Posts Tagged ‘dog
Farm Pals
Yeah its Friday! Here’s some photos from the farm from last weekend to brighten your day (as if being Friday isn’t enough).
Chincoteague Minnow and Ammo the Dachshund
Chincoteague Minnow
Minnow gives me a kiss
Cricket the Barn Cat
Cricket
Spanish Walk Progress
A short video of Minnow practicing his spanish walk on January 18th.
This video makes me laugh because Minnow looks even shorter and fatter than I know him to be in real life. His body is MASSIVE. He’s got a horse sized body and head with legs and a neck the size of a miniature horse. Poor Minnow, I think he dreamed of being 14 hands, sadly he topped out at 13.1. Perhaps that is why he loves his pedestal so much – he gains a few inches in height.
I also notice how Minnow really tries to avoid lifting his right front leg. I know this is because of his arthritis in his left front. If he lifts the right then most of his weight is put onto his left. He tires so hard to work through the pain and do what I’m asking of him. I might start trying to look into some supplements that I can give him, perhaps it will help him to be a little more comfortable.
The Man of the House
Ammo on his way to fight the bugs
Ammo the Dachshund is resident bug killer around my house. I don’t call the husband when there is a bug crawling around – I call Ammo. His bug killing days got him in to trouble this past summer though – he must have gone after one of the many Wolf Spiders we had creeping into our home, because he ended up with a VERY swollen nose and trip to the vet.
Here’s a video of Ammo saving me from the stink bug invaders. My hero!
Training my Horse like a Dog
I finally was able to capture some video footage of Minnow working on his rear yesterday. I’m so proud of him. He has really been able to tune into my body language and just figure out what I wanted.
Here are some shots from yesterday morning:
And here are some videos from yesterday night:
Yesterday morning I started off working in the ring, and my original plan was to back him into the corner of the fence in order to get him to get his hind end under him some more. But (as I already knew) Minnow has confinement issues, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t like feeling trapped. I tried it once and after he casually wriggled his way around me I decided this wasn’t the best method for him. So instead we worked out in the open like before. If you notice my method was to just basically rev him up with excitement – sort of like you would to a dog if you wanted them to play fetch or something like that. I danced around a bit, called his name, and got myself really enthusiastic. My energy transferred over to Minnow and he offered several nice steps of the rear. I also used the end of my target stick to get him to push his weight back on his rear instead of resting on his front end.
Later that day I was showing my mom and sister Minnow’s progress and I just happened to place him on a slight slope outside the barn. This seemed to really help Minnow rock back on his hindend and he got much higher. I think this spot might be good to keep trying to help build his hind quarters up so that he can get even higher off the ground in the future.
I think Minnow is really enjoying the rearing and Spanish Walk training. When I turn him out in the pasture after our sessions he goes bucking and carrying on with excitement. I think the other ponies are really jealous. I’m definitely going to have to get back to their training soon!
With my mom and sister still recovering from their knee injuries and surgeries I have 3 rideable ponies to choose from (Jet, Blitz and Boomer). Yet I haven’t ridden since mid-December, because I would much rather teach Chincoteague Minnow new tricks! I’m really going to have to start kicking myself into gear if I want to reach some more of my 2010 goals like taking Blitz to a Dressage competition and moving Boomer up to the Masters division in mounted games. I also wanted to buy an equestrian lifestyle subscription box. There is still so much more to accomplish this year!
Noodle or Dachshund?
Just a fun video of the Dachshund and his antics. Enjoy!
