Posts Tagged ‘bitless bridle
Smile for the Camera
Boomerang is unbelievably smart. He picks up things so fast – and he LOVES inventing his own tricks. Like this one:
now it might just look like I cued him to smile – but in fact I have not.
Boomer has decided that it’s very important to put a beaming smile on your face everytime someone picks up a camera to take your picture. It’s quite cute actually – but I’m pretty sure he’ll never take a “normal” photo again. But that’s ok…it sorta makes me giggle.
Boomer has also picked up a subtle cue I’ve been giving him to “roll over” when he lays down.
So with a tilt of my head onto his side he goes.
This weekend Boomerang is headed to his first gymkhana event (along with Blitz and my sister’s mare Jet). Barrel racing here we come! In english tack of course, because we have to be different like that.
Trick Pony Update (part 2)
Hopefully you got to read part 1 of our big Trick Pony Update. Well, part 2 was supposed to come way sooner than now! Sorry! But better late than never. So here’s a little bit of what we’ve been up to lately….
Right before our big school visit I decided to teach Minnow a new trick. He now has a bright beaming smile, just like his brother, Boomerang.
I’m not really sure why it took me so long to get around to teaching him this trick – but whatever the case, in a matter of a few minutes he was a smiling fool!
Meanwhile, Minnow has picked up a new training buddy, Trooper! Trooper has graciously agreed to perform alongside Ammo the Dachshund at the Keystone Dachshund Races this year.
Ammo has been helping Trooper to learn his tricks, and before we know it “Super Trooper” will be ready for the big show!
Minnow had a break-through in his laydown training a few weeks ago. Those of you that have been reading the blog for a long time might know that Minnow has not been trained to laydown yet. Mostly because he’s extremely sensitive and up until now, putting himself into a vulnerable position like laying down was not something he was comfortable with. Typically he will wait until no one is around before he will even roll in the pasture, and he’s never let me even get close to him while he’s on the ground. I’m a strong believer in letting my horse tell me when they are ready and comfortable. I was in no hurry to teach Minnow to laydown, and I’ve been patiently waiting for the past 8 years until he’s ready.
And now I think the time has finally come. It all started with a bath a few weeks ago. Miraculously he decided to roll right after I turned him out in the pasture – about a foot away from me. I took it as a cue and crept up next to him to feet him grass. He stayed down for about 30 seconds before he got up. I then began to give my cue for laydown that I use for Boomer (which I have been making Minnow watch for the past several weeks) – and by some miracle Minnow went down again. I could kick myself for not having a handful of treats in my pockets – but I did my best to verbally praise him & feed him any bits of grass I could find.
I’m so excited that he finally seems ready to master this (difficult for him) trick. When the day finally comes we will have reached a huge milestone in our relationship. From the scared & untrusting pony I met 8 years ago – to a pony that will trust me to be around him in his most vulnerable moment. I’m honored that he’s chosen me to go on this journey with him. 🙂
Usually our travels involve performances and competitions, but this month our travels led us in a different direction. Boomer, Blitz, and Ammo recently took a trip with us to Delaware – not for a performance – but for saddle fitting!
Blitz is going to be a Western Pony! Doesn’t he look cute in his new western saddle? Meanwhile Boomerang & I are trying out treeless saddles! I’ve had the same multipurpose saddle since I was about 12 -so it’s high time I upgrade (specifically to something that isn’t too small for me!) So, to make room for our new saddle, we’re also selling off some of the ones we don’t use anymore.
So if anyone is interested in a 16 1/2″ Dressage Saddle in excellent condition let me know! You can find out more details here. Once our new saddle is here, we will also have a great multi-purpose saddle for sale.
Blitz is really liking his new western pony role, and Boomer can hardly contain his excitement for his new saddle to arrive. We’ll be sure to post details once we’ve made sure it fits him & given it a good test ride. You can find out more details about treeless saddles here.
Well I hope you enjoyed our little update on life with the trick ponies’. As we approach Summer more exciting things will be happening – as we gear up for more performances and our yearly trip with Minnow to Pony Penning!
Trick Pony Update (part 1)
Ok I know I’ve been slacking a little on the updates to the blog, but in my defense….it’s so nice outside! We’ve been having such amazing weather lately that I’ve been spending lots more time out the farm with the boys.
So since I’m a little behind on keeping everyone a prized of what we’ve been doing – today’s post is just going to be a MASSIVE update on some of the things that have been happening around here. It’s a TRICK PONY UPDATE post! yeah!
On May 3rd I set up a little table at the West Bradford Elementary School Art Day. Many artists set up tables around the school to talk to the students about their personal artwork and what it was they do. As you may have guessed – my booth contained the only “animal artists”. The boys were a big hit and the school was a buzz with talk of the Painting Ponies. I loved seeing the kid’s faces when they watched the video of the boys painting. Their jaws would drop in disbelief and immediately the outpouring of questions would start.
We had little trading cards to hand out to all the kids, each containing a different photo of the ponies and Ammo the dachshund. It ended up being a really fun (but exhausting) day. There was talk of maybe having Minnow & Ammo come next year – which I think would be really fun!
Meanwhile I was spending a lot of time out at the farm getting Minnow and Ammo ready for their big school visit. I grabbed this shot of Minnow during one of our practice sessions. Aren’t the clouds in the background so cool?
I don’t know what it is about dressing the boys up in costume – but it just makes me bust out laughing. I think they know it’s funny, because they all start to pose.
Seriously, that boy knows he’s a Super Pony.
At the same time we we’re practicing a lot, I had family visiting from Oregon. They got to see Minnow & Ammo perform first hand – and I’m pretty sure they all think I need to run away and join the circus. (don’t worry, I’m not planning on it)
We also made a little upgrade to our pedestal from our Sponsor, Toys for Horses – now everyone will know who we are!
Boomerang of course couldn’t wait to try it out. I’m pretty sure he thinks it’s super cool.
And just for fun, here’s a little behind the scenes look at what else I’ve been up to…..
Planting my garden! Yeah! Don’t tell the ponies’ but as long as I don’t kill them first, there might be a few tasty carrots in the bunch for them!
So I hope you enjoyed out little update, I’ll be back soon with a Part 2 – because Minnow’s been busy learning some new tricks! Yeah!
Toppling Pony
On Monday I got to do a little trick training with the boys. Boomerang practiced his laydown several times, something he’s getting quite good at.
I’ve also been working on getting him to sit up after laying down – basically getting him to hold the position of half on the ground and half off the ground. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any shots of him working on this, but I was happy that he held it for a little less than a minute this time…..his longest duration yet. He catches on pretty quick, so it shouldn’t take him long to have it down.
Minnow was close by, as I wanted him to watch the whole process of me asking Boomer to laydown – and for him to see the praise/treats he was rewarded for it.
The ponies are very smart, and a lot of times they like to mimic what the other one does in order to get a reward. I didn’t expect Minnow to suddenly drop to the ground after seeing Boomer do it, but I did think it would help in the future when I go to train him to lay down.
The more times he watches Boomer lay down and be rewarded, the more conditioned he’s going to be to accept it as a positive experience. Minnow is much more sensitive than the other two ponies – probably because of his checkered past (and perhaps a little to do with his Wild upbringing) – and getting him to feel comfortable enough to lay down near me is going to be a challenge. To this day Minnow still will not roll out in the pasture if he thinks someone is standing too close to him. Teaching him to even bow was a huge task for him, as it was difficult for him to feel comfortable enough to lower his head and knees near people.
So for now I’m going to continue to let him watch Boomer lay down – and hopefully someday we’ll get to try it with him too.
Jackpot Obstacle Course
On Sunday we had a mounted games event at the farm. During these events we also like to add on a fun jackpot obstacle course for everyone. It’s great experience for the ponies & riders, and it’s fun to challenge yourself to try something new. Each time we have them the course gets bigger and better, and the riders that participate begin to grow. We’re hoping that this will turn into a popular event – as it really is a blast!
Here’s a quick video of Boomerang and I doing a run-through of the course before the show. We ended up making a few modifications, like taking out the “gate” which inevitably ended up being too much of a challenge. 🙂
