Camper for a Day
Yesterday Minnow entertained a group of campers from Fox Meadow Farm as well as a neighboring camp. There was a big turnout (bigger than I expected) and everyone seemed very interested to learn about the amazing Minnow. Minnow performed (for the first time I might add) his skit that he will be performing at Pony Penning 2009, he then demonstrated the basics of clicker training (such as targeting and building onto things to learn a specific skill), we then answered questions by the campers. Later Minnow demonstrated how he has learned to paint – I will have his latest creation up shortly – and to wrap up Minnow painted t-shirts for all the campers. If you are looking for a camper, Casita found on shoppok.com it is perfect for you! You will find the Best Class B RVs for Winter Traveling. Winter camping comes with some obvious challenges. Whether pursuing a good environment for winter sports or simply seeking the peaceful solitude of a snowy landscape, winter campers looking for the right RV might wonder where to start.
Minnow with the campers
I let everyone choose the colors they wanted and Minnow set about painting 15 t-shirts. Everyone was amazed at his focus and the fact that he waited and stood at his easle the entire time. I think Minnow found it relaxing because as the day went on I noticed his eyes starting to droop to the point that he was actually painting with his eyes closed. When we were finally done with the t-shirts I had a hard time getting Minnow to go back to his stall, he wanted to paint more!
Everytime I see Minnow perform it puts a smile on my face. I see how it lights him up and how he loves the attention given to him by the audience. He was born to be a performer – and even better he has become an ambassador for his breed, the Chincoteague Pony. I’m looking forward to our trip to Chincoteague with Minnow, as I’m sure he is too.
Left, Boomer & Right, Blitz
After the campers left I felt a little guilty that Boomer and Blitz didn’t get to participate in the day’s fun (although they did get lots of pets by little hands). So I pulled each of them out of their stalls and let them create their first “signature”. I painted their right hoof and had them stamp it on a piece of paper. Later I will use this image to create a stamp of their hoof prints which then will be used to stamp the back of any canvases they paint (essentially creating their unique signature). I already have one that I did for Minnow a couple years back and all of his paintings come with his unique signature stamped on the back.
Overall it was a great day, I even got time to hop on Boomer later for a short trail ride (in which he took off through the woods because he was so excited to be out – good thing I’m training him to be a racing pony.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Clicker Training 6 year old Boomer
Yesterday I was able to get some videos of me playing games on Boomerang. I’ve been training him to be my mounted games pony since September of 2008 – but until our recent move to Iron Horse Farm we hadn’t been able to get much detailed mounted games training without a ring. So the last few weeks it has been intense mounted games boot camp for Boomer in the hopes that I can have him competeing in his first mounted games competition in the Masters division at the end of August in New Jersey. He’s really taking a liking to it, and I’m amazed at how this once sluggish pony (the hunter show ring will do that to a horse) now has some get-up-and-go. He’s eager to move off my leg and quickly breaks from the walk to a canter. We’ve even perfected a sliding western stop that will come in real handy when I have him going full out.
So anyway, below you will see a video of Boomer and I practicing in an open field. This was filmed in April of 2009 and its a pretty good comparison to the videos I took yesterday. You can see that he trots most of the bending poles (he was very unbalanced) and his spin around the end pole is definitely not great – he has to break to the trot and he makes a wide loop.
Now watching this next video you can see Boomer is much more balanced and able to canter all of the poles. His spin has improved, but he still gets a little stuck and I’d prefer him to sit more on his hind end rather than putting most of his weight on his forehand. He’s definitely much improved though.
Now this final video is of Boomer and I playing 2 Flag. Races like these can be difficult for a young/inexperienced horse because they don’t understand the concept of running in a straight line when they have no fence to guide them. Especially with green horses they tend to wiggle the line and when they approach the cones most tend to drift away from them making it difficult for the rider to reach the equipment. Unfortunately I don’t have a video to compare this to, but in this recent video you can see that Boomer is running a pretty straight line and his canter is pretty balanced, making it easy for me to gauge when to grab the flags. He requires slight corrections to keep him from drifting, but overall he’s doing pretty well.
The clicker training I have been doing with Boomer has really helped him. I usually run the races and when he completes them correctly I click and reward him when we reach the finish line. Sometimes I will choose a specific skill within the game to work on, such as the spin around the end pole. So if Boomer doesn’t do a nice spin for me he won’t get rewarded at the end. An added benefit to rewarding after crossing the finish line is that Boomer slams on the breaks as soon as we cross the line, which is wonderful because if I ever drop a handoff or need to go back I have him poised to slam on the breaks so we can quickly spin to correct our mistakes.
Overall Boomer is a very eager to learn pony, and I can tell he’s also DYING to learn more tricks. He acts so starved for attention sometimes. As soon as I have Minnow’s trip to Chincoteague over I plan to start working on Boomer’s trick training.
Farm Life
Today I simply have some photos to share that I took over the weekend at Iron Horse Farm. I hope they are able to brighten your day – a good pony photo always makes you smile! Enjoy the nice weather, and give your horse a hug today!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Boomerang taking a roll
Boomer playing with the tuff ball
Ammo wanting to be a trick pony too
My 3 favorite Chincoteague Ponies
Dog and Horse Collaborate
Dog Paddling over to Chincoteague
So I posted yesterday about how Minnow had two new paintings available to purchase that he had created during the Iron Horse Farm barn opening party. In actuality he created 3 paintings, but one I took a liking to and selfishly decided to keep it for myself. Friday night before the party I was sitting on the barn floor painting canvas backgrounds for Minnow. The dogs were somewhere off in the woods hunting for groundhogs or something of that nature. I decided to quickly run some of the still wet canvases into another room to keep them out of harms way. I guess I took a little too long because when I returned there were little aqua footprints all over the cement floor of the barn.
Naughty Ammo
My naughty Dachshund, Ammo, had decided to take a run across one of my wet canvases and had tracked paint all over the barn floor. I quickly grabbed a brush and the hose and began frantically scrubbing the isle floor before it all dried. I fortunately was able to get most of the paint up, and when I was finished I turned to check out my ruined canvas. But much to my surprise Ammo had left his “mark” very neatly all over the canvas – and I sort of liked it. I decided to let his pawprints stay, and when Minnow took to painting it on Saturday it really turned into a masterpiece. I titled the painting “Dog Paddling over to Chincoteague” and I think it fits it well. It is currently hanging up on my apartment wall and while many of you may be thinking – I wish I could purchase that amazing painting – have no fear! I can duplicate colors, and although no two canvases are the same, each one takes on a life of its own. I may even be able to convince Ammo to lend a helping hand too. So be sure to e-mail us if you would like to discuss ordering a custom painting! info@ponypaintings.com
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Master Painter
Silver Raindrops by Chincoteague Minnow
So as I mentioned yesterday, Chincoteague Minnow created three new paintings during my family’s barn opening party on June 20th. I was able to get them uploaded to the website yesterday, where they are now available for purchase. You can check out all the paintings Minnow has available by clicking here.
Partly Cloudy by Chincoteague Minnow
Next Monday Minnow will be performing and painting t-shirts for a local group of campers at Iron Horse Farm. I think everyone will have a blast with this project – Minnow will certainly enjoy the attention!
In other (unrelated) news – my “Dachshund House” seems to be moving along (the home that I am trying to buy because my Dachshund will love it). The sellers accepted
our offer and now we move onto inspections – keep you fingers crossed for us, my husband and I are very much looking forward to having a place to call our own. We will definitely be decorating the house with artwork done by The Trick Ponies of Chincoteague. And I can’t lie that I contemplated letting Minnow come over and “paint the walls” – you have to admit that would probably be a first, but I’m not sure I could get my husband to consent. 🙂
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Minnow stands on the pedestal with all 4 feet for the first time
