Pony Penning 2010 – Day 3

Wednesday, July 28th was the day of the 85th Annual Chincoteague Pony Swim! This was the third year I’ve seen the swim, and let me tell you it is still amazing each time I see it.

I started the day by heading over to the Pony Centre to feed Minnow, then my mom and I with a friend from the pony centre headed over to the Pony Shuttle stop by our hotel. The Pony Shuttle runs people to Memorial Park – where they encourage people to watch the swim from. But…you can’t see anything from memorial park – except dots. So we took the bus to memorial park and then proceeded to walk to Pony Swim Lane. Pony Swim Lane is where the ponies come ashore after the swim. If you want a really good spot you have to wake up at the crack of dawn to claim your spot. I love watching the swim, but unless I was buying a foal, I didn’t really feel the need to wake up quite that early (although I did do it the first year).

This year I was lucky and the swim seemed much less crowded. I staked out a spot under the foot bridge, and surprisingly didn’t have to trek through too much swamp mud to get there. I met a woman there who had been watching the swim every year for the past 24 years. In the back of my mind I wondered if that might be me someday.

I ended up standing around for nearly 3 hours waiting for the ponies to swim. I think the tide was really high and the saltwater cowboys were waiting for the water to recede. The ponies ended up making the swim with the water at its highest it had been in many years. They all made it safely ashore, and I spent an hour watching them mill around. Foals finding their mothers, Stallions finding their mares, and even stallions trying to steal other mares.

I watched as a pair of ponies plowed into one of the cameras set up by a media crew and couldn’t help but laugh. They stand in amongst the wild ponies taking pictures and filming the action, oblivious to the fact that they are STANDING IN A HERD OF WILD PONIES. I think sometimes that people forget that even though they seem very domesticated at times, the ponies live on an island – void from corrals and “normal” human contact. Their instincts to to protect their young and their herd are much stronger than a domesticated horse, and if you are standing in the way of something they want, you better make sure you get out of their way.

The swim took up most of my day as this years swim was pretty late – and not to mention the fact that then we had to walk several miles back to the Pony Centre. My feet still hurt thinking about it.

We arrived in time to grab some lunch before Minnow’s first show. Minnow painted “Slack Tide Swimmers” – what I thought was a perfect tribute to the day’s pony swim. Minnow always does his best work while on the island, maybe its the salt air, maybe he feels “home” – either way I really LOVE the paintings he creates down there. At the 8pm show he painted “Carnival Ponies” – which prompted me to head to the carnival grounds after the show.

My favorite part about the carnival grounds – not the ponies, not the rides, not even bingo – no its the soda! Something about that little plastic cup filled to the brim with pepsi and crushed ice is oh so refreshing after an exhausting day. That and a plate full of funnel cake just hit the spot. I wandered around the grounds, and ultimately ended up at the Chincoteague Pony Association Booth. Minnow donates a percentage of his sales to the CPA – to help feed and care for the wild ponies of Assateague Island. At the booth I learned that the 2009 foals from the swim never got registered with the CPA. Well I guess technically the people that got foals received a certificate that said their pony came from the ’09 swim – but they didn’t allow the purchaser to name register their foal, or have documentation of their foal’s lineage. I also found out that this would be the same for the ’10 foals.

I’m not sure why the change – but I do hope they go back to the way it used to be – it seems much more official that way. I think the fact that they didn’t really “register” the foals this year – significantly hurt the foal prices too. Last years purchasers I believe were unaware of the change, but this year everyone knew what the plan was.

Regardless of any changes in the protocol this year, I do believe that the swim was still just as spectacular as ever!

If you’d like to see all the photos from the swim you can check them out here: www.greenhorsestudios.com

Check back tomorrow for a recap of the 2010 Pony Auction – and find out if I ever raised my hand to bid on a foal!

Tags : 2010, assateague, Chincoteague, chincoteague minnow, chincoteague pony, chincoteague pony center, dachshund, dog, farm, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, misty of chincoteague, natural horsemanship, painting, painting horse, painting pony, pony, pony penning, trick, trick horse, trick pony

Pony Penning 2010 – Day 2

On Tuesday, July 27th I headed over to the Pony Centre to feed Minnow, and swap him around to a different paddock. The paddocks at the pony centre are mostly dirt – as the hungry little Chincoteagues have eaten all the grass. This is PERFECT for Minnow, because goodness knows he doesn’t need to gain anymore weight, not to mention it means he gets to spend the week without wearing a muzzle to limit his grass intake. I’m sure Minnow wasn’t entirely happy being without the grass he as accustomed to, but I was sure to take him grazing for any small little bites he could find.

After taking care of Minnow’s needs for the morning my mom and I sat in on a foal handling demonstration given by Kendy Allen at the Pony Centre. Not that we were planning to bring home a foal (as much as I would have liked) – but it was more we were curious about it. My mom has had experience with foals when she bred and trained her Thoroughbred Cross, Pippin, at the age of 16. I, aside from my visits to Chincoteague, haven’t really been in contact with foals. As a kid any pony/horse my mom brought home for us was always older and experienced – which is ideal for young kids anyway.

The foal handling demonstration was interesting, I had never thought about the fact that if you buy a wild Chincoteague pony from the auction – the first handling experience they get from humans is when they are taken from their mothers, herded into a pen and then auctioned off and sent away on a trailer to a strange place. So naturally they are going to be fearful, not to mention they don’t know what fences or boundaries are, and are likely to try to escape from any enclosure you put them in in the beginning.

I think a lot of people get caught up in the magic of the island and the mystique of a wild foal – making impulse purchases. Not that there is anything wrong with that (I admit I wanted to do the same), but it’s easier to buy a foal at the auction than it is to adopt a dog. That being said – are you ready for a foal? Do you have somewhere to keep it, do you have a trainer to help you, are you going to want it after it’s not a cute fuzzy foal anymore? Those are all questions I think you should think long and hard about before raising your hand and handing over your credit card at the auction.

I see/hear of a lot of people on the island that are getting a foal for their young child, so that they can grow up together. I think its a nice thought, but I’m glad for the fact that when I was a kid, my mom didn’t buy me a foal. She bought me a seasoned pony, who was safe and reliable, and I could do pretty much anything on. A foal would have limited my experiences, and more than likely I would have lost interest in him once I discovered I had to wait 3-4 years to ride him. I’m grateful for my my first pony Oreo Cookie who taught me the ways of the world and took care of me. And if I was REALLY set on buying my kid a foal – I wouldn’t buy a wild pony foal – instead I’d get one of the foals from the Pony Centre that had been handled from birth and was already primed to make a great children’s pony.

Needless to say I know that one day I WILL buy a foal from the auction. Maybe I too have been sucked into the magical desire to own a wild Chincoteague Pony foal – but I think I secretly just long to have another pony just like my wild-born Minnow. No pony could ever take the place of Minnow, but I wouldn’t complain if there were lots of little Minnow wannabes running around. 🙂 My mom on the other hand thinks its a little crazy to buy a foal from the auction. Her reasoning being you can’t look at both sets of parents (usually the sire is just a guess) and determine that they were bred with complimentary traits, gauging how tall they will be is much harder, not to mention a wild foal is a lot more dangerous, and I think she just thinks the breeding stock to choose from on Assateague is just not that amazing. I know all this, but its not going to change my desire to own a wild foal someday. I guess its just one of those things I feel that I have to do in my life. Now it’s just a matter of when.

Anyway, all that aside – its really really really hard not to want to take a foal home with you! I should know….how tempting is it when your horse trailer is on the island with you! Talk about torture!

After the foal training demo my mom and I headed over the bridge to Assateague Island. First we stopped at the pens that held all of the wild horses from the island. Early Monday morning the ponies had been rounded up into the pens to rest before they made the big swim across the Chincoteague Channel on Wednesday morning. And let me tell you those foals were sooooo cute! There was even a black and white pinto foal with 3 white heart markings on him – he was the talk of the island. I searched around for the horses I knew by name, Surfer Dude, Riptide, Southern Belle to name a few – and noted that some of the horses looked a little extra thin this year. Although as I should know – the Eastern Shore had a VERY hard winter with record amounts of snow – its no wonder the herd was a little malnourished looking – I heard some of last years foals didn’t even make it through the winter either.

I watched around the pen as potential pony buyers were scribbling in notebooks and marking down which foals caught their eye. I realized that this is the only way to remember which foal you might want to bid on. See the foals aren’t tagged with numbers until after they make the swim on Wednesday – so you can’t simply write down a number and then plan to bid on that one at Thursday’s Auction. You instead have to take photos, draw pictures and write descriptions in order to remember which foals you like best. It’s also important to take note of the foals mother, how tall is she, what is her build like, does she have good confirmation? Looking at a foals parents are the best way to tell more about what your foal will look like when it grows up. I also learned that a horse’s cannon bones (sort of like their shin) is the only bone that does not grow much more after birth – it will be about the same length when its a day old as it is when its 20 years old – so this is a good way to estimate how tall your foal will be by trying to find an adult with a similar length in cannon bone to estimate size. Here is also a link that describes some other ways to estimate how tall your foal will be when it matures.

After drooling over the foals for a while we headed over to the beach. The weather was wonderful and I fell asleep for a little while before it was time to head back to the Pony Centre for the 4pm show.

Before the show I brushed Minnow up on his tricks, after a good nights rest he was much more ready for perform. He practically dragged me into the arena. In between shows I rushed over to Pony Penning Enterprises to meet the Misty family pony, Rainy’s Boy, who was making a special appearance on the island. I got my photo taken with him, and subsequently purchased the book, The Forgotten Pony by Jessie-Ann Friend, which I had signed by Jessie-Ann Friend, Rebecca Stevens who owns Rainy’s Boy, Helen Merritt a character in the book, and Rainy’s Boy himself. I haven’t read the book yet, but am very much looking forward to reading this “mostly true” story about Rainy’s Boy. Jessie-Ann was actually mentored by Marguerite Henry herself, when she later moved to California and subsequently met Jessie. Jessie told us that Marguerite told her to always sign her name with a small horse shoe after it – I’ll have to remember that if I ever write a book!

Minnow performed again at the 8pm show at the Pony Centre. This year Minnow’s painting sales seemed to be down, I’m assuming it was effects of the economy, but they just weren’t auctioning for as high as they normally do. I guess that much could have been expected, as everyone is tight with money right now. I had hoped to raise a lot more money to donate to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company as well as the Chincoteague Pony Drill Team, but Minnow did the best that he could. I love watching him interact with the children after the show, his eyes half close as they stroke his face, and every so often he reaches over and gives me a big sloppy pony kiss – as if to say thanks for bringing me here.

Look for the continuation to our journey to Chincoteague Island tomorrow!

**I called home at the end of the night to check on the little Dachshund. Ammo was easily adapting to spending 11 hours at home (and it should be noted that we do not crate him at all) – in fact I think he was sleeping all day long burrowed under the covers in our bed! When my husband returned each night he happily greeted him at the door, then proceeded to peer outside in the hopes that I was following closely behind.

Tags : assateague, Chincoteague, chincoteague minnow, chincoteague pony, chincoteague pony center, clicker training, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, misty of chincoteague, painting, painting horse, painting pony, pony, pony penning, trick, trick horse, trick pony

Pony Penning 2010 – Day 1

Well I’m finally back and slowly recovering from my week spent on Chincoteague Island in Virgina for the 85th Annual Pony Penning. Pretty much my entire year builds up to this event as I prepare Chincoteague Minnow with new tricks and skills that he can showcase for the week that he’s down there. After that last week in July, I sort of collapse, and then slowly recover again as I brainstorm new tricks and ideas for things to work with the ponies on.

So since last year I recapped the entire week on the blog, I thought I’d do the same this year – so that even if you didn’t make it to Pony Penning this year, you can relive the excitement with me!

On Monday, July 26th – I headed out to the farm early to feed horses and finish packing up Minnow and his ever accumulating belongings (he has a bigger suitcase than I do). This year I was dreading leaving the Dachshund at home, as I’ve become even more accustomed to having him with me constantly. I was also worried he’d think I abandoned him since instead of accompanying me EVERYWHERE for the next week, he would instead have to spend about 11 hours home alone each day – as my husband works (with a long commute). Sadly the island isn’t a very “dog friendly” place. It’s kind of ironic since you’ll see ponies walking the street, making appearances at libraries and shops, and strutting the sidewalks – yet spotting a dog is few and far between, not to mention most of the hotels frown on them, they aren’t allowed in the fireman’s carnival grounds, and trying to find a shop that sold dog cookies or items was next to impossible. So as we pulled out of the farm I reluctantly headed to drop Ammo back at my house as he would have to spend the rest of the day alone. (I’ll elaborate later about how Ammo took to being a “homebody”).

The drive down to the eastern shore took us about 5 hours. Minnow is an excellent traveler, and 5 hours is next to nothing for him when he’s made past trips to Kentucky topping out at about 13 plus hours.

We arrived at the Chincoteague Pony Centre about an hour before Minnow was due to perform in his first show – note to self….leave much earlier next time!! We unloaded Minnow and my mom walked him around while I frantically unloaded all of his trick equipment and painting supplies. By the time 4pm rolled around I was a little frazzled – and I think Minnow knew it.

Minnow opened the show by painting a wonderful painting which I dubbed “Dance in the Mist”. I think he was a little out of sorts as well – because although he painted wonderfully I could tell he was a little distracted, and his strokes were a little less focused.

Later as we waited outside for his next cue to perform his tricks I could feel his bundle of energy getting ready to explode. I knew all he wanted to do was leap into the air and let it all out, who can blame him after spending 5 hours on a horse trailer – not to mention I had given him some bute (sort of like asprin for horses) to help with the arthritis in his ankle – so he was feeling pretty good.

Minnow entered the arena to perform his tricks and I had a little trouble focusing him again. He performed everything I asked, but had some slight hesitations as I could tell he was thinking about taking a lap around the arena bucking. But Minnow was a trooper, and held it all in. That just goes to show you that my training with him from the beginning with working on controlling adrenaline really paid off.

After the 8pm show I knew Minnow was struggling to control his excitement. As I turned him out in his paddock for the night I watched as he took two huge leaps into the air. He was saying FINALLY I can let it all out! A few circles around the paddock to meet his new Chincoteague Pony neighbors and he was quite happy to dive into his hay.

I went back to the hotel and crashed for the night – it had been a LONG day, and I knew we would be doing it all over again tomorrow!

Look for the continuation to our journey to Chincoteague Island tomorrow!

Tags : 2010, ammo, art, artist, assateague, Chincoteague, chincoteague minnow, chincoteague pony, chincoteague pony center, clicker training, dachshund, dog, farm, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, misty of chincoteague, natural horsemanship, painting, painting horse, painting pony, pony, pony penning, training, trick, trick horse, trick pony

Painting Pony DVD release!

For the past month my family has been working on a little project. My younger brother, Taylor, is a talented filmmaker and editor, and my younger sister, Laurel, has a special talent for photography. Armed with a fleet of talented trick ponies, and a Dachshund, we decided to make a new Painting Pony DVD.

With my brother up from his home in North Carolina, we spent one day shooting out at Iron Horse Farm. The ponies were amazing – performing their tricks over and over again so my siblings could get the right shots – even Ammo endured the hot day in his flannel stuntdog gear so we could capture him among the ponies.

I think the end result turned out fabulous! I think it really shows what life is like for the Trick Ponies (and Ammo). I especially love the music, which was mostly created by my brother (who is also a talented musician) along with his band, Cinder Cat – the music gives it a magic feel.

The DVD is available for purchase in our Online Shop. Give it as a gift, send it to a friend – spread the joy of Chincoteague Ponies! We hope it will bring a smile to your face.

And since we want everyone to be able to enjoy the magic of these special ponies and their Dachshund friend, we’ve uploaded the video to youtube. Spread it around! Share it on facebook, twitter, myspace, etc!

Special thanks to….

Taylor Hellhake from Depthink Productions
Cinder Cat
Laurel Hellhake (in collaboration with O’Leary Photographics)
Iron Horse Farm

and

Ammo the Dachshund & The Trick Ponies of Chincoteague!

Tags : ammo, assateague, chesapeake boomerang, chesapeake lightning, Chincoteague, chincoteague minnow, chincoteague pony, clicker training, dachshund, dog, dvd, farm, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, misty of chincoteague, natural horsemanship, painting, painting horse, painting pony, pedestal, photography, pony, pony penning, the trick ponies of chincoteague, training, trick, trick horse, trick pony, video

Countdown to Pony Penning

In 17 days it will be time once again. Time to pack up a culmination of years worth of work (and a very fat pony) and make the trip down to the Eastern Shore for Pony Penning.

I taught Chincoteague Minnow his very first trick in 2005 – never thinking that it would lead to this. I taught him because I wanted to, because I wanted to have fun with him, because I loved him. What happened after that was just luck.

Luck, because my desire to connect with my pony led us to do something that we both love. When Minnow was diagnosed with Ringbone in 2008 and I found out I would never be able to ride him again I was crushed. As Minnow sat around day after day watching the comings and goings around the farm his eyes got sadder and sadder. I missed my pony and he missed me.

Then, as luck would have it, I was contacted by Kendy Allen from the Chincoteague Pony Centre. She had heard that Minnow (who once resided at the Chincoteague Pony Centre) had learned to paint. She invited me to meet up with her at a small event in PA – demonstrating what Chincoteague Ponies could do at a feed store.

I was excited, Minnow and I now had something to work towards. We spent a few weeks practicing tricks, and readying our “props”. I had no idea what I was doing. We had a collection of tricks – none of which made sense together – and I didn’t know what to expect. But when we showed up and Minnow painted, crowds started to form around him. Little girls and boys wanted to pet him, and parents snapped pictures of him. I was proud and Minnow was happy. Minnow’s eyes sparkled and right then I knew this is what he was born to do.

Impressed with Minnow’s performance Kendy invited us to come down for Pony Penning week. I obliged, but honestly I was scared. What should I bring? What should we do? Will Minnow be too nervous to perform? What if I fail miserably?

I headed down early for the 4th of July weekend with Minnow so we could have a little “warm-up”. I had never been to Chincoteague Island, nor the Pony Centre, and I was only armed with my bag of tricks, and my painting pony. Looking back, I didn’t need to worry, because Minnow performed like he had been doing so for years!

Our first Pony Penning in 2008 was full of excitement. I fell inlove with the breed all over again when I watched the wild ponies make their annual swim. My heart ached for one of the newborn foals, even Minnow nickered at each one that trotted by him at the Pony Centre. Minnow performed all week and loved it.

In 2009 we spent all year learning new tricks, and even developing a skit to debut at Pony Penning 2009. Minnow’s fans returned at the end of July and even I was impressed at all he had learned in a year.

Upon our return home last year Minnow started to get fan mail. Letters, pictures, and even emails poured in. Minnow was igniting a spark in children for a life-long passion in horses, and he was helping adults fulfill their dreams of meeting a Chincoteague Pony.

As we ready ourselves once again for the 2010 Pony Penning I am reminded of all of Minnow’s fans who have helped him to discover his purpose. We have begun getting emails and messages asking if Minnow will be back at the Pony Centre again. I wonder if Minnow knows how much he is loved? Does he know that his paintings bring joy and happiness to people all around the World?

We both look forward to spreading the joy of horses in a few weeks. Hopefully you can join us, and if not, I’m sure a full recap will follow on the blog!

For a schedule of events check out our website.

Tags : 2010, assateague, chesapeake boomerang, chesapeake lightning, Chincoteague, chincoteague minnow, chincoteague pony, chincoteague pony center, clicker training, farm, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, misty of chincoteague, painting, painting horse, painting pony, pony, pony penning, pony swim, trick, trick horse, trick pony

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