverado. As Silverado made it through the third round, the group of fans rose to its feet to show its loud approval.
“Isn’t it great?” Paige Carter asked after Saturday’s announcement.
One of the missions of the Extreme Mustang Makeover is to highlight the trainability of wild mustangs. The culmination of the weekend competition is Sunday’s adoption of all of the horse competitors — including Silverado.
Carter hopes that his horse will follow him home to Natchez.
“All along we have had the intention of adopting him,” Carter said. “Because of the blood, sweat and tears that I have put into him over the last 100 days, we want to bring him home.”
Saturday’s accomplishments may have complicated his goal. With the success and the exposure, many other people have expressed interest in the horse.
“The good thing is that he is as good as we thought. The bad thing is that I am sure a lot more people want him, too,” Carter said.
Comments
Posted by Sarge (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 1:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
After all the hard work and countless hours spent training Silverado,,,,,I sure do hope that David will be able to bring him back home to Natchez with him!
I thought the ones training these Mustangs got first dibs on buying them! That would be the fair thing to do! Especially since these horses came to the trainers completely wild with absolutely no handling or socialization and have learned to trust their trainers with their lives!
Good luck David! I hope to read about you keeping Silverado! He's an amazing horse!
Great job! And Congrats on fourth place! I thought you deserved first place! You're one hell of a horseman!
Posted by Sarge (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 1:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
BTW,,,,,Thank you to the Democrat staff that kept us all informed with this wonderful story!
I hope to see more human interest stories in the near future!
Posted by harvest1 (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 7 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Great job Carter. I hope you bring him home. Thanks ND for this wonderful story. Keeping us aware of all his programs. With all the things that are going on now I needed that.
Posted by freedom42 (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It would be horrible if David can't bring Silvarado home! Does anyone know how this works? I thought he was adopted when David first got him.
Posted by reb1843 (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 1:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Carter and Silverado are champions in every way, no matter how they finished in Fort Worth!
The mustangs are adopted (at auction) by the highest bidder. Some of them have gone for many thousands of $$$ after all the hard work, love/language/leadership has been imprinted in them by others, such as David. Many of the trainers cannot afford to "adopt" the magnificent horses they have brought to this level of performance. Too bad for the trainer and for the horse. There's a bond there that can never be broken...
Posted by Kaintuck (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 7:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mucho valor for both Carter and mustang "Silverado"! There is a lot of blood, sweat and tears that go into sacking-out and training any horse, but scoring that high - in that level of competition - is remarkable; especially with a horse that had lived by it's wiles and wits on it's own... Very impressive indeed!
Posted by presby (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 9:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Great story,Some positive things for a change. Hard work by a hard working man and horse.
Posted by woodduck (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 9:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I was there!! It was an awesome competition. David and Silverado did a great job. They were competing against several of the most prominent trainers in the USA. Folks, the Legends (the top category) was top to bottom filled with quality horses and top trainers.To finish fourth in that competition was a terrific accomplishment. David is to be commended.
I have been around horses and other farm/ranch animals most of my life. I showed Sheep, beef cattle and Quarter horses all through high school, college and even for a few years after college. Folks, I have never seen anything like this Mustang makeover competition. Remember these horses were completely wild, running in small herds on Bureau of Land management lands out West from birth. Their first and only contact with humans certainly wasn’t a positive trust inspiring experience. They were captured in a waterhole trap, corralled, the males were castrated and all of them got a freeze brand on their neck!! Their second human experience was when they were gathered again and trucked to a BLM pen where they were assigned to their trainers. That was 100 DAYS before the competition.
Look at the photos of David and Silverado, He rode him through about ¾ of his final performance with no bridle, only a rope around his neck.Popped a Bullwhip standing on the horse, with the horse standing on a small probably 3 ftX 3 ft platform! Riding around the arena shooting pistols, and jumping barrels, all this with no bridle, controlling the horse with leg pressure and body movement. You would have had to be there to appreciate how well trained al lthese horsec are.
Silverado had photo ops with 3 or 4 kids on his back between competitions. He was almost always surrounded by scores of folks, walking around, behind and lots of noise and strange sights and smells. Never once did he ever show one sign of nervousness or any behavior that would endanger him or anyone around him. After the competition was finished, we took group photos with Silverado no bridle, halter or even a rope around his neck! Probably there were 20 – 25 people around this incredible horse, camera flashes going off, and he looked like it was just another day at the office!
I didn’t get to stay for the auction, as I had a plane to catch to get back home, but I sure hope that David was able to bring Silverado home. I believe that he will make an awesome horse for he and Paige’s young cowboy, Coleman. From what I saw after the competition, it looks like Coleman has the makings of a real solid calf roper.
David and Silverado, you are both Champions in my eyes. I stand in awe of your abilities.
Posted by Riffian1964 (anonymous) on September 21, 2008 at 10:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is wonderful to see such a happy story. Hope this one has a happy ending too. Congratulations Team Silverado!
Posted by HappyAppy (anonymous) on September 22, 2008 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is going to be aired on RFD-TV but I am not sure when.
Posted by apache (anonymous) on September 22, 2008 at 3:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The finish speaks of the man; his intensity and determination, his integrity and sense of pride, his upbringing, his family values, his compassion. It is what what America is all about and what makes us all so proud of Carter.
And thank you Silverado; it is your heritage and your spirit that continues to remind us just how great our country is and how blessed we are to live in freedom.
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