Competitions
2010 Equine Extravaganza Winner!!
Early morning walk with Minnow & Ammo
On Friday, October 29th I proceeded to pack up the pony (Chincoteague Minnow) and the dog (Ammo the Dachshund) for a big journey to Doswell, Virginia for the 2010 Equine Extravaganza. I had entered the boys into the 2010 Got Talent Contest, and we spent the past month or so perfecting our new skit. We were only able to practice the skit in it’s entirety about 4 times before we left, so my fingers were crossed that everything would go smoothly.
I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous before hand. Although I have been performing with Minnow for several years now – this was the first time the two of them would perform a skit together that required them to wait stationary while I worked with one and then the other. This was also the biggest venue we have ever performed in. Usually it’s local horse shows, camp demonstrations, and the once-a-year trip to the Chincoteague Pony Centre (which Ammo has never been to). Never a venue alongside well-known trainers/performers like Kenny Harlow, Julie Goodnight, Lizzy Traband, etc.
I shouldn’t have been nervous though, because the boys knew what they were doing. Here’s a video of their performance, which had the crowd giggling in their seats the whole time!
Mark & Dusty opened the competition for us, and then we were followed by our fellow compeditiors.
Rachael & Casper
and then
Taylor & Vesper
Then while the judges made their decisions Lizzy Traband closed out the competition
Each one of my competitors had something different for the crowd, and I loved how we had our own unique style. But in the end, my bubbly Dachshund – and the Chincoteague Pony that was born to perform took the winning title!
After the performance we got to enjoy the expo for the weekend. I got to meet and talk with animal trainer (for the movies), Doug Sloan, whom I will get a personal training session with in the near future as part of my winning prize. He was really nice to talk to, and we even talked about clicker training – and how he had clicker trainer, Karen Pryor, out to his farm to help him tap into training with this method. He told me about his new project horse whom he’s started with clicker training.
Amazing Grace
We also talked about Gracie, the trick mule who won the 2008 Talent Contest at the Equine Extravaganza. Gracie went on to stardom afterward, with the help of Doug Sloan, and starred in the Movie Get Low with Robert Duvall. She now travels with her trainer, Steve Foster, performing at venues and performing for television (she just finished filming a part in the show Larry the Cable Guy, which will air next year).
Fortunately I was able to catch Gracie’s Act at the Expo as well.
Amazing Grace the trick mule
I enjoyed watching Gracie perform, you can tell her and Steve have a special bond. Although don’t tell Gracie, I still think Minnow is the better painter! 🙂 I was excited to see that Steve trains Gracie with food rewards. I don’t think he uses “clicker training” per say, but I did notice him using a marker word of “Good Girl Gracie” occasionally. Later Steve filled in for Doug Sloan in a clinic (Doug missed most of the expo over the weekend due to being sick) on mule training (he admittedly told us he had never done a clinic before) – where he talked about training with kindness and food rewards. You could tell her truly loved his mule – although she may have needed a little refresher course on treat mugging – but Steve did say she had been performing all week and was a bit cranky. So we should give her the benefit of the doubt, after all she is a movie star!
a sleepy Ammo on the way home to Pennsylvania
We had a great weekend down in Doswell, Virginia – and I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone a bit to experience it. I think both Minnow (who wanted to keep performing all weekend long) and Ammo (who never tired of saying hello to fans) really had a fun time. The best part was that I got to enjoy a beautiful weekend with my favorite Dachshund & Chincoteague Pony. Can’t wait for our next performance!
Check out Ammo the Dachshund’s recap of the performance here.
Bombproof Pony
On Sunday we held a little event at Iron Horse Farm. It was mostly a mounted games competition but we also set up a little obstacle course for anyone who wanted to give it a try. Most of the games ponies were pretty great about running through the course – hardly bulking at any of the obstacles.
That’s one of the great things about mounted games. It introduces the kids & ponies to a wide array of strange objects, ultimately creating a pretty bombproof pony.
After watching all of the kids have fun through the course I decided to pull Boomerang out and give it a whirl….bareback and bitless. Boomer is an exceptional pony who is VERY brave. I have yet to find ANYTHING that makes him nervous or spooky. On the rare occasion he may take an extra second to look at something, but without fail he will always crosses it, touches it, or picks it up in his mouth. Here’s a video of Boomer and I doing the course for the first time. It should be noted that he hasn’t seen ANY of these objects before in their current setup, nor has he gone through the course. Also we typically set up objects in our arena, so it’s in a different setting than he’s used to.
P.S. I had the fastest time of the day! woohoo!
And here’s a video of Boomer cantering over the tarp. He’s such a cool pony.
Check out Ammo the Dachshund’s posts on the day’s events. Part 1 & Part 2
Traveling with Ponies
Well I’m back from my big trip to New Jersey for the 2010 MGAA National Competition. Not only did I bring along my competition mount, Chesapeake Boomerang, but also trick pony extraordinaire, Chincoteague Minnow, and my ever present sidekick, Ammo the Dachshund.
The plan was to have Minnow paint and perform on Thursday Night, with a little help from Boomer and Minnow. Boomer was then primed to compete in mounted games for 3 days – his longest and biggest competition since I’ve had him. And Ammo, well he was just there to be cute – and I could have never left home without him!
We arrived late on Wednesday night. We got the ponies checked in and bedded down for the night in their stalls. We then set up our campsite in the blazing heat (yes it was even hot when the sun set). I spent most of the night warding off miskitos to no avail while the dachshund slept soundly on my pillow.
The next day was even hotter than the first as I readied Boomerang for the first day of riding. In the warm-up arena I could tell he was hyped and ready to race. We worked on channeling his adrenaline as I asked him to compose himself and stand still.
As we barreled across the start line in the first race I was impressed at Boomerang’s ability to respond to my commands even when I knew he was completely full of himself. As we finished nearly half the races in our set, a big storm approached the horse park. The organizers rushed all of the riders and ponies into the indoor to get shelter from the darkening sky.
Lightning crashed, wind blew, and the rain poured as we hid out in the indoor. I used the opportunity to work on Boomer’s laydown in the arena with many strange horses and riders surrounding him. He successfully laid down about 5 or 6 times. During our stint in the indoor I was approached by several of my fellow competitors asking about my bitless bridle. As far as I know I am the ONLY Mounted Games Competitor on the Eastern Half of the US that competes in a Dr. Cook’s Bitless Bridle. People were interested in how I controlled my pony at high speed with no bit, I talked to them about clicker training and the importance of a really good stop. I think a lot of people were surprised to see a speed horse without a harsh bit or the ever popular hackamoore. Made me proud that my pony was well trained enough to run with the big boys yet I could stop on a dime like the rest of them without yanking on his mouth.
After the storm we returned to the rest of our races. Boomer and I made it through the day with barely any mistakes in our races, and I was very proud of him in how he channeled his high energy.
Unfortunately the ravaging storm wrecked our tent causing us to get a hotel room for the remainder of the trip. Something I think both the Dachshund and my mom were very happy about.
Thursday night I readied Minnow for his trick performance. Minnow painted a wonderful painting that was auctioned off to benefit the non-profit mounted games group, MGAA. He raised $200 and his art was a big hit with everyone! Minnow then performed his beach skit for everyone. Ammo stepped in and stole the show when he decided to dig a big hole in the indoor arena – he had everyone laughing. Ammo even surprised me with how enthusiastic he was to perform his tricks too. He jumped through his hoop, played dead, made a scratch art painting, and even gave me a high five. He was pretty adorable!
Boomer later “crashed the party” and performed his newly learned bow for everyone. I then attempted to get him to lay down, but he had a little trouble. I ended up skipping it, only to have him do it later while Minnow’s painting was being auctioned. I was just happy he did it at all – considering he only learned the trick a little over a week ago.
Minnow had a blast performing, as I gave him a little bute to help with his arthritis limp, he was definitely feeling good (faced the dogs’ arthritis treatment a while ago, used glucosamine chondroitin). Afterwards he took a much needed gallop and buck around the indoor. It made me smile to see him frisky and feeling good again.
Day two of competition felt even HOTTER! Ammo got frequent water hosedowns as he layed by the side of the arena watching me ride. By day two both Boomer and I were a little drained. Boomer was moving slower in the heat, and I was struggling with my sore muscles. Our first session had a few more mistakes than the first day, but I sort of expected it. By the second session of the day I had a little more energy and so did Boomer, but he was still sort of dragging. He wasn’t used to the heat, nor the multitude of competition days. I can’t say I blame him. I’m just glad he did try, unlike the many ponies that started refusing to cross the start line on day 2 for one reason or another.
In the evening I gave a little talk on clicker training to the few people that decided to show up for my demo. It ended up being a bad time slot, as everyone seemed to have gone back to the hotels to shower and eat after a full day of competing. Can’t say I blame them – that’s what I wanted to be doing. But Minnow was happy to be out showing off his tricks again, he’s a real ham sometimes.
Day 3 was the final day of competition, and Boomer seemed to be dragging even more. I worked in the warm-up on clicking him for offering me more acceleration, and it seemed to help a little. I know his muscles must have been very sore – and being the smart pony he is, he’d start off the line in a controlled canter, complete his skill and when pointed towards home he’d let out the speed knowing that the faster he got to the finish the faster he got to rest. I was again happy he at least decided to try for me, even if it wasn’t as speedy as I would have liked.
At the end of the competition we took home 4th place in the Masters C Final. I had hopped to do a little better, but was still proud of Boomer for trying. Its a lot to ask of a horse to stay in a stall for 4 days in 90 plus degrees and run their heart out for you for 3 days straight. He handled it a lot better than a lot of the other ponies did.
And now its time to gear up for PONY PENNING at the end of July! Anyone have any great trick suggestions I can teach Minnow over the next month before we go?
Mid-Atlantic #1 with Boomerang
This week has been crazy busy, so I’m just now finally getting around to posting about what has been going on. Last weekend I traveled to Upper Marlboro, Maryland (and the Prince George Equestrian Center) with Boomerang, the Dachshund, and my husband. The purpose, to take Boomer to his very first mounted games competition in the Masters division. I spent two days competing and camping with my little crew.
What I love about Boomer is his ability to adapt to almost anything. After 3 plus hours of travel Boomer walked off the trailer in pitch black darkness in a strange place. He glanced around, took a deep breath and looked at me like “ok, whats next”? No calling for his friends, no worrying, just a calm relaxed pony.
I pretty much knew that’s how Boomer would be, he’s been like that since he came to live with me in the Summer of 2008 (probably attributable to his great upbringing at 1000 Welcomes Farm in NC). What I wasn’t sure about was how he’d be competing in the Masters Division. For the past 2 years I’ve been training him for this, working on control and the races, and eventually working up to more speed. In my equine sport, this is rare. If you can equate mounted games with anything, its horse racing. Fast, Fast, Fast, all the time. Ponies are thrust into competition and taught to go, go, go. As a result I’ve seen many ponies have meltdowns. Refusing to cross the start line, exploding with aggression during competition. I didn’t want to train Boomer this way. I wanted him to LOVE mounted games as much as I do.
Naturally I’m a more cautious rider, I prefer to have a pony that I KNOW will stop when I want him to, but is also willing to GO FAST when I want him to. I knew what would happen if I just threw Boomer into top-level competition too soon. I’d be faced with a pony that fed off the adrenaline of the other ponies, jumping and rearing on the start, then flying out of control through the races. Boomer needed to learn self-control first. So instead of rushing him, I spent 2 years training him with clicker training. I taught him an amazing stop (in a bitless bridle I might add), I taught him to move off my leg, I taught him to balance his body better (he could barely walk down a hill without tripping over his 5 year old body when I got him), and I taught him to spin properly with the power coming from his hind end (not such an easy task when you have a pony that’s naturally on their forehand) among many other things.
So this was it, my two years of work with him culminating to this moment. As I stood on the start line with him I could feel Boomer’s excitement rising. He felt the energy of the other ponies, riders, and me. No matter how hard I tried to make myself relax, Boomer could still feel my excitement. I could think calm all I wanted, but my body language still said “its racing time”!
Boomer let out a few initial low rears on the start, which is certainly understandable for this newly turned 7 year old – its the nature of the beast. But what I didn’t expect was his off like lightning speed, after spending 5 years as a hunter show pony he was still overcoming his need to keep a steady rhythmic pace. So with the excitement of the day his desire to run kicked in, he kept up with his much speedier competition yet still had himself under control. His halts were amazing as he slowed just to my voice commands for the most part. Boomer even had himself rocked back onto his hind end for our spins. My teammates commented on how they loved how Boomer used his back end to propel himself into the turns and how light he was on his front end. My Boomer? This is not something I ever equated him with. After 2 years I was still struggling to get him to rock back around a tight spin, but somehow this day it all clicked for him.
I was extremely pleased with Boomerang’s performance over the weekend. We had a few issues with him scooting away during hand-offs (because he was scared), but that is certainly understandable since I haven’t had anyone to ride or practice with in nearly 6 months. Luckily one of my teammates was able to help me work on handoffs a little as I clicked Boomer for keeping his feet stationary and not shying away. We will definitely have to work on this more in the coming months.
Boomer was as magnificent as I pictured him to be. Slowly we are forming a relationship and an understanding of each other. – something I have been longing for since I had to retire my one true horse love, Minnow. Nothing will ever compare to the connection that Minnow and I share, but I hope to one day come close with Boomerang. I’m very much looking forward to this mounted games season, and excited to see how much more Boomer will progress. This is only the beginning.
April 11th Mounted Games Clinic
On Sunday we held a mounted games clinic with trainer Michelle Reilly at Iron Horse Farm. Michelle Reilly has been coaching mounted games since 1989. She has sent over 25 teams to the USPC Championships with teams placing as Champion in all levels. She is the former coach of the USPC International Team and she was named the 2009 Best Trainer of the year by Mounted Games Across America.
We had BEAUTIFUL weather, and a nice turnout. I always jump at the chance to have a clinic with Michelle because she always has fantastic tips to share. She’s also really in tune to each specific horse’s needs, giving you pointers on how you can make the ride better for your horse. We’re having another clinic with her on April 25th, so anyone interested should sign up now!
Below are some photos from the day.
