Posts Tagged ‘Chincoteague

Will a fat pony resist lush grass?

So after a mini-vacation for Minnow and myself after our trip to Chincoteague I finally got a chance to do some trick training yesterday. We basically took the whole month of August off (aside from our mounted games competition in NJ) and it was high time I got back to some training.

On Saturday Minnow and I will be attending the Ludwigs Corner Horse Show as part of the entertainment on Family Day. We’ll have a small fenced in coral near the booths and tents to perform in – with a 1pm and 3:30pm show. The key is that this coral will be placed on a bed of lush grass. Very tempting for a fat pony that spends most of his day with a muzzle on due to his arthritis and inability to be exercised.

So in order to not embarrass myself I decided it was probably best if I practiced performing with Minnow on grass. And what better place than the pasture that Minnow is turned out in! So I lugged all of Minnow’s equipment out to the pasture and set up my camera (of course I thought of all of you who read my blog – how kind of me to make a video for you!)

First I will let you watch the video, then I’ll explain further:

As you can see Minnow stayed with me the entire time. Even though his trick pony partner, Boomerang, is in the background grazing. I think Minnow displayed great self control, and demonstrated just how clicker training can help create a language and a bond between horse and trainer. I can guarantee you that if I was training Minnow with force or pressure (as many trainers do) he would definitely not stay with me. Clicker Training has created a positive experience for Minnow, and even though I know he’d much rather eat grass and not have to work at all, he has chosen that being with me and working for a reward is something that he would like to do. Did I mention I love this pony?

Tomorrow I will share with a video of a new trick that I taught Minnow yesterday. Its quite different in that this time I have decided to work with two animals at once. You’ll just have to check the blog tomorrow in order to see the debut of this amazing new trick!

-KD
http://www.ponypaintings.com

Tags : assateague, Chincoteague, chincoteague pony, clicker training, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, natural horsemanship, painting, painting horse, pedestal, pony, training, trick, trick horse, trick pony

Passing of the Torch

There was another escape yesterday. Don’t worry – not nearly as bad as last time, but still gave me flashbacks to “the great escape”. I arrived at the barn on monday afternoon to find Nitro out of his stall again. This time I think he opened his dutch door himself. And when I found him he was glued to the stall door that holds my sisters mare. He was pacing inside and outside the open stall next to her – why – to keep the trick ponies away from her. Nitro obviously felt as if he had to claim Jet as his own, so he kept the trick ponies corralled in the back corner of the paddock. Poor ponies.

Nitro has issues with mares. He falls utterly and hopelessly in love with them. I guess you can’t blame him wanting a girl. His devotion is actually quite admiral – I think he would die for them if he had to.

The interesting thing is that he didn’t used to be like this. When Nitro first came to live with me he didn’t have an obsession with the mares, or a need to control everyone in the herd. In fact he had no interest in any of this for about 3 years of living with me. But I know exactly what changed him.

My mothers horse, Pippin, was always the herd leader. He worried, by weaving his stall, when the rest of the herd wasn’t in the barn, he watched over his mares, and called for the rest of the herd when they got too far out of site. He paced the fence when anyone left the farm. He basically was “head stallion” despite being a gelding. And when Nitro came to live with me he was sent to live with Pippin. I think Pippin took him under his wing – perhaps the son he never had. Nitro didn’t take on any of Pippins bad habits right away. It wasn’t until Pippin’s tragic death that Nitro changed.

I was away at my first year of college when Pippin died. Its worth noting that Pippin was my mom’s home-bred baby that she had had since she was 16. He was her “horse baby”. That being said it was even more devastating the way that Pippin died. At about 23 years old (the same age Nitro is now) Pippin started having seizures. They were strange seizures where he would go into a trance like state and not respond. His head would droop and he would become unresponsive. Then suddenly he would snap out of it and go back to eating. We called the vet many times during his episodes, but never once were they able to catch him in the act. Without a true diagnosis we ended up padding the walls of Pippin’s stalls and giving him rubber buckets. So that if anything worse happened while we weren’t there he wouldn’t becoming injured.

Several months went by – perhaps even a year – I can’t remember exactly how long we were aware of Pippin’s condition- occasionally we would witness his seizures, and likely he had them when we weren’t there too. Then one morning my younger sister and my mom were out feeding horses while I was away at school. My sister, who was about 12 at the time, went out to find Pippin who didn’t come in with the rest of the herd. Suddenly she came screaming back to the barn. She had found Pippin lying in a ditch covered in a pool of blood. As my mom rushed to his side she saw that he was still breathing. Vets were called and my mom scrambled to try to get Pippin out of the ditch. She had him up briefly before he collapsed into her arms.

His injuries were horrifying as it seems as if he had fallen into the high-tension electric fence at the farm we were renting before falling into the ditch. If you know anything about this type of fence you know that it is virtually unbreakable – and after you read what happened next you will know why I recommend NEVER having this type of fence on your farm. As Pippin fell into the fence it wrapped around him at his stifle – and for lack of a better work – sliced his back legs almost completely off.

My mom held him as his breathing slowed and he expelled his last breath. He had lost way too much blood to go on.

We believe that Pippin likely had had a seizure overnight which caused him to fall into the fence. After the horrifying ordeal was over it was noticed that Nitro was still in the pasture – watching as his mentor painfully passed away. In the months following Nitro refused to walk past the site of Pippin’s death. And slowly he began to change. I believe Pippin passed on the role of “head stallion” to his predecessor and is the reason Nitro is so concerned about the herd now.

I worry now that soon Nitro won’t be around to watch over his herd as my mom’s horse did. He’ll be 24 next year, and I know that he won’t continue on forever. Blitz has taken a liking to Nitro – and although he is not the top of the pack (Minnow is) he tends to try to emulate Nitro sometimes. As much as I love the idea of “passing the torch”, Nitro’s antics are less than desirable and it would be a shame if Blitz ended up with the job after Nitro is gone. I keep Blitz stalled as far as possible from Nitro, but with his recent breakouts I worry what he’s already taught to my unsuspecting Blitz.

I guess we will just have to wait and see and hope that it doesn’t happen anytime soon.

-KD
www.ponypaintings.com

Tags : assateague, Chincoteague, chincoteague minnow, chincoteague pony, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, pony

Lazy Summer Days at the Farm

So I fully intended to ride Boomerang yesterday….I really did – I swear. My engine just sort of died when I got to the barn. Sometimes I wonder how I fit everything I do into a day. Its difficult to balance all of it. I’m barely getting much sleep lately – thanks to a cranky dachshund who can’t understand why I’m sleeping on the floor and he’s locked behind a doggie gate, I balance a full time job running a business – make that 3 businesses (Green Horse Studios, Pony Paintings, Studio 3), I then feed and care for 7 horses (which includes mucking stalls and daily feedings and turnout), I try to ride/train my horses 5 days a week, and then there is the house remodeling, not to mention having time to make dinner/spend time with the husband. I just made myself tired typing this list.

But honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m extremely happy (even if I’m sort of exhausted lately) and I enjoy having lots of projects to work on. I’m not one who enjoys “being bored”.

So that being said – yesterday I just didn’t have to energy to ride. I feel kind of bad about it actually – considering I have another competition coming up in 2 weeks and Minnow is set to perform again in a week. Ah – I need to get on the ball again!

Anyway, so instead yesterday, I enjoyed some time with my favorite Chincoteague Ponies. I discovered an apple tree in the back yard of my new house – and of course any loving horse owner like myself would bag up as many as they could carry and bring them to the barn for their horses. My ponies better love me after that.

So there you have it….a very rare lazy summer day for me and the trick ponies (and the dachshund too).

-KD
www.ponypaintings.com

Tags : assateague, Chincoteague, chincoteague pony, clicker training, farm, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, pony

The Bronco takes to the Open Land

So my weekend was filled with heavy lifting due to moving all of my personal belongings into my new house. Lets hope I never have to do that again. I can’t name a muscle that isn’t sore right now. And while we are officially moved into our first home – we’re still sleeping on a mattress on the floor and living out of boxes in the basement. Hopefully this is only temporary as we plan to finish our hardwood floors in the next 2 weeks. The dachshund is utterly thrilled that we are sleeping on his level. He has been using our mattress as a wrestling ring with my parent’s dog, Trooper.

And while things are finally starting to settle down in regards to home life – I was actually able to get my first ride in over a week on Boomerang. On Monday my plan was to go on a nice quiet trail ride with Boomer while my mom rode Blitz. Now Blitz has turned into an exception trail horse (we all fight over who gets to ride him). He goes the pace you want, doesn’t try to grab grass, and is relatively non-spooky. Thanks to clicker training him to “touch the goblins”. Boomer on the other hand isn’t the dream trail horse. At 6 years old I think he still has a lot of growing up and maturing to do, I’ve been told that Chincoteague Ponies actually mature later than most horses. I’m hoping this is the case for Boomer anyway.

I’ve never been big on trail riding – mostly because I love to “fine tune” my skills in the ring. My mom loves to – so I mostly go for her sake and for my horses mind. They can’t be expected to do ring work all of the time. So that being said – lately Boomer has been making me despise it even more. When trail riding him, I admit he tends to push my buttons – my normal calm level headed personality gets pushed to the breaking point a bit. Let me explain.

Usually our trail rides start off with a bit of stop and go. Boomer puts on the breaks and refuses to move his feet. He doesn’t call back to the barn or act frantic about leaving home – he’s very calm about the whole thing. He just doesn’t want to do it. So we have a little battle – me asking him to go forward, him refusing (until we get the clicker dialogue going). Finally I get him moving and now he takes off in little spurts. He’ll be walking – then pow- we’re at a gallop and I can’t stop. He does a lot of tossing his head into my lap to evade the bitless bridle as I try to muscle him to a stop (mostly because my whoas and seat position have no effect on him when he’s like this). I finally get him settled and working on a pace I want. When he’s going along at a clam and relaxed walk I click and reward him. Now he starts trying to grab grass. He makes me feel like a little kid sometimes. My stubborn pony darts for grass while I try as hard as I can to pull his head up and keep him moving. And I’m telling you if he gets his head down – no amount of my muscle can get his head back up. I’m tempted to start using grass reins until I can nix this behavior. So now I’m riding with the reins braced in my hands – ready for the moment he tries to make a go for the grass again.

Once Boomer realizes his grass attempts are futile – then the bucking starts. Its usually only brought on when we start to move. And I don’t think they are angry bucks, I think they are yippee this is fun bucks. But either way a buck is a buck – and its unwelcome. Now Boomer doesn’t have an ordinary buck. Blitz has an ordinary buck, a little protest with the hop of his back feet – or a tiny jump for joy. No I wish Boomer had a buck like this. Instead I ride a bronco. Looking at him you would never guess that he could jump that high – even from a standstill. And the way he contorts his body – ow, it hurts me just thinking about it. I probably look like a rag doll bouncing around on his back. My mom’s jaw drops everytime she sees him do it.

Yesterday’s buck was exceptionally bad. Somehow Boomer managed to buck while we were crossing a big ditch. It was so powerful that he snapped my neck back (which cracked so loudly I think the neighbors could hear it). Needless to say I can barely turn my head today. I’m lucky he has NEVER (knock on wood) dumped me. I’m not really sure how or why he hasn’t – maybe its my long legs that can easily wrap around his sides. I think if he ever figured out he could dump me I’d be in really big trouble. Lets just hope that day never comes.

So by the end of this horrible trail ride I’m usually fuming (quietly to myself as I’m not one to show too much emotion). The trail rides are supposed to be relaxing and something enjoyable for both of us. Instead they end up being a battle of whits and skill. And I’m really not sure who is wining in the end – but I have a feeling its Boomer. Back at the barn I hose off and take care of my pony – making sure I mention to him that he is not getting rewarded for his bad behavior. After no treat he gets turned out to ponder why no jackpot at the end of the trail ride arrived. Or so I choose to believe….who knows if he understands why he’s not getting his special treat when we are done.

It seems to me as if the clicker and rewards are becoming no match for Boomer’s want for grass. I think all of the issues are revolving around him wanting to eat grass and being frustrated when I don’t allow him to. I’m thinking about trying to reward him with grass (from my pouch and not the ground). I’m not sure where to start with him and this trail riding business – but I do know that something needs to be done about it before I really lose my temper (something that rarely happens to me, especially when dealing with my animals). But we’re all human (or alive for that matter) and sometimes our emotions get the best of his. Boomer gets emotional about wanting grass – I get emotional when he wants that grass. Hopefully we can find a happy medium where neither one of us loses our temper.

-KD
www.ponypaintings.com

Tags : assateague, bitless bridle, Chincoteague, chincoteague pony, clicker training, dachshund, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, natural horsemanship, pony, training, trick, trick horse, trick pony

Hot Dog in a Tent

So during our camping excursion in New Jersey last weekend I had my special little buddy tag along for the adventure. Ammo, my Dachshund, is what I call my “tag along” dog. He’s easy to tote around anywhere and pretty much adapts to any situation. But being 10 months old, Ammo was about to go on his first camping trip. I knew Ammo would be fine with the horses, he LOVES all of the ponies (especially Minnow) and as we take daily trips to the barn he has become quite the farm dog. I still get laughs when people pull up to the farm and see this squaty little dachshund waddle over to say hello instead of the typical lab or jack russell. I have to say I don’t think I’ve seen a dachshund at anyone else’s farm. But infact he is an excellent farm dog. He keeps his distance from the horses (except for his occasionally playdate with Minnow) and when I ride he sits quietly in the barn and out of the way. If I need to tie him up for any reason he stays in his spot without so much as a peep.

So being toted around and tied up while I rode was a non-issue for Ammo. But camping was different. How would he do in a tent, on an air mattress? After I read the Mattress & Sleep Product Reviews – Cosy Sleephttps://cosysleep.co.uk/ advice, Ammo was no longer allowed to sleep on my bed with me – as he likes to be VERY close to the ones he loves and I end up with a dachshund scarf. So for sake of getting my full 8 hours I request that Ammo sleep on his little bed on the couch.

I think Ammo thoroughly enjoyed getting to sleep in the tent with me – this time I had a Dachshund belt – very stylish. But being a small dog who thinks he’s the big guy, with every nightime noise Ammo felt as if he had to protect me. He’d let out these tiny barks and at one point in the night he some how got stuck in between the window screen and the flap that closes it up. (don’t worry I rescued him). So the first night of tent camping was a bit unrestful as I dealt with my guard dog dachshund. But by night #2 Ammo was utterly exhausted from the day’s activities that he pretty much slept all through the night.

Aside from tent camping, Ammo had lots of fun meeting all the fun dogs that came to the event. His favorite playmate is a friend’s Australian Shepherd/Corgi mix puppy named Spencer. Spencer and Ammo could wrestle for hours on end. Ammo even picked up a new girlfriend in the form of a female Jack Russell named Roxie. I think he was sad she couldn’t come home with us.

At the end of our adventure Ammo was happy to go home. He had a LONG weekend and was all too thrilled when a pile of clean laundry was waiting for him at home. I can’t wait for our next camping adventure together!

-KD
www.ponypaintings.com

Tags : ammo, assateague, Chincoteague, chincoteague pony, clicker training, dachshund, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, mgaa, mounted games, pony

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