Posts Tagged ‘ammo
Pony Penning 2010 – Day 1
Ammo says goodbye to Minnow at the Farm
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”).
Minnow's got the trailer packed with all his trick supplies
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.
Minnow between performances at the Pony Centre with my mom
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.
"Dance in the Mist" by Chincoteague Minnow
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!
"Assateague Riptide" by Chincoteague Minnow
Look for the continuation to our journey to Chincoteague Island tomorrow!
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!
Ammo’s Newspaper Debut
As if being on Animal Planet wasn’t enough, Ammo the Dachshund recently made the front page of the People section in the Daily Local News. The article discussed Ammo’s love of tricks and performing with his pony friends. It also talked about his new found artistic abilities, and featured some great color photos of him as well as a video.
You can read the PDF of the article HERE and watch the video HERE.
Way to go Ammo! So proud of you Buddy!
Traveling with Ponies
Well I’m back from my big trip to New Jersey for the 2010 MGAA National Competition. Not only did I bring along my competition mount, Chesapeake Boomerang, but also trick pony extraordinaire, Chincoteague Minnow, and my ever present sidekick, Ammo the Dachshund.
The plan was to have Minnow paint and perform on Thursday Night, with a little help from Boomer and Minnow. Boomer was then primed to compete in mounted games for 3 days – his longest and biggest competition since I’ve had him. And Ammo, well he was just there to be cute – and I could have never left home without him!
We arrived late on Wednesday night. We got the ponies checked in and bedded down for the night in their stalls. We then set up our campsite in the blazing heat (yes it was even hot when the sun set). I spent most of the night warding off miskitos to no avail while the dachshund slept soundly on my pillow.
The next day was even hotter than the first as I readied Boomerang for the first day of riding. In the warm-up arena I could tell he was hyped and ready to race. We worked on channeling his adrenaline as I asked him to compose himself and stand still.
As we barreled across the start line in the first race I was impressed at Boomerang’s ability to respond to my commands even when I knew he was completely full of himself. As we finished nearly half the races in our set, a big storm approached the horse park. The organizers rushed all of the riders and ponies into the indoor to get shelter from the darkening sky.
Lightning crashed, wind blew, and the rain poured as we hid out in the indoor. I used the opportunity to work on Boomer’s laydown in the arena with many strange horses and riders surrounding him. He successfully laid down about 5 or 6 times. During our stint in the indoor I was approached by several of my fellow competitors asking about my bitless bridle. As far as I know I am the ONLY Mounted Games Competitor on the Eastern Half of the US that competes in a Dr. Cook’s Bitless Bridle. People were interested in how I controlled my pony at high speed with no bit, I talked to them about clicker training and the importance of a really good stop. I think a lot of people were surprised to see a speed horse without a harsh bit or the ever popular hackamoore. Made me proud that my pony was well trained enough to run with the big boys yet I could stop on a dime like the rest of them without yanking on his mouth.
After the storm we returned to the rest of our races. Boomer and I made it through the day with barely any mistakes in our races, and I was very proud of him in how he channeled his high energy.
Unfortunately the ravaging storm wrecked our tent causing us to get a hotel room for the remainder of the trip. Something I think both the Dachshund and my mom were very happy about.
Thursday night I readied Minnow for his trick performance. Minnow painted a wonderful painting that was auctioned off to benefit the non-profit mounted games group, MGAA. He raised $200 and his art was a big hit with everyone! Minnow then performed his beach skit for everyone. Ammo stepped in and stole the show when he decided to dig a big hole in the indoor arena – he had everyone laughing. Ammo even surprised me with how enthusiastic he was to perform his tricks too. He jumped through his hoop, played dead, made a scratch art painting, and even gave me a high five. He was pretty adorable!
Boomer later “crashed the party” and performed his newly learned bow for everyone. I then attempted to get him to lay down, but he had a little trouble. I ended up skipping it, only to have him do it later while Minnow’s painting was being auctioned. I was just happy he did it at all – considering he only learned the trick a little over a week ago.
Minnow had a blast performing, as I gave him a little bute to help with his arthritis limp, he was definitely feeling good (faced the dogs’ arthritis treatment a while ago, used glucosamine chondroitin). Afterwards he took a much needed gallop and buck around the indoor. It made me smile to see him frisky and feeling good again.
Day two of competition felt even HOTTER! Ammo got frequent water hosedowns as he layed by the side of the arena watching me ride. By day two both Boomer and I were a little drained. Boomer was moving slower in the heat, and I was struggling with my sore muscles. Our first session had a few more mistakes than the first day, but I sort of expected it. By the second session of the day I had a little more energy and so did Boomer, but he was still sort of dragging. He wasn’t used to the heat, nor the multitude of competition days. I can’t say I blame him. I’m just glad he did try, unlike the many ponies that started refusing to cross the start line on day 2 for one reason or another.
In the evening I gave a little talk on clicker training to the few people that decided to show up for my demo. It ended up being a bad time slot, as everyone seemed to have gone back to the hotels to shower and eat after a full day of competing. Can’t say I blame them – that’s what I wanted to be doing. But Minnow was happy to be out showing off his tricks again, he’s a real ham sometimes.
Day 3 was the final day of competition, and Boomer seemed to be dragging even more. I worked in the warm-up on clicking him for offering me more acceleration, and it seemed to help a little. I know his muscles must have been very sore – and being the smart pony he is, he’d start off the line in a controlled canter, complete his skill and when pointed towards home he’d let out the speed knowing that the faster he got to the finish the faster he got to rest. I was again happy he at least decided to try for me, even if it wasn’t as speedy as I would have liked.
At the end of the competition we took home 4th place in the Masters C Final. I had hopped to do a little better, but was still proud of Boomer for trying. Its a lot to ask of a horse to stay in a stall for 4 days in 90 plus degrees and run their heart out for you for 3 days straight. He handled it a lot better than a lot of the other ponies did.
And now its time to gear up for PONY PENNING at the end of July! Anyone have any great trick suggestions I can teach Minnow over the next month before we go?
2010 Dachshund Races
Ammo in his stuntdog gear with his ribbons
On June 13th I took 1 1/2 year old Ammo the Dachshund to the Keystone Dachshund Races in Lewisberry Pa. We had been last year, but this year was different because not only would Ammo be racing, but he was also asked to perform a variety of his favorite tricks.
I was excited to see if Ammo would behave differently in the races this year, as he was now a full year older and had a lot of training under his belt. Like the Trick Ponies, I like to train Ammo using clicker training – food is a great motivator for all animals, and dogs are no exception.
Immediately when we arrived Ammo was excited to see lots of long and low dogs just like himself. He wanted to meet and play with EVERYONE. This was a change from last year as at 8 months old he was shy and a little nervous – I was excited to see that all my socialization with him had paid off by making him much more confident. Although, I should have guessed that his added confidence only hurt him when it came time to race. See Ammo (being the loveable Dachshund that he is) picked out the lead dog in every race and tried to entice him to play as they raced towards the finish. I admit I would have preferred Ammo to come bounding out of the start box towards me as he lept into my arms, but seeing him excited to play with other dogs his size also put a smile on my face. At the end of race day Ammo came home with 3 second places, a third, and a fourth and the title for fastest dog went to Mr. Monkey the Dachshund.
Ammo returning to his box after each trick, something he learned a week earlier
At around 2:30 it was Ammo’s turn to take center stage. I was pretty nervous as to whether or not he’d actually do ANYTHING I asked of him. See if you know Dachshunds, then you know that they can be VERY stubborn. Classified as one of the hardest breeds to house train, Dachshunds certainly have a mind of their own. And while I knew Ammo wanted very much to please me, I wasn’t sure if the temptation of other smells, other dogs, or other people would sway him from performing his tricks. I was relieved as Ammo performed just about every trick I asked of him, including jumping through his hoop with his stuntdog gear on. Yet despite his willingness to execute the tasks, Ammo’s enthusiasm was lacking a little. I think his all day play session with the other racers had worn him out, not to mention it felt like it was 90 degrees inside the covered arena where we were. Overall I was pleased that he atleast tried for me, and thats all I could have asked. I’m not sure if he will ever have the “presence” that the Trick Ponies command, but I can be sure he’ll atleast be able to perform alongside them in the future.
Auction off one of Ammo's works of art to benefit the Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue
I look forward to racing again next year with Ammo. Perhaps one of these days we’ll be able to bring home a blue!
To see more photos from Ammo’s Performance be sure to visit his facebook page.
