Posts Tagged ‘farm
My Journey with Minnow
Minnow arrives at my farm
Since I’m on a looking back kick lately I thought I’d delve into the past a little more today. The day I’m thinking of was an extremely important day for me – its the day Chincoteague Minnow came to live with me.
I had actually met him several weeks before he came to live with me. He had been trailered out to a mounted games practice I was attending so that I could try him. When I saw his fat little body waddle off the trailer I instantly fell in love. I was warned he had a bucking problem – an extreme bucking problem – as in every other stride was with intent to dump. So as I trotted around the arena I suddenly felt Minnow start to bottle up his energy for an attempt to dump me, I gave him a tap on the butt and sent him forward before he had a second to think about it. He never tried to buck with me again. As I circled the arena I could feel Minnow bottling up his energy – he desperately wanted to let it all out – which led me to believe he had the speed I needed for mounted games. I really should of recognized he was good at holding in his emotions.
I didn’t even really need to ride him that day. The second I laid eyes on him I knew I would take him home.
On June 30, 2003 I headed out to pick Minnow up. His owners were sad to see him go, but knew I would take excellent care of him.
When I got him home I decided to take him for a short ride in the arena. I should have known then that he was going to be the most challenging horse I had ever met. He kept atleast 5 feet between him and any object we passed in the ring, including cones, poles, and jumps. Anything I showed him he pretended wasn’t there – its like he was in denial about being faced with something scary.
I had a few short months before I was set to leave for college so I got started training him right away. We did dressage work, took lessons and I introduced him to the games equipment. He seemed like the dream pony as he calmly adapted to everything I presented him with.
As the months passed Minnow was gaining more and more experience. I was gearing him to compete competitively with me the following summer. If I had had known what I know now I would have noticed that Minnow wasn’t actually “seeing” everything I showed him. He was ignoring situations that frightened him, and he was bottling up his fear with each new situation I put him in. He didn’t trust me to keep him safe. But at 19 years old I have never met a pony like him. From my eyes I saw an adaptable little pony that seemed calm and fine in any situation I put him in. True it took him extra long with the games equipment, and it took him months to get just one step closer to it, but I had no explosions, no bucking, no fits.
It wasn’t until June 28, 2004 that what was really going on under the surface came out. I had taken Minnow to many low-key competitions before this date. I honestly thought he was ready. I entered him in to the USPC Advanced Qualifying Games Rally.
I think it was the noise the ultimately triggered him. The smaller competitions didn’t have the crowds that this competition had. The cheering, the yelling, the loudspeakers, the music – it pushed Minnow to his breaking point. He had always been sensitive to sounds and I think this day they just pushed him over the edge. After a year of bottling up his fears they were finally released. I had on my hands a pony that was racing around the arena uncontrollably. He was bucking and rearing and there was nothing I could do to stop him except hold on for dear life. I managed to survive through the competition – barely.
Getting ready to explode
I wasn’t even upset with Minnow, I was upset with myself for not recognizing his signals before. The turning of his head to avoid looking at scary objects, the complete avoidance of anything new.
Looking back now I’m sort of glad it all happened. I may never have recognized his distress if this hadn’t happened. I would have never searched for new training methods, I would have never discovered clicker training.
After the competition one of my childhood trainers approached me. She had seen Minnow in the arena and thought she could help us. She mentioned she was starting to learn more about the Parelli method, and natural horsemanship, and she thought she could help Minnow. That summer I began retraining Minnow to trust me. We experimented with the Parelli method and made great strides to become better partners. Slowly I was chipping away at Minnow’s wall. The wall that was put up after a life that had once been filled with distrustful humans, neglect, and suffering. Each day I saw a little bit more of his true personality come out.
no brakes
By year 2 Minnow was more trusting but we still weren’t there yet. We still had our uncontrollable rides and he still avoided the scary stuff – but I saw improvement. I was starting to feel a little discouraged again, so by the end of the year I found myself searching for any and all new training methods. The Parelli was moving a little too slow for me and I wasn’t sure it was REALLY getting through to Minnow. Enter the first Trick Training book I ever owned, Trickonometry by Carol Fletcher.
It was January and I was teaching Minnow to give me a kiss. I watched as he actively began THINKING about what I was asking him. He started experimenting. How do I get that food, if I do this will she give it to me, if I touch that will I get more? After about 20 minutes Minnow had learned his very first trick.
2005
When I went to the barn the next day I was greeted by a bight eyed pony that looked generally HAPPY to see me. He WANTED to learn more. I quickly recognized that I had stumbled across something that made Minnow want to learn, and want to be with me. I decided to take him to college with me that semester so that I could delve a little more into this trick training. In the beginning I merely saw it as a way to get Minnow interested in me, which it did. He started to look forward to my visits and I was having so much fun teaching him to shake hands, pick up objects and even bow.
After several months I finally realized how I could use this training in my riding. Not only was it improving our relationship, but it was creating a language between us. I started using it to teach Minnow how to play each mounted games race. I even began using my new found reward method to teach him a western stop among many other useful tools. By the next spring I had discovered clicker training and Minnow and I were well on our way to a relationship full of trust and understanding.
Looking back these 7 years I barely remember how Minnow used to be. I now use him as an example to my younger horses, who seem to learn merely by watching Minnow. I am always amazed at how far he’s come. He’s now truly MY pony and I’m really HIS special person. He’ll always be the pony that taught me the language of horses.
I’ll take the Apple Flavor today
One of the clicker training blogs I read (I Feel Good, My Horse Feels Good) just did a post about a new bit that is available that is perfect for clicker trained horses! Its called the Nutri Bit, and basically it delivers a flavorful liquid into your horse’s mouth through the bit. You dispense it by pushing a button on your reins.
If you check out the post by a fellow clicker trainer about the Nutri Bit you can easily see why she’s so excited to try it. Its essentially the same reason why I just HAD to do a post about it too.
Myself, I’m imagining being mid-spin around a mounted games obstacle and “dispensing” the “treat” to my horse for an awesome spin without ever breaking stride.
I’m also picturing getting Boomerang over his extreme distaste of the bit – he’s the reason I now ride my ponies in a Bitless Bridle. As much as I love the Bitless bridle I still have a few control issues with Boomerang, and I don’t like the fact that he’s figured out that by bucking and rearing he never has to endure a bit in his mouth again.
Anyway that being said, I’m anxiously awaiting the “Clicker Training Review” on the Nutri Bit, and if it passes the test I just might have to invest. My only concern is that for my sport I really need to knot my reins or I risk tangling myself in looping reins with all the on/off work I do. So I’m not sure the bit would still dispense properly if I did this. I’ll just have to wait and see.
Trick Pony Goals
So I thought if I wrote down some of my goals for the Trick Ponies in 2010 it might actually help me to accomplish them. Hopefully our cold winter doesn’t last too long and I can get to training them soon! So here’s my list (in no particular order):
1. Teach Minnow to rear
2. Teach Blitz and Boomer to lay down on command
3. Finish teaching Ammo and Boomer to paint
4. Come up with a new skit for Minnow to perform
5. Make a new video of all of the trick ponies (and the Dachshund) performing
6. Move Boomer up to compete in the Masters Division in Mounted Games
7. Take Blitz to a bombproofing clinic/and or some Dressage events
8. Teach Ammo and Minnow some tricks together
9. Find more venues/performances for Minnow to do – events that raise money for charities would be great.
10. Spend more time doing “nothing” with the boys
Blitz is the first of the Chincoteagues to learn to lay down
So what do you think? Anything I should add? Suggestions on new tricks to teach the boys? I’d love to hear your goals – maybe you want to learn more about clicker training – maybe you just want to teach your horse one trick? Whatever it is, I wish you much success in the new year! Click on!
Cover me in Feathers
Chincoteague Minnow
So for some reason our last hay delivery came with an extra surprise….feathers! Almost every bale is strewn with white feathers. These feathers are ending up scattered all over the barn, in the isle ways, in the pastures, and in the stalls. Most of these feathers are in Minnow’s stall. Everyday when I clean out his stall he has more feathers than the day before, piled up in his little corner. In fact, he has more than any other horse in the barn. This is partially because the Dachshund likes to gather up a little pile and give them to Minnow. I caught him a couple times dragging them into Minnow’s stall. Very cute.
These feathers have a little bit more meaning to me – mostly since I learned of the Feather Fund several years ago. The Feather Fund is a non-profit organization whose mission is to continue the work begun by Carollynn Suplee to assist deserving children with the purchase and attendant costs associated with the acquisition of Chincoteague ponies, with the goal of helping each child learn about responsibility, care, love, work ethic, as well as the concept of “giving back to others” through the care and training of his or her animal.
Feathers in Minnow's stall
Carollynn Suplee was a cancer patient who began to see feathers in mysterious places. She believed that God was sending these feathers to protect her. These feathers guided her to purchase a Chincoteague Pony for a little girl (a stranger) in 1995. The pony became known as Sea Feather. As Carollynn’s cancer went into remission, she continued to seek out and purchase Chincoteague Ponies for deserving young children. Carollynn eventually passed away in October 2006, but her legacy lives on with The Feather Fund.
Everytime I see these feathers floating around the farm I can’t help but think about the Feather Fund. It makes me smile when I think of all the deserving young children that have received Chincoteague Ponies throughout the years. I myself know how special these ponies are. I am thankful everyday that I was fortunate enough to be involved with horses since the day I was born.
Perhaps the feathers have come to the farm for a reason. Maybe they are watching over my Minnow. As each day gets colder and colder I watch as Minnow’s limp (from a diagnosis of Ringbone in 2008) becomes more pronounced. Maybe the feathers have been sent to ease his pain and watch over him. Either way, I find them very peaceful as they drift in and out of the wind.
For 2010 I will be donating some of the Pony Paintings Profits to the Feather Fund. And I will be watching at the auction next year as some very lucky children enter into the magical world of owning a Chincoteague Pony.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
PSALM 91 vs. 4: “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all. – Emily Dickinson
Blizzard of 2009
So as you can probably tell I haven’t been able to post in a while. Hopefully now that Christmas is over I will have a little more free time on my hands.
Boomer and Blitz
So anyway…as many of you know – a week ago (December 20th) we had a massive Blizzard here in Eastern PA. I’m no foreigner to snow, but it has been a while since we’ve received this much snow – especially in December. I measured about 14″ of snow where I live, but with the winds and snow drifting we could easily have received more than that.
Digging out was a bit of a process – but also came with the task of digging out the horses. Luckily I have a big SUV with 4-wheel drive and I was able to plow my way up to the farm in my truck.
Minnow
I was excited to see the horse’s reactions to the snow..I was certain they would run and frolic in the fluffy white stuff. Surprisingly though most of them were just interested in the piles of hay I had put in the pasture and the snow just seemed an inconvenience to them as they tried to trudge to it.
Iron Horse Farm
I found myself wishing the snow had come after Christmas, as I was so busy at my shop with Holiday orders that I barely had time to enjoy it. Had I not been so swamped I would have ridden the boys in the snow, or taught Minnow to pull a sled. I even contemplated the idea of somehow teaching Minnow how to throw snowballs. But alas my time with the snow was short and it has all melted away.
But even though I didn’t get much time to play in the snow (I take that back – I did unsuccessfully try to sled in it) – the dogs sure had fun messing around in the fluff. Especially my Dachshund, Ammo. Being 4″ off the ground comes at a major disadvantage when you get 14 inches of snow. But that didn’t keep Ammo from burrowing away – in fact I think he thoroughly enjoyed it, even if he did get a little chilly.
Below are some photos and videos of Ammo enjoying himself in the snow.
Trooper
Trooper
Anyway that was my snowday! Did anyone else get a ton of snow? Did you do anything fun with your horses/dogs/yourself?
