Posts Tagged ‘assateague
Mid-Atlantic #1 with Boomerang
This week has been crazy busy, so I’m just now finally getting around to posting about what has been going on. Last weekend I traveled to Upper Marlboro, Maryland (and the Prince George Equestrian Center) with Boomerang, the Dachshund, and my husband. The purpose, to take Boomer to his very first mounted games competition in the Masters division. I spent two days competing and camping with my little crew.
What I love about Boomer is his ability to adapt to almost anything. After 3 plus hours of travel Boomer walked off the trailer in pitch black darkness in a strange place. He glanced around, took a deep breath and looked at me like “ok, whats next”? No calling for his friends, no worrying, just a calm relaxed pony.
I pretty much knew that’s how Boomer would be, he’s been like that since he came to live with me in the Summer of 2008 (probably attributable to his great upbringing at 1000 Welcomes Farm in NC). What I wasn’t sure about was how he’d be competing in the Masters Division. For the past 2 years I’ve been training him for this, working on control and the races, and eventually working up to more speed. In my equine sport, this is rare. If you can equate mounted games with anything, its horse racing. Fast, Fast, Fast, all the time. Ponies are thrust into competition and taught to go, go, go. As a result I’ve seen many ponies have meltdowns. Refusing to cross the start line, exploding with aggression during competition. I didn’t want to train Boomer this way. I wanted him to LOVE mounted games as much as I do.
Naturally I’m a more cautious rider, I prefer to have a pony that I KNOW will stop when I want him to, but is also willing to GO FAST when I want him to. I knew what would happen if I just threw Boomer into top-level competition too soon. I’d be faced with a pony that fed off the adrenaline of the other ponies, jumping and rearing on the start, then flying out of control through the races. Boomer needed to learn self-control first. So instead of rushing him, I spent 2 years training him with clicker training. I taught him an amazing stop (in a bitless bridle I might add), I taught him to move off my leg, I taught him to balance his body better (he could barely walk down a hill without tripping over his 5 year old body when I got him), and I taught him to spin properly with the power coming from his hind end (not such an easy task when you have a pony that’s naturally on their forehand) among many other things.
So this was it, my two years of work with him culminating to this moment. As I stood on the start line with him I could feel Boomer’s excitement rising. He felt the energy of the other ponies, riders, and me. No matter how hard I tried to make myself relax, Boomer could still feel my excitement. I could think calm all I wanted, but my body language still said “its racing time”!
Boomer let out a few initial low rears on the start, which is certainly understandable for this newly turned 7 year old – its the nature of the beast. But what I didn’t expect was his off like lightning speed, after spending 5 years as a hunter show pony he was still overcoming his need to keep a steady rhythmic pace. So with the excitement of the day his desire to run kicked in, he kept up with his much speedier competition yet still had himself under control. His halts were amazing as he slowed just to my voice commands for the most part. Boomer even had himself rocked back onto his hind end for our spins. My teammates commented on how they loved how Boomer used his back end to propel himself into the turns and how light he was on his front end. My Boomer? This is not something I ever equated him with. After 2 years I was still struggling to get him to rock back around a tight spin, but somehow this day it all clicked for him.
I was extremely pleased with Boomerang’s performance over the weekend. We had a few issues with him scooting away during hand-offs (because he was scared), but that is certainly understandable since I haven’t had anyone to ride or practice with in nearly 6 months. Luckily one of my teammates was able to help me work on handoffs a little as I clicked Boomer for keeping his feet stationary and not shying away. We will definitely have to work on this more in the coming months.
Boomer was as magnificent as I pictured him to be. Slowly we are forming a relationship and an understanding of each other. – something I have been longing for since I had to retire my one true horse love, Minnow. Nothing will ever compare to the connection that Minnow and I share, but I hope to one day come close with Boomerang. I’m very much looking forward to this mounted games season, and excited to see how much more Boomer will progress. This is only the beginning.
Keep Going Signal
One of the blogs I frequent, Book Ends Farm, recently did a post on the Keep Going Signal used with clicker training. Honestly, I had no idea what that was – never heard of it before. If you have been following my blog from the beginning than you probably know that I openly admit I don’t read a lot of training books. The shame I know. I prefer to rely more on my instincts, and just a process of trial and error.
Minnow putting on the brakes during competition 2007
Don’t get me wrong, I do watch training dvds, and have been known to “internet” browse for training ideas, but I just can’t get into reading books on the subject. Mostly I think its just because I’m a visual learner, so unless there are lots of pictures – you’ve totally lost me.
So anyway, back to the real reason for this post, the Keep Going Signal. Apparently I have been using this method for years and I had no idea. From what I gather, the Keep Going Signal is a cue (probably verbal works best) that you give your horse (or any animal) to let them know you want them to keep doing what they are doing and they will be rewarded shortly.
Here’ are some examples:
Minnow performs at the Pony Centre 2008
When teaching my ponies to paint, once they’ve got the concept of target brush to paper, I use a “good boy” to get them to keep targeting the paper and continue on with strokes until I ask for the brush back and click/reward them.
I also use it in my mounted games training. A “good boy” for a really nice spin around the end pole, but I want you to keep going until you finish the race and I can give you your treat.
The more I thought about it the more I realized I use it pretty much everyday. It must have just developed over time with my interactions with my boys, but I realized they all recognize the “good boy” means your effort was correct and your reward will be coming. When all the ponies hear those two words uttered out of my mouth they offer me a more enthusiastic attempt at what they have been doing, maybe a burst of speed, or a free-er flowing brushstroke.
KD makes a litter dunk on Boomer. PHPC competition 2008
So how did it happen? I think it happened when I first started clicker training each of them. I would ask them to do something, offer up a “good boy” then click and reward them. I think over time, as I began riding them, I began to space them out. The “good boy” would come, then a little later the click/reward. Helps prevent the slamming on the breaks effect when clicker training while riding.
As Book Ends Farm mentions, I guess some people don’t like using a Keep Going Signal, as they feel it complicates things and can lead to frustration in some horses. I definitely could see how this could happen, but I think it also depends on the horse. Obviously if your horse just gets frustrated when you say “good boy” because they are expecting the reward, then you probably shouldn’t use it.
The Painters and their Brushes
Today I decided to take some photos of the boys with their paintbrushes. I was attempting to get some nice photos of them for their new website, but it proved to be harder than I thought with handing them the brushes and trying to run backwards to get the shot before they decided to drop them. It would/will be much easier with two people. Minnow decided to be camera shy – he’s always had an issue with the sound of a camera shutter. I think he associates the sound with the flash going off, and he REALLY believes that the flash is lightning. And Minnow is afraid of lightning. Its one of his lingering fears from when I first met him that I haven’t quite been able to get him over. Although he no longer runs now, he just chooses to look away or calmly keep himself at a safe distance.
If you think about it, its quite amazing that he will still perform with me while onlookers flash cameras at him in all directions. Sometimes his fear gets the best of him and I have to refocus him, that or politely ask people to turn off their flashes until Minnow relaxes. This has/is one of his biggest challenges when we travel to Chincoteague each year, because he performs in an indoor facility, which tends to make the camera flashes go off. I’m not sure Minnow will truly ever overcome his fear, he must have had a traumatic experience with lightning before he came to me – perhaps something happened to him when he was a foal on the island…I will never know.
So for today, I only have photos of Blitz and Boomer, and thats ok. Perhaps Minnow will decide to let us capture him another day.
Blitz was quite the ham with the paintbrush – as always. He’s such a funny pony, I think he knows he’s cute – which in turn makes him think he can get away with anything. He kept trying to paint the fence with the brushes, which eventually led him to frustration when he realized that with each stroke he took, nothing came off of the brush.
Don’t worry Blitz, we will paint again soon.
Jump into Spring Contest
I was recently honored as the second place winner of The Horse Studio, Jump into Spring Writing Contest. The topic to be written about was “When did you fall in love with horses?”. Below is my entry:
2006 Kissing Minnow
My Little Chincoteague Pony
I’ve been involved with horses since the day I was born, but I didn’t really fall in love with them until I was 18 and Chincoteague Minnow came into my life. He was a short, rotund Chincoteague pony that started his life as a wild pony on Assateague Island. I didn’t know much about him except for the fact that an owner in his past had neglected him and his care for several months, and I quickly found that he had deep trust issues as well as a nasty buck.
For two years Minnow and I battled to gain an understanding of each other. He constantly ran away with me and wanted nothing to do with me. He ignored scary situations and refused to confront anything he felt threatened by. But I loved him anyway and I refused to give up on him.
2007 Me and Minnow
It wasn’t until a simple book came into my life that things began to change. Trickonometry by Carole Fletcher was a book that detailed a multitude of tricks to teach your horse. As I taught Minnow his very first trick, to give me a kiss, something began to happen. Minnow began to light up as he discovered what it meant to learn. We flew through the book as he learned to play fetch, shake hands, and even bow. Minnow and I were now communicating and understanding each other.
A year passed and I could barely recognize him as the pony that had appeared in my life 3 years earlier. He was bright eyed and excited for my daily visits to see him. He no longer ran away with me and most importantly we were a team. Minnow had showed me how to teach him and in doing so we opened up a whole door to the world of horse training. And I loved him more every day.
Minnow is now an accomplished trick pony as well as an exceptional riding pony. As he now enters into the retirement phase of his life we enjoy spending time together even more. I have him to thank for my love of horses, although I can be sure that I will never love another horse the way I love him.
Excitingly my prize is an Imagine A Horse DVD, Using Treats as a Training Tool. I can’t wait for it to arrive – as I have actually been dying to see the video. I will be sure to post a full review on it after I watch it.
If you would like to read the rest of the winning entries click here.
Boomerang is a Painting Pony
There are three Trick Ponies of Chincoteague, but up until now there were only two PAINTING PONIES. I am now pleased to announce the addition of our third painting pony, Chesapeake Boomerang aka Boomer.
Boomer came to live with me in August of 2008, and he began his official painting training in September of 2009. Now to elaborate on this, Boomer was introduced to the easel, paints, and various equipment it takes to make a painting pretty much the day he arrived to live with me. With months of watching Chincoteague Minnow paint, and then watching his older brother, Chesapeake Lightning, go through the learning – Boomer had many many months of being acclimated to the painting environment.
Boomer learned to play fetch and pick up objects in his mouth, he learned to target and stand stationary in different spots. I then introduced him to holding a brush in his mouth in September of 2009. Then winter hit, and none of the ponies painted for months.
Fast forward to April 19, 2010, and I finally was able to break out the easel and paints again. Boomer stood overlooking his stall as Minnow and then Blitz created some fabulous works of art. So naturally when it was his turn to come out of his stall, Boomer went to investigate the painting supplies and find out how he could get some treats too. 10 Minutes later and Boomer was making marks happily on the canvas. I think he was proud of himself. Its hard to be the youngest, and most often the last in line to learn something.
Hopefully by next weekend we will have some great new paintings by Boomerang available in the shop.
