Inspiration
Blitz Training Update
Chesapeake Lightning aka Blitz doesn’t always appear on this blog quite as often as Minnow & Boomerang. The reason for this is that technically I don’t own Blitz, my mom does.
Me working on trick training with Blitz
While I’m still very much responsible for his “trick training” education (I taught him to paint, play fetch, shake hands, kiss, etc), my mom works with him on all other parts of his training.
Blitz during a Natural Horsemanship Clinic at our farm last year
My mom and I have similar training methods, but while I primarily use clicker training, she opts for a more “Natural Horsemanship” Direction. I don’t really like to put labels onto the types of training methods we use, because really we gather knowledge and inspiration from TONS of different sources. We watch DVD’s, attend clinics, take lessons, and pretty much absorb everything that comes towards us. I’ve even used methods taught in my dog agility classes with my ponies. Every horse we work with is different, and we tailor our training to what works best for them. It’s about using techniques that are kind to your horse, and aide them in the best way possible in learning with you.
Anyway, since Blitz hasn’t had any action on this blog as of late, I thought I’d give a little update on what he’s been working on.
Recently my mom started taking him to some Natural Horsemanship Lessons at a local trainers place. Blitz is very herd oriented, and as the leader of our small band of Chincoteague Ponies, he very much assumes the role of head “Stallion”. One of his biggest issues is confidence, and he lacks it when away from his herd and the safety of the farm. So my mom has spent time working on making Blitz confident in any situation, so that he will be a safe and reliable mount when put into any uncertainty.
Blitz and Boomerang share the same father, and although both ponies are similar in many ways, they also have some big differences. Boomerang is fearless, he wants to touch everything, try everything, and then do it again! Blitz on the other hand is a bit more cautious. Once he is comfortable with a situation (or scary object) he’s more than willing to do it over and over again. But it sometimes takes him a bit longer to be ok with things. One of his biggest fears have been things in and around his feet.
The video below really shows how different the two brothers are. This was shot in 2009, during their very first introduction to their new tuff ball from our sponsor, Toys for Horses. Watch how each pony reacts.
My mom has spent MANY hours working on desensitizing Blitz to things that make him nervous. One of his biggest obstacles has been tarps. He spent months living with a tarp outside his stall door (which he had to cross on a daily basis), and my mom worked with him day after day on making the tarp a relaxing (and safe) experience. I wish I had a video of him with the tarp last year, because it would make this next video that much more impressive….
This was shot last week when my mom trailered Blitz to a new arena (that he had never been to) and asked him to cross a tarp set-up that he had never seen. Within a matter of minutes she had him crossing it calmly.
My mom has really been working hard at making Blitz into a wonderful mount for herself. Her work with him is also proof, that taking your time and listening to what your horse needs to be able to succeed makes all the difference. I’ve always valued the horses I had that were the most challenging to train, in the end they taught me the most.
Horse World Expo – Highlights
While at the Horse World Expo, competing in the Extreme Cowboy Race wasn’t the only thing I did. There were lots of things to see and do, and even more to learn. I wish I had seen EVERYTHING, but it just wasn’t possible. Here are a few things I got to experience that you might find interesting.
Cowboy Mounted Shooting was a pretty popular demo to see. And don’t worry, they said that all the horses had their ears plugged and they don’t use LIVE ammunition.
I also got to watch the spectacular night show, Theatre Equus. My favorite part by far was Guy McLean, who flew his horses here all the way from Australia. I didn’t get to learn much about his training methods, but none-the-less his demonstrations with his horses were AMAZING.
He had a horse that could canter backwards. Seriously.
USDF Young Rider Championships - Super Hero Pas De Deux - Kyley & Megan
We also got to hang out with our friends from El Brio Vanner, home to Odd Job Bob, the star of the movie – The Greening of Whitney Brown. El Brio Vanner is actually right down the street from our farm in PA, and I grew up taking riding lessons with one of their trainers. We always have fun reminiscing about pony camp days and playing with Breyer Horses. 🙂
We also spent some time at the Dr. Cook’s Bitless Bridle booth, as they were excited to learn about Boomerang competing in the Extreme Cowboy Race in one of their bridles.
Our Horse Trailer
Surprisingly I bought nothing at the expo, as much as I wanted to. I think my biggest temptation would have been one of the horse trailers. Swoon. Any horse trailer dealers want to sponsor a couple of trick ponies? We’ll take it all over the country! haha. Our little old rusty maroon trailer has seen better days. And man wouldn’t I give anything to have a tackroom! At least it’s still a step up from my childhood horse trailer……
My Childhood Horse Trailer
Yes, that’s my first pony, Oreo Cookie, in the back of our “Horse Trailer”. We were on our way to a show. It’s a wonder I have any friends! haha
Well we had a great time at the Expo, and hopefully we’ll be back again next year! 🙂 I hope you enjoyed sharing in on the adventure with me!
Lariat
I’m constantly learning something new. There will ALWAYS be something I don’t know, so why not try to learn EVERYTHING I can? It’s sort of a sickness I have, I want to try everything.
So while competing in the Extreme Cowboy Race was something totally new and different for me, I couldn’t leave it at just that. While at the expo I jumped at the chance to learn how to throw a lariat. After all, I could have been asked to rope a “cow” during the competition for all I knew.
I was sort of relieved we didn’t have to rope something, because I think I could use a little more practice.
I’ve added a Lariat to my Birthday wish list (which is tomorrow!) because it was so much fun I can’t wait to give it a try while riding a horse!
After trying my hand at tossing the lariat I made sure Boomerang was ready for roping too. During one of our schooling sessions in the indoor I practiced throwing a lead rope around his head, ears, and sides. Just to make sure that should I NEED to throw the rope in the race, he would be fully comfortable with it. You can never be too prepared!
Anyone else out there know how to throw a rope? Any secret pointers so I can look super cool throwing my lariat off an english saddle?
Smiling Chincoteague Pony!
Today we are off to the Extreme Cowboy Race at the Harrisburg, PA Horse World Expo! If you are in the area stop by and watch Boomerang compete on Saturday at 9:15am in the Equine Arena! If we qualify we will move onto the finals on Sunday at 9:15am in the Large Arena!
You can follow updates of the event over on our Facebook Page.
But before we leave, I wanted to give everyone the first look at Boomerang’s latest trick. Mastered in a mere 10 minutes, Boomer can now show everyone his pearly whites with a beaming smile! Ok so maybe they aren’t that pearly…..but atleast he looks happy!
Boomerang Obstacle Training
Have I mentioned I love my pony? Because I do. (I love them all in fact). But right now, Boomerang deserves some extra praise.
Over the weekend I set up a little mock obstacle course for him at another farm. This was an arena Boomer hasn’t been to in over a year – and many of the obstacles he had never seen before. It was sort of a test for me and him – to see if I could memorize a course, and if he could keep himself composed enough to complete all of the tasks. All in preparation for the Extreme Cowboy Race.
Boomer got a small warm up in a corner of the arena to start, but he wasn’t allowed to look at any of the obstacles.
We had a few sticky spots, which was to be expected. It was a lot harder to line him up for the “L” back-up than I expected without being able to first walk through it. And we had a little bobble on our second flying lead change. And the refusal at the barrels was sort of something I expected – in hindsight I probably could have really insisted he did it – but if you recall I’m a weenie when it comes to jumping. So that was partially my fault.
The gate opening/closing was a little tricky up at the far end. It didn’t really work out because what you couldn’t see was that once you opened the gate there was a sharp hill – which made it really difficult for me to hold the gate and not topple down the hill by throwing Boomer off balance. In the end I had to skip it because the second part of the gate swung open accidentally (it was supposed to be stuck into the ground), so we’ll have to practice that again at home sometime.
The tent at the end was a little scary for Boomer, but this was also the first time he had ever seen it, not to mention we had REALLY high winds that day. After the video was cut I had him walking under it with ease. So hopefully next time it will be a non-issue.
Overall I was really proud of Boomer’s progress. He’s come a long way in a few weeks. I won’t expect him to be perfect come time for the event, but I will expect him to try for me.
After our obstacle course we practiced a few elements. I even let Boomer run through bending poles – which we haven’t done since last mounted games season. He was so cute and swapped his leads at every pole and his end spin is phenomenal..I think it’s all that roll back work!
Come watch us at the Extreme Cowboy Race at the Harrisburg PA Horse World Expo. Feb 24 – 27!
