Inspiration
Will a fat pony resist lush grass?
So after a mini-vacation for Minnow and myself after our trip to Chincoteague I finally got a chance to do some trick training yesterday. We basically took the whole month of August off (aside from our mounted games competition in NJ) and it was high time I got back to some training.
On Saturday Minnow and I will be attending the Ludwigs Corner Horse Show as part of the entertainment on Family Day. We’ll have a small fenced in coral near the booths and tents to perform in – with a 1pm and 3:30pm show. The key is that this coral will be placed on a bed of lush grass. Very tempting for a fat pony that spends most of his day with a muzzle on due to his arthritis and inability to be exercised.
So in order to not embarrass myself I decided it was probably best if I practiced performing with Minnow on grass. And what better place than the pasture that Minnow is turned out in! So I lugged all of Minnow’s equipment out to the pasture and set up my camera (of course I thought of all of you who read my blog – how kind of me to make a video for you!)
First I will let you watch the video, then I’ll explain further:
As you can see Minnow stayed with me the entire time. Even though his trick pony partner, Boomerang, is in the background grazing. I think Minnow displayed great self control, and demonstrated just how clicker training can help create a language and a bond between horse and trainer. I can guarantee you that if I was training Minnow with force or pressure (as many trainers do) he would definitely not stay with me. Clicker Training has created a positive experience for Minnow, and even though I know he’d much rather eat grass and not have to work at all, he has chosen that being with me and working for a reward is something that he would like to do. Did I mention I love this pony?
Tomorrow I will share with a video of a new trick that I taught Minnow yesterday. Its quite different in that this time I have decided to work with two animals at once. You’ll just have to check the blog tomorrow in order to see the debut of this amazing new trick!
-KD
http://www.ponypaintings.com
The Bronco takes to the Open Land
The Dachshund and I are exhausted after a long day
So my weekend was filled with heavy lifting due to moving all of my personal belongings into my new house. Lets hope I never have to do that again. I can’t name a muscle that isn’t sore right now. And while we are officially moved into our first home – we’re still sleeping on a mattress on the floor and living out of boxes in the basement. Hopefully this is only temporary as we plan to finish our hardwood floors in the next 2 weeks. The dachshund is utterly thrilled that we are sleeping on his level. He has been using our mattress as a wrestling ring with my parent’s dog, Trooper.
And while things are finally starting to settle down in regards to home life – I was actually able to get my first ride in over a week on Boomerang. On Monday my plan was to go on a nice quiet trail ride with Boomer while my mom rode Blitz. Now Blitz has turned into an exception trail horse (we all fight over who gets to ride him). He goes the pace you want, doesn’t try to grab grass, and is relatively non-spooky. Thanks to clicker training him to “touch the goblins”. Boomer on the other hand isn’t the dream trail horse. At 6 years old I think he still has a lot of growing up and maturing to do, I’ve been told that Chincoteague Ponies actually mature later than most horses. I’m hoping this is the case for Boomer anyway.
I’ve never been big on trail riding – mostly because I love to “fine tune” my skills in the ring. My mom loves to – so I mostly go for her sake and for my horses mind. They can’t be expected to do ring work all of the time. So that being said – lately Boomer has been making me despise it even more. When trail riding him, I admit he tends to push my buttons – my normal calm level headed personality gets pushed to the breaking point a bit. Let me explain.
Boomer the bronco
Usually our trail rides start off with a bit of stop and go. Boomer puts on the breaks and refuses to move his feet. He doesn’t call back to the barn or act frantic about leaving home – he’s very calm about the whole thing. He just doesn’t want to do it. So we have a little battle – me asking him to go forward, him refusing (until we get the clicker dialogue going). Finally I get him moving and now he takes off in little spurts. He’ll be walking – then pow- we’re at a gallop and I can’t stop. He does a lot of tossing his head into my lap to evade the bitless bridle as I try to muscle him to a stop (mostly because my whoas and seat position have no effect on him when he’s like this). I finally get him settled and working on a pace I want. When he’s going along at a clam and relaxed walk I click and reward him. Now he starts trying to grab grass. He makes me feel like a little kid sometimes. My stubborn pony darts for grass while I try as hard as I can to pull his head up and keep him moving. And I’m telling you if he gets his head down – no amount of my muscle can get his head back up. I’m tempted to start using grass reins until I can nix this behavior. So now I’m riding with the reins braced in my hands – ready for the moment he tries to make a go for the grass again.
Don't let the innocent face fool you!
Once Boomer realizes his grass attempts are futile – then the bucking starts. Its usually only brought on when we start to move. And I don’t think they are angry bucks, I think they are yippee this is fun bucks. But either way a buck is a buck – and its unwelcome. Now Boomer doesn’t have an ordinary buck. Blitz has an ordinary buck, a little protest with the hop of his back feet – or a tiny jump for joy. No I wish Boomer had a buck like this. Instead I ride a bronco. Looking at him you would never guess that he could jump that high – even from a standstill. And the way he contorts his body – ow, it hurts me just thinking about it. I probably look like a rag doll bouncing around on his back. My mom’s jaw drops everytime she sees him do it.
Yesterday’s buck was exceptionally bad. Somehow Boomer managed to buck while we were crossing a big ditch. It was so powerful that he snapped my neck back (which cracked so loudly I think the neighbors could hear it). Needless to say I can barely turn my head today. I’m lucky he has NEVER (knock on wood) dumped me. I’m not really sure how or why he hasn’t – maybe its my long legs that can easily wrap around his sides. I think if he ever figured out he could dump me I’d be in really big trouble. Lets just hope that day never comes.
So by the end of this horrible trail ride I’m usually fuming (quietly to myself as I’m not one to show too much emotion). The trail rides are supposed to be relaxing and something enjoyable for both of us. Instead they end up being a battle of whits and skill. And I’m really not sure who is wining in the end – but I have a feeling its Boomer. Back at the barn I hose off and take care of my pony – making sure I mention to him that he is not getting rewarded for his bad behavior. After no treat he gets turned out to ponder why no jackpot at the end of the trail ride arrived. Or so I choose to believe….who knows if he understands why he’s not getting his special treat when we are done.
It seems to me as if the clicker and rewards are becoming no match for Boomer’s want for grass. I think all of the issues are revolving around him wanting to eat grass and being frustrated when I don’t allow him to. I’m thinking about trying to reward him with grass (from my pouch and not the ground). I’m not sure where to start with him and this trail riding business – but I do know that something needs to be done about it before I really lose my temper (something that rarely happens to me, especially when dealing with my animals). But we’re all human (or alive for that matter) and sometimes our emotions get the best of his. Boomer gets emotional about wanting grass – I get emotional when he wants that grass. Hopefully we can find a happy medium where neither one of us loses our temper.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Never Bite the hand that Feeds
Boomerang
So these past few months, in addition to working with Chincoteague Minnow, I have been intensely training my green pony, Chesapeake Boomerang, how to be an exceptional mounted games pony. Boomer has been learning how to play each race, how to move quickly off of my leg, and how to spin using his hind end. He’s progressed greatly over these past few months, but we still have a long way to go.
Recently my focus has been directed to an issue Boomer has with leading. He’s always been sensitive about stuff on his face and I only use a bitless bridle on him now because he pefers to have no bit in his mouth. So the issue that has come into play is when I go to lead him. Some races require that I jump off of him and lead him through an obsticle and then remount. Boomerang is not at all thrilled at the fact that I use slight rein pressure to ask him to move forward and has a tendancy to either try to bite the reins or me when I ask him to move forward. Definitely not an ok option.
So the past 2 weeks I have been working on getting him to match my speed when I move. First we started with me not holding the reins at all and when I would start to run I’d ask him to follow. Then click, reward. It didn’t take long for Boomer to get that part down. So once he had that figured out I added my hand into the equasion. I’d pick up the rein and if he made a move to bite me I’d gently bump him away with my finger. I’d wait until he kept his head straight before I would click and reward him.
I took a video yesterday of the progress we have made. As you can see for a momment Boomer makes a move towards my hand, you can see the push away correction I give him and then he goes back to keeping his head straight. Since he did not bite me and followed my correction I rewarded him at the end. This is GREATLY improved as to how he used to be, not to mention he keeps trotting through the whole drill, even when I drop back to his shoulder to remount (this can be a difficult concept for a horse to learn).
We still have a lot to do with working with this issue, and Boomer still has what I call “grumpy face”. He may not actually be biting me, but his ears are back and I know the thought is there. For right now, since we are still training, I am going to accept the grumpy face as long as he does not make a move to bite me, but as we further this skill I will eventually ask him to keep his ears forward.
Horse Bath Time Contest
So I’ve found this great contest for all clicker trainers or people who want to try clicker training! Its such a great idea! I just might have to enter myself :-).
Here’s the gist:
Phase One of the horse bath challenge starts today! You can be the winner of a DVD from www.TheBestWhisperIsAClick.com. Watch this video to see the rules, upload your video, post the link on my channel (Peggasus09), vote on your two favorite videos and you could win!
Contest end Aug. 30, 2009.
Thanks for playing!
Now here’s the video. You can visit the actual link by “clicking” here.
Be sure to post a link to you’re video here too! I (and I’m sure all of you two) would love to see everyone’s videos!
Front Page Headlines
Sunday started off like any other day – up early to feed and let the dog out, turn on my computer and play a few rounds at 666CASINO as my luck in online gambling is higher in the morning, checking my e-mail over a bowl of cereal. That is until I decided to check the online newspaper for my area. As the Daily Local News Page was loading all of a sudden a large photo of myself and Minnow pops up on the screen! I was so excited! I knew that Minnow was going to be in my local paper – but I had no idea it would turn out so big. A month earlier I had sent a press release to some of the local papers about how Minnow and I would be attending this year’s 2009 Pony Penning in Chincoteague, Virginia (we leave next monday, yipee!). A few weeks later I received a call from the paper requesting an interview with me. We set up an appointment over the phone for the next week and she asked if she could send a photographer to take Minnow’s picture. I mentioned that on July 13th a group of campers would be coming to watch Minnow perform – so she put in a request to have a photographer attend (not knowing if they would actually show).
My favorite photo from the day! by Photographer Kali Wallace
So Monday came, and I proceeded to do my interview over the phone. I don’t mind doing interviews – especially about Minnow (I could talk for hours about him). But its always so hard to gather your thoughts when you are asked unexpected questions. For the most part it was pretty straight forward. How did he learn how to paint? I’ve never done an interview where they didn’t ask that! What are his favorite colors? This one always makes me laugh – as if he really cares – but I always get this question too. How did he end up with you? This question always turns into them wanting to know about his “neglectful past”. I always struggle with this question because what I know about Minnow’s past is what I have been told from previous owners – and I just have to take their word about it. I’ve heard things from he was locked in a stall after breaking someone’s collar bone and not fed properly – to his coat was dull, his feet too long, and he looked very sad. So there really is no way to know for sure what really happened to him, but I do know whatever it was it caused Minnow to not trust me for a very long time. But no matter how I explain this story to interviewers it always gets written like he was “abused”. I can’t really force them to not write “abused” – but I always cringe when I see it because I know that I really am not sure he was “abused”. Neglected, I’m pretty certain he was, but abused? I’m not really sure. His temperament when I got him sort of goes along with maybe he was hit some, but unless he can tell me himself I will never know.
Giving my best friend a kiss. By Photographer Kali Wallace
I had one question in my interview that really threw me off this time. What do you think Minnow’s legacy would be? Wow, how do you answer that? I thought I had a pretty good answer for that – but the quote came out a little bit like a jumble of thoughts. I basically said that I thought Minnow would be an example of overcoming challenges and a not-so-great past. He came from this bad situation and now he’s becoming something great and he’s really happy. He enjoys painting and it’s almost like a therapy for him. A way to express himself and let go of whatever may have happened to him before. (I wish that had written it that way, haha).
But aside from a few uncorrect things (they said I went to the University of Delaware instead of Kutztown University) I thought it turned out really well. And on Monday when the photographer showed up at Iron Horse Farm I was even more surprised! I really had no idea that when I actually when to buy the Sunday paper that Minnow and I would be on the FRONT page! In color to boot! It was very exciting. I got recognized at the gas station I picked it up at, and I’ve been getting calls and e-mails from friends and family saying they loved it.
I feel a bit like a proud mom! The last quote in the article is perfect! “He’s an example of a horse that didn’t have a so- great past, but he’s gone on to become something great and amazing and my best friend.”
You can read the article here or download the PDF from the actual paper. Minnow already sold one painting yesterday – so you better hurry and snatch up your favorite before its gone!
