November Paintings
On Monday the boys were able to break out their paintbrushes again. All three ponies painted two canvases each – all of which I love! We got kinda onto a “girly kick” with the colors, but after all who loves ponies more than a horse crazy little girl? And to top it off, the boys even broke out a bottle of glitter for the first time! I love how it gives their paintings a magical feel. Do you have a favorite?
Wonderland Adventures by Chincoteague Minnow
Magic Fairy Dust by Chesapeake Lightning
Wish Upon A Star by Chincoteague Minnow
Fairy Tale Princess by Chesapeake Boomerang
Festive Red by Chespeake Boomerang
Fallen by Chesapeake Lightning
Click on the images to see them in the SHOP.
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.
Traveling Super Pony
Minnow, Ammo and I are on the road and headed to Doswell, Virginia for the Equine Extravaganza to compete in a talent contest. Nervous, excited – it’s a mixed bag of emotions. This is the first time we’ll be competing with our tricks. 6 years ago I taught Minnow his very first trick, and never did I imagine that someday we would be performing in front of thousands. Now our performances have become something that myself (and the pony & dog) look forward to. We enjoy the smiling faces, and love to receive letters in the mail about how the boys have touched peoples lives.
In the hopes that we can brighten your day a little bit too, here’s a video of the boys practicing for our performance. It’s still a work in progress here – and we will be sure to have a full recap of the weekend’s events when we return, but we hope it will make you laugh.
Night watchman
The farm’s a little safer at night with Super Pony Minnow on duty.
Minnow gets a Cape
There’s a new Super Hero in town. And he’s pretty darn awesome!
Minnow the SuperPony!
To see more photos of Minnow & his SuperDog counterpart visit www.ammothedachshund.com
