Competitions
Mounted Games in the News
Recently some of my riding companions/friends were featured on the news for our sport of choice, Mounted Games. I think its great that our sport is making strides to get Mounted Games noticed by the world – we all have high hopes of someday having Mounted Games added to the list of equestrian sports in the Olympics. What an accomplishment that would be! Anyway enjoy the videos! WATCH HERE
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Polocrosse
I’m so excited that I have another long 3-day weekend (I claimed my casino rewards early and decided to close my shop saturday through monday for memorial day weekend) to play with my ponies. Who knows – maybe I’ll be really bad and sneak out early today. 🙂
On Sunday I am trying to plan a Polocrosse Scrimmage for the local Pony Club that I coach. I don’t really talk about Polocrosse much because I’m not as active in the sport as I once was. My sister and I were actually very competitive in the Intermediate Pony Division a few years back – earning rights to compete at the National Level, as well as my sister’s horse winning best horse at several tournaments. For those of you that don’t know – Polocrosse is:
A team sport that is played all over the world. It is a combination of polo and lacrosse. It is played outside, on a field (the pitch), on horseback. Each rider uses a cane stick to which is attached a racquet head with a loose, thread net, in which the ball is carried. The ball is made of sponge rubber and is approximately 4 inches across. The objective is to score goals by throwing the ball between your goal posts.
Minnow playing Polox
I used to compete with Chincoteague Minnow in the #1 position – which is essentially the scorer, and my sister played as the #3 which is the defender. We then would have a #2 player which acted as a mid-fielder. Most of the time we played under the team name The Flying Cadets. Minnow unfortunately was not extremely fond of Polocrosse. I think because he is so short he didn’t like having to get close to all the other horses that towered over him. Frequently he tried to run off of the field with me – and he actually succeeded once, dumping me to the ground near the sidelines. I ended up bracing my fall with my left arm – which resulted in several weeks of physical therapy and an elbow that still isn’t quite right. But despite Minnow’s protests to Polocrosse, he was actually a very good #1 because he was fast (even with his shrimpy legs) and he could spin rather quickly to get away from the defenders.
I am hoping to bring Boomer and Blitz along so that they can both play Polocrosse in the future. Both ponies have been exposed to the rackets and seem to do quite well, and hopefully sunday I will referee off of Boomer. We’d have an all family team then – me, my mom and my sister – The Flying Cadets shall return again! 🙂
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
For more information on Polocrosse please visit these websites:
American Polocrosse Association
Bucks County Polocrosse
New Home for the Boys
Its official – all 3 Chincoteague’s are now moved into my parent’s new farm, Iron Horse Farm. (not to mention their 4 other horsey friends).
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Boomer and Kyley place a flag in the cone
Saturday actually started off with a mounted games competition, in which Boomer and Blitz competed in the training division at a local show. We had a few little episodes – Boomer began rearing when the music got turned up – and both ponies thought it was such a blast to be competing again that they wanted to buck all the way to the finish line. Boomer eventually settled (as I clicked and rewarded him when he didn’t buck all the way home) but Blitz had some anxiety. As the day went on he got more and more agitated with my mom – and we knew it was time to take a step back with him. I think part of his anxiety stemmed from the fact that my mom had been riding him in the hackamore for the last few months and for the competition she decided to put him back in his snaffle bit. I could tell he was not very thrilled to have a bit in his mouth again – so I have since convinced my mom to try the bitless bridle I have been using (and its great I might add!). Below are two videos from the competition.
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Boomer and Blitz are the first to arrive on the farm
So after the competition we drove the boys over to their new home – and then went back to pick up Minnow. It was such a uneventful move, which I knew it would be, the boys seemed perfectly happy at their new home. I think they all really enjoy their big dutch doors that have a view of the neighboring vineyard. Its such a peaceful and happy place.
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The 3 Chincoteague Ponies look out over the vineyard
On Sunday we brought over the rest of the horses, which included my Dressage horse, Nitro and my sister’s gaming pony Jet as well as 2 borders. Nitro notoriously has trouble adapting to moves (as he sees himself as “herd leader” and takes on the burden on making sure the other horses are safe). And after having his 23rd Birthday on Saturday I think he’s actually starting to grow up a little. He was surprisingly calm (aside from his ear piercing whinny’s everytime he hears a sound in the barn – I’m hoping this will pass). I think Iron Horse Farm just has such a relaxing atmosphere that it instantly calmed all of the horses.
Later on Sunday I decided to show Minnow the new Tuff Ball I had bought for my horses. He instantly took to it, and I can’t wait to put the ball in the ring with all 3 of my ponies. I think they will have such a blast playing with it! I could watch the video I took of Minnow playing with his ball over and over again – I just love seeing him enjoy it. It makes me smile to think of how far he’s come. 2 years ago I would never of dreamed of showing Minnow this ball. It would of sent him running for the hills! Now he’s perfectly at peace as he plays with the ball and my dogs run around him like crazed animals wrestling on the ground. I love my little Minnow.
Anyway so that was my very eventful weekend. I’m now recovering from a pulled shoulder muscle and a bout of poison ivy – but I’m happy that my horses are happy at their new home!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
2009 MGAA Nationals
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Chesapeake Boomerang and I
Are you familiar with the exciting equestrian sport of Mounted Games? If not, let me describe it in the words of some of the competitors – “fast and challenging,” “the most intense riding ever,” “a partnership between rider and horse.” Mounted Games is an equestrian sport that involves head-to-head team relay racing requiring skill, agility, courage, and discipline from riders, as well as speed, obedience, and flexibility from their mounts.Â
In July of this year, Mounted Games Across America, the largest mounted games organization in the United States, will hold its second National Competition. Over two hundred competitors, along with supporters, family members, and spectators, will be in attendance. You or your company can be a part of this event by sponsoring MGAA Nationals with either a financial contribution or a donation in kind.
Benefits to sponsor include:
• Recognition in the official program
• Listing and link on the MGAA website
• Announcements of your name or your company’s advertisement during the competition.
• Donations are tax deductible. (MGAA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization)
• See form for other benefits.
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Two types of sponsorships are available—an entire division or a single race.
Division Sponsorship: Over the course of the 3-day National competition, 75 races will be played in each division. Your company’s name will be displayed and announced throughout the entire division of 75 races.
Race Sponsorship: Over the course of the 3-day National competition, each race will be played 4 times. Your name will be announced each time the race is played.
Please see the attached form for descriptions of the sponsorship levels and the full benefits of sponsorship.
MGAA members would like to thank you for any level of sponsorship support you are able to offer, whether in cash or product donations. We all appreciate your generosity!
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Stacey Calhoun
President
Mounted Games Across America, Inc.
 As an avid member of MGAA I fully support the organization and all of their efforts to further the sport. PonyPaintings.com plans to donate several paintings, if you are interested in contributing please check out these sponsorship options: Download Forms Here and Here.
 -KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Alternative Competitions
As I have mentioned before in Mid-May my family and I will be moving our 5 horses, plus 2 borders out to our new farm, Iron Horse Farm. In order to be able to afford our beautiful place we need to make a certain amount of money each month. Our borders will cover some of the costs, but it isn’t going to be quite enough. So to defray some of the costs associated with our new farm I have been brainstorming ideas of how we can achieve this. I thought about taking on some project ponies to train and resell, but while the ponies are at our place they will cost money, and honestly I have never had to sell a horse. I am certainly capable of training a horse (I have countless ponies/horses I have trained over the years) but having to give up a horse you worked so hard to develop might be difficult for me – not to mention I have my own ponies to train. There is the option of taking on some other borders (we have 2 more open stalls), but honestly we like the idea of a “small private farm”, so its an option, but more of a last resort.
Iron Horse Farm's Large Outdoor Arena
So my final conclusion was to hold some competitions – certainly our enormous  150′ x 280′ ring will be a wonderful asset for competitions. The only drawback is that currently we have screenings put on it as a base for atleast 6 months when we can then apply a footing to it. Most serious competitors will not travel for inadequate footing – and honestly I’m not really interested in the typical hunter/jumper show – or even a dressage show. My first choice would be a mounted games competition (being that this is my discipline of choice), but again the footing will not be ready for this high-speed action yet. So I thought the perfect solution would be a gymkhana/trail class/skill challenge type event. I saw something similar to this at a horse expo this year where they took riders from all disciplines and asked them to complete a series of challenges where judges judged them on how well they completed the tasks. In my area we have a very large Parelli barn that is always interested in taking their horses to events such as this. I think it would be a great way to provide all disciplines with a competition that could hone skills, introduce their horses to new things, and just be a lot of fun to attend. Now I have to set about developing this competition – I’m determined to make it unlike anything else that is out there today – I think I have a lot of work ahead of me. Running through my mind right now is a mixture of timed events, skill completion events, and strictly fun events. Any and all suggestions are welcome – above all I want to make it a positive experience for everyone who attends, I think it should be a competition tailored more to achieving goals with your horse rather then earning a first place ribbon. If I held these once a month I think it would give people a goal to work towards – like last time my horse wouldn’t go near that ball, maybe this time he will calmly walk past it.
View of our farm from my father's plane, you can really see the large arena!
I’m looking forward to starting a new trend in competitions in my area – or so I hope. I feel very up to the challenge!
