Posts Tagged ‘farm
Pony Penning 2013: Painting Pony Performs in Chincoteague
Each year our ponies are invited to perform during Pony Penning week at the Chincoteague Pony Centre. This great honor is the main purpose of our trip each year – and something we look forward to.
This year we decided to bring two ponies, the ever talented Chincoteague Minnow and his buddy Chesapeake Boomerang. This was Boomer’s first trip to Pony Penning and his first time ever performing tricks in front of a crowd.
Boomer settled in quite easily, and Minnow enjoyed having a buddy to boss around with him. Minnow quickly took on the roll of head “stallion” and kept a close eye on his younger pal Boomerang.
One of the first ponies they met on the trip was Boomer’s little half sister Juniper, who had been born on the last day of June. Boomer was particularly fascinated by her, and took every chance he had to get close to her.
Juniper reminded me a lot of Boomer, fearless and brave – not much fazed her, even as she plodded around the arena in the nightly shows at the Pony Centre.
When it came time for our boy’s performances in the Pony Shows at the Centre Minnow performed like the pro he is.
Minnow opened each show by painting a special work of art that would later be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Minnow always does his best work while on the island, and he created 8 wonderful paintings that all went off to happy new homes.
Later in the show Minnow came back out for everyone to sing Happy Birthday to him as we celebrated his 20th Birthday. He loved being the center of attention.
Now Boomer had spent the weeks leading up to Pony Penning learning a trick skit that he would perform during the shows. Having never even performed in public before let alone learn an entire performance, this was a completely new experience for Boomer. And honestly I wasn’t sure how he would react.
Boomer’s skit was based on the idea that he was headed off to Trick Pony School, and as his teacher I had lessons that he had to learn. Here you see me holding up a photo of Misty shaking hands with Marguerite Henry, and then asking him to mimic the photo by shaking my hand.
The first time Boomer entered the arena things seemed to be going well, and then the crowd let out a cheer and applause and he about jumped out of his skin – bolting to the gate. I was able to get him to return to his pedestal to perform each trick, but every time the crowd clapped he would again bolt to the gate.
Amazingly Boomer performed every single trick I asked him to – including his spectacular sit on the beanbag trick, he was just clearly frightened of the clapping. But about the 3rd performance in he started to get over it and by the end of the week he could of cared less that people were cheering and clapping for him.
Boomer got so into his performances that he knew the order of tricks that were coming before I could even ask him to perform them. I would have to rush to get his beanbags set up for him before he decided just to sit on the ground!
I was so pleased with how he did, and I think everyone loved his big personality. He did a wonderful job showing just how smart and talented these Chincoteague Ponies are, and I’m sure this is just the first of many performances for Boomer.
On our last day on the island Boomer got to compete in the Pony Show’s Extreme Pony Race – I think he was a bit surprised to enter the arena this time with a jump in front of him, but he did well – and only threw in a few small bucks! I was relieved he didn’t decide to show the crowd his bronco bucking skills!
By the end of the week I was so proud of both of my boys. Thinking back on how far both of them have come, and how talented and amazing they are makes me proud. I love being able to share these amazing ponies with people and I hope everyone that gets to meet them think they are just as special as I do.
Tomorrow I’ll be back to share all about of experience at the epic Chincoteague Pony Swim, and you can read all about the Beach Walk in yesterday’s post.
You can check out all the photos from the beach walk, pony swim and auction HERE. They are also available for purchase!
Painting Before Pony Penning
With our Pony Penning Trip just around the corner (next week!) Minnow has been doing a little painting to get ready.
With Paintbrush in mouth, he’s been creating some special masterpieces to take with us on the trip to the island.
Minnow is all smiles, as one of his favorite things to do is to paint!
Around here we like to think the mark of a true artist is the mess he leaves behind – and Minnow certainly knows how to make a mess!
See you all at Pony Penning 2013!
Boomer tries Team Penning
Lately we have been doing a lot of cattle work. We’ve gone to a couple ranch sorting clinics and we’ve even tried some team penning. Boomer has really started to enjoy chasing cows, and I think my favorite of them all is the team penning!
Here’s a short video of Boomer trying some team penning, this is only his 4th time on cattle.
On this particular trip we even brought along my sister’s mare for her first time on cattle. She was a natural and jumped right in to chasing cows.
Perhaps someday we’ll get our own cattle on the farm, because it seems all the ponies really enjoy moving them around!
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow gets Injected with Ethyl Alcohol
Minnow was diagnosed with high ringbone back in 2008, and he’s been retired from all riding and competition since then. He’s lived pretty comfortably for many years, but this year he has been noticeably more sore. So in an effort to make him more comfortable for years to come I’ve been trying lots of options to help him be more pain free.
Our previous attempts to help Minnow can be read about here:
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow’s Trip to New Bolton
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow tries Ground Control Shoes
Since then we also began giving Minnow Pentosan injections because we had heard great things about this drug from some of our friends, in helping horses with arthritis. There really wasn’t any noticeable difference when Minnow was given Pentosan, so it wasn’t going to be a long term benefit to him.
We also tried giving Minnow Equioxx, which did help with his pain some, but the most helpful by far was giving Minnow bute along with a Fast track supplement to help protect the lining in his stomach.
While bute did help make Minnow more comfortable I still wanted to do all that I could to help him be more pain free, and bute is never a great long-term pain medication just because of the harm it can do to the intestines. So with the help of our vet we made another appointment for Minnow at New Bolton to have him injected with Ethyl Alcohol into his pastern joint with one of the renowned vet’s there.
The goal with the injection was to destroy the remaining cartilage in the joint allowing the joint to fuse as it has been trying to do naturally for the past several years. With this injection there is no guarantee it will work, and likely no results would even been seen for many months as it takes time for the joint to fuse. But there really is no down side to this procedure other than the risk of infection due to inserting the needle. Minnow should not be any more painful than he already is. So with fingers crossed we took Minnow back to New Bolton to have him injected.
Using X-rays, the vet was able to put the needle into the right space in Minnow’s joint to inject the alcohol (which was a bit difficult because his joint is already pretty deteriorated).
After one day we miraculously already saw improvement in Minnow. For the past 2 weeks he’s been “resting” in his stall and the small turnout paddock attached to his stall.
Here’s a video of Minnow BEFORE the injection:
Minnow a week AFTER the injection:
While Minnow is significantly improved, the hope is that his joint will continue to fuse over time and eventually he could be possibly even be pain free. He is so much more comfortable already that we have taken him off all of the pain meds and this week he gets to go out in the pasture with his buddies again.
While this procedure is never recommended for horses that will be ridden (Minnow will never be ridden again), Minnow met a lot of the criteria to make this procedure successful for him. Time will continue to tell how beneficial it will be to him.
Minnow is very special to me, and I will continue to do everything I can to make him comfortable and happy!
Painting Pony heads to Pony Penning 2013
The date is quickly approaching for our annual homecoming of sorts as we travel back to where it all started, Chincoteague Island, for the annual pony swim and auction. Plans are being made and the training has begun as Painting Pony prepares once again to wow the crowds at the Chincoteague Pony Centre all week long!
Only this year is going to be different! Instead of just bringing the super talented Minnow, head Painting Pony and trick pony extrodinaire, we are brining TWO ponies! This year for the first time ever Chesapeake Boomerang aka Boomer will be performing in the nightly shows as well.
Boomer has been working tirelessly on learning new tricks and preparing to appear in front of a crowd, and we’re just excited as you are to see him perform. He’s also been brushing up on some classic reading in preparation for the big trip, because how could he have gotten this far in life without reading Misty of Chincoteague?
We couldn’t be more excited for this year’s trip, and we hope you’ll come visit us at the Chincoteague Pony Centre!
Painting Pony at the Chincoteague Pony Centre 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013 to Friday, July 26, 2013
4:00pm and 8:00pm
See Chincoteague Minnow paint and Chesapeake Boomerang perform at the Chincoteague Pony Centre during Pony Penning week. Last performance is at 4pm on July 26th.
Find out more about the Chincoteague Pony Penning HERE.
