Posts Tagged ‘farm
Buying the Dachshund a Home
So today unfortunately I’m not going to post anything about The Trick Ponies of Chincoteague. (sorry). I really should rename my blog The Trick Ponies of Chincoteague and their Dachshund.
Anyway, back to my post for the day….so recently my husband and I have been house shopping for our first home. And at 25 neither one of us has any idea what we are doing! House hunting hasn’t been so bad – Mike and I are pretty good at narrowing down what we want to look at. And in the past month we’ve only looked at 4 homes. We usually study the listings then do a drive-by first before we decide if we want to set up an appointment. I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted – had 
to be inbetween my parent’s new farm and my shop in town. Mike wanted to not be farther from his work, which is already a 40 minute commute. I also wanted a pretty private yard – something the dog and us could enjoy and where the neighbors weren’t up our butt.
So a couple days ago we looked at a rancher that had the perfect location, a nice 1 acre yard – which part of it was fenced so the dog could go outside at will (doggie door included), nice sized 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, a finished basement, sunroom, and to boot it was on a quiet culesaque with lots of trees and was pretty private. So that being said after looking at this home (that was pretty nicely kept I might add) the only thing I could think was its perfect for my Dachshund but its not “my home”. When my husband asked me why, I had no answer, I couldn’t pinpoint one specific thing about it I hated…there may have been a few tiny things I would of liked to change, but overall I had no clear answer.
So after a few days of back and forth on why I didn’t like, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a second look. This time I brought my father (builder extroidinaire who seems to know everything even though his day job involves computers) and my husband brought his dad (electrical expertise). So after investigating every square inch they came to the conclusion that the house was in good condition and they didn’t see any “red flags”. I found myself hoping they had some clear answer for me like don’t buy this house! So it was back to agonizing for me. My husband clearly wanted the house – I was still unsure. I just felt like I should be completely inlove with the place.
So after much debate I came to the conclusion that my Dachshund, Ammo will love the house, and I will love it if he’s there (and my husband of course). I guess you can’t go wrong there – although it still totally freaks me out! I think I will still always wonder if my DREAM home was out there and I just didn’t wait long enough to find it – but for all I know thats just completely unrealistic.
Anyway thats my vent for the day – me trying to buy a house for my Dachshund- I think I might be crazy.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Tommie Turvey at Pony Penning
So I have several blogs that I comb every day – one being the Equine Extremiest Blog of Tommie Turvey. I met him and watched his demos/exhibitions at the horse world expo in March of this year. He’s a trick horse trainer that trains horses for movies, events, and pretty much anything you can think of. This was the first time I saw him and I thought what he did was pretty exciting. I still prefer to include clicker training into my training (Tommie does not use clicker training that I have seen but I have seen him reward with treats), but I have incorporated some of Tommie’s methods into my training. (see the video below of me using Tommie Turvey’s method of laying down Blitz).
Anyway while reading Tommie’s blog this morning I was excited to see that he will be attending the Chincoteague Pony Penning this year. How cool! Then I started to think about how there is no way that my little act with Chincoteague Minnow at the Pony Centre can top anything that Tommie Turvey can do. Now I think I should be nervous! I really need to make sure I get my “act” together, Minnow and I have a lot of work ahead of us!
Either way I think it will be a lot of fun to see Tommie Turvey again, perhaps he will come to the shows at the Pony Centre and will even be able to give me some pointers.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Boomerang the Wonder Pony
Boomer 2009
I had a busy weekend with the boys, full of trick training, riding, working on the farm and polocrosse. Rather than to go through everything in one day – I think I’ll split it up over the next few days, it will give you something to look forward to! So be sure to check back each day.
So today I’m going to talk about Boomerang (Chesapeake Boomerang to be exact). He’s the newly turned 6 year old that I have been training since the end of last summer. I took a short video from over the weekend of the progress he’s made with his back up. Now I can get him to back up using voice commands and weight shifting – the hope is that in the future he will respond to my voice and a slight weight shift rather than the exaggerated movement you will see in this video.
Everyday I become more and more pleased with the progress Boomer is making. I was thinking back to when I first brought him home at the end of August. I had arranged to have his owners bring him to the Chincoteague Pony Centre from their home in North Carolina. I drove down there with my trailer to try him out to see if I would like him. I spent several hours testing him out, trying to make sure he had speed and was ok with the games equipment. As he passed all of my tests I offered to purchase him under the condition that he passed my vet when I got him back home. We all agreed and I was excited to get my new pony, and Blitz’s half brother home. Back home I had the vet come out to look Boomer over. Everything went well until it was time to flex test his joints (holding each leg tight against the body for several minutes than asking the horse to jog off when released). Boomer jogged off lame on his left front. I was heartbroken – according to my vet, she would never purchase a pony that didn’t pass the flex test.
I went home that day thinking I would have to send him back – what games pony would hold up that didn’t pass the flex test – afterall look what happened to Minnow at 15 as he was diagnoised with ringbone (he however was never flex tested). I told Boomer’s owners what happened and they agreed to arange a date where we could meet up again to return him. A few days passed and I couldn’t stop thinking about Boomer – I just couldn’t give up on him. I decided to have him xrayed and I started reading up on the flex test. Many vets seemed to agree that the flex test did not determine a future of lameness in a horse – afterall if you were asked to hold a leg up tightly and then run- would you be able to keep from limping slightly? (I tried it and I can’t). So when the xrays came back clean I decided to give Boomer a few weeks to rest and then I would flex him again with the vet. As the weeks passed I was fighting becoming attached to Boomer, I tried not to love him like I love Minnow and Blitz. I was trying to save myself the heartache if I ended up having to send him back. I think Boomer noticed this as I seemed distant from him.
But when it came time to flex him, Boomer trotted off perfectly sound. Despite my vet’s doubts in him I decided to keep him anyway (we will just have to wait and see if he ever develops lameness issues). I was thrilled to have Boomer, but I think its taken me a long time to build a connection with him. For a while he was “just the pony I rode” instead of “Boomer the pony who I have a special relationship with”. It was also extremely hard to replace Minnow with another riding mount. Minnow and I have a relationship that I have never had with another horse – we can read eachother like no one else – I also believe I will never have a connection like we share with any other pony. Minnow and I were destined to find eachother.
That being said its hard to give that same love and respect to Boomer when deep down I have felt as if I’m replacing Minnow. But with each day Boomer and I take one step closer to understanding eachother and creating our own unique connection.
I took Boomer to a Polocrosse scrimmage yesterday so that I could referee on him. As I warmed him up – performing his sliding stops, his spins and back up – I looked around at all the other horses. Boomer, at 6 and very inexperienced, was more controlled and responsive than any of the seasoned polocrosse/competition horses there (not to mention I performed these tasks bitless). He clearly shined above them all and yet he had never set foot on a polocrosse field or even witnessed a game. He rode up and down the field with me taking hits to the face with the ball, chasing the ball when it went into the tall grass, and standing clamly so that I could throw the ball in.
After yesterday I can honestly say that we took a huge leap forward in our respect and understanding for eachother. I don’t think Boomer will ever be able to replace Minnow, but I think in the years to come we will become an unstoppable pair. And I can say now, that Boomer and I were meant to find eachother as well.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Training on a Misty Day
Mist over the vineyard next to Iron Horse Farm
We had a downpour of rain yesterday just as I was getting ready to leave work and head out to Iron Horse Farm. But I was in luck because the clouds parted and the rain stopped to allow just enough time for me to ride Boomer. I worked on making him into a “western horse” (with english tack). We worked on spins, backing, neck reining and my sliding stop. Boomer is developing a killer stop with all the clicker training work I have been doing with him. I can now ask him into a flat out gallop and by shifting my weight back (and no rein pressue what so ever) he tucks his butt under himself and throws on the brakes. I even had my sister jump on him so she could see how much he has improved over the months. My sister has been away at the University of Delaware up until yesterday, so the last time she rode Boomer he was a kick ride, with no balance and no steering. She was amazed to find that since turning 6 this year Boomer has really “grown up” and he’s definitely no longer a kick ride – now he has speed and more speed (which is good because he wouldn’t turn out to be a good gaming pony if he didn’t know how to go).
I also helped my mom work with Blitz and asking him to move towards the barrels. He has developed a habit of scooting his butt away from the games equipment in order to face it, and we have determined that during some lessons when out instructor placed treats on all the barrels to get Blitz used to it – it completely confused him into thinking now he has to face all the barrels. He’s improved some but I’m hoping some targeting practice with his feet will help. I plan to have him target a mat by placing his front feet on it and eventually moving that mat to the exact spot that I want him to stand when approaching a barrel.
Anyway yesterday was a successful ride for all the ponies. Today I hope to work with Minnow as well and teaching him to stand on his pedestal with all 4 feet.
**hope you enjoy these photos I took yesterday when I left the farm. The neighboring vineyard looked beautiful with the mist that appeared after the rain.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
How falling off taught me to ride – grand prix style
Yesterday after work I headed out to the Devon Horse Show to watch the Grand Prix Jumping. I admit I live about 15 minutes from the show grounds – but I haven’t actually been to Devon in several years. I went a few days ago as well to watch several riders from my local Pony Club compete in jumper classes.
Now the Grand Prix Jumping is something I find to be utterly amazing. We all know (whether we care to admit or not) that the real crowd draw is the crashes. Secretly everyone watching is hoping to see a horse and rider crash through a fence or a horse throw its mount. As morbid as that sounds thats why watching the Grand Prix Jumping is so popular. You hold your breath as horse and rider jump fences at heights you wouldn’t dream of yourself, all the while in the back of your mind wondering when the first “incident” will happen. We’re all in it for the shock value.
My little sister jumping our childhood pony, Oopsie Daisy
As a youth I developed a distaste for jumping – mostly because I owned a stubborn little pony named Oopsie Daisy (makes you wonder where his name came from) who clearly disliked to jump. With each year that passed he hated jumping even more. I crashed and burned more times than I can count. I think I was the only rider jumping an 18″ hunter course that ever knocked down all the fences with their own body. Pretty pathetic. But despite all of my falls I think those tumbles made me a better rider.
When I was about 13 years old I decided to join my local Pony Club. I was dreading the initial rating because I hated to jump – and all riders were required to do a stadium course as well as a cross country course. I was set to take my D-2 rating with a group of other riders – that lets face it – had point and shoot ponies that would jump anything. I on the other hand had a ride him with everything you got – hold on for dear life and close your eyes pony. I successfully made it through most of the fences without a fall – but had pretty much a refusal at every fence – some that I had no luck getting Oopsie over at all. As I waited for my pass or fail results the instructor doing the testing approached me. She explained to me that even though I had a pony that clearly hated jumping and I struggled to get over the courses, I was the only rider in the group that could actually ride. My difficult pony had taught me how to have a strong seat and leg, and most importantly how to overcome challenges (we all know that image of the kid getting dumped and bursting into tears immediately). She told me that I not only passed my rating but that I was receiving a higher rating of a D-3.
Oopsie went through the years of Pony Club with my little sister and I – he even passed both of us up to our C-1 ratings (barely). Oopsie passed away last summer unexpectedly. Over his 30 years of life he accomplished so much.
I give Oopsie a big hug after competition
He was an eventer, a dressage pony, a show pony, a lesson pony, a pony club mount, and in his later years a mounted games pony. He taught my sister and I how to ride. And he introduced both of us to our passion in playing mounted games. Oopsie took both of us to a combined total of 5 USPC Championships in mounted games. He excelled In the Junior, Senior and Advanced level. In his later years he even entered into the fossil division with our mom. Oopsie was just a once in a lifetime pony. And he will always be missed.
Nitro successfully clears a fence during my C-2 Rating
I later moved on to my 16.3 hand Dressage horse, Nitro, who seemed to enjoy stadium jumping but when it came to cross country fences became emotional and nervous. He eventually passed me through to my C-2 rating but with a very huge effort. He dumped me about 10 times at a ditch jump and panicked over the tiniest step down fence during schooling. But when I cleared the last big log as Nitro hopped from side to side trying to evade it during my rating the tester yelled out to the group “now that is how you ride a horse through a course”.
Minnow was the pony that followed Nitro and at this point in my life I was winding down my enthusasium for ratings (and jumping for that matter). So I tooled around with teaching Minnow to jump (which he had no prior knowledge of before) but he too would rather dart around the fence than clear it. And honestly Minnow had so many other issues to overcome that my jumping him sort of took a back seat – although I did successfully take him cross country schooling once.
Now if you are noticing a pattern here…I think you are right….I have never owned that “made horse”, the one that will do everything without so much as blinking an eye. But through all these years, and all these horses, I think I gained knowledge in riding and training horses that most young adults don’t have. I wouldn’t trade my crashes for anything – or my horses. Each one of them has had something valuable to teach me and with each new horse that enters my life I am surprised at how much more I can learn.
I am now onto my 5th horse (I didn’t mention my very first pony, Oreo Cookie, because at 5 I have fogged memories of her), Boomerang, and I think I can honestly say he is the only horse I have ever had that does not come with “emmotional baggage”. He’s got a long way to go in his training but his very willing attitude is something I am very not accustomed to. And Boomer is the only pony I have ever owned that truely loves to jump, he clears an 18″ log at a height of 4′. Now I don’t think Grand Prix Jumping is in our future, but I’m looking forward to seeing just how much this pony loves to jump. Perhaps he will be the pony to renew my interest in jumping again, but if spills happen along the way I know that this will only further my riding ability.
Here’s to the high jumpers of the world! It takes nerves of steel and a horse to get you there!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
