Posts Tagged ‘foal
Pony Penning 2013: Chincoteague Pony Auction
The Pony Auction was held on Thursday, and kicked off with a great performance by the Chincoteague Pony Drill Team.
I stayed throughout the whole auction and was able to photograph all the foals that came through.
Prices ranged from about $600 – $2,500 for the foals that you were able to take home, but the buybacks always seem to go the highest.
The foals that are marked as buybacks can be purchased at the auction but they get to go back to Assateague to live out the rest of their days as a wild pony. So essentially you are making a donation to the fire company and you get the right to name your foal.
This year the highest priced foal was a cute little black and white filly that was designated as a buyback.
This foal sold for $12,000 and was purchased by a woman for her 80th Birthday. The auction crowd promptly sang her Happy Birthday as she entered the ring to meet her foal.
Later in the auction there was another foal purchased by a 100 year old woman – who’s dream was to own a pony. Her’s was a buyback foal as well for $10,000.
Someday I would love to purchase a foal from the auction, but that day was not this year. Regardless it’s always fun to watch the auction as people’s dreams come true!
Incase you missed it you can read our other posts on the 2013 Pony Penning:
Beach Walk HERE
Painting Ponies HERE
Pony Swim HERE
You can check out all the photos from the beach walk, pony swim and auction HERE. They are also available for purchase!
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!
Chincoteague Pony Penning 2012 – Recap
We’re back from the 87th Annual Chincoteague Pony Penning, and boy did we have fun!
Minnow spent all week painting and performing at the Chincoteague Pony Centre – something that we have done for the past 5 years in a row.
Minnow did not disappoint this year yet again – as he painted and sold 9 new canvases during our week long stay.
I say this every year, but Minnow really does do his best work while we are down on the island!
Not only did Minnow paint during the nightly shows at the Pony Centre, but he also performed our new skit – Super Hero Bootcamp.
Arguably one of our best performances to date, Minnow really showed his stuff!
Minnow was on fire all week – and practically drug me into the arena each night to perform. He truly loves it, and really kept the performance alive with his energy.
I was very proud of him, especially since I came down with a nasty cold the day we left for Chincoteague. I struggled to keep my energy up (something needed for this type of performance) – but Minnow proved he had more than enough for the both of us and really helped me keep going all week.
Even though I was fighting my cold all week, I still managed to attend the main festivities! The pony swim and auction!
Yes, I have seen it 5 years in a row now….but it never gets old.
It’s just so fascinating, and I love seeing the new foals that are born each year.
This year I timed the swim perfectly. I woke up at my normal time, headed to pony swim lane, hiked through the swamp, and only had to wait about 1/2 hour before the swim started.
The weather this year was perfect too – not too hot, with just the right amount of breeze….probably why a lot of the stallions were extra feisty this year.
On Thursday I watched the auction – but this year I didn’t get up early enough to make the very start of it (mostly because a few days of not enough rest and a bad cold had caught up with me – so I decided to sleep in a bit).
With cute babies like these I have no idea how I come back without one every year!
Sadly our time on Chincoteague had to come to an end – and now I’ll have to wait another whole year before we can return to see the swim and auction. Sigh, it’s going to be a long year….
If you would like to see all of the photos from the pony swim and auction click HERE. You can also purchase prints here as well.
Check out our online SHOP to see more original paintings by Minnow and his brothers.
2011 Pony Penning Recap: July 28
Thursday was Auction Day! We got up early and headed over to the Carnival Grounds where we had already left our lawn chairs a few days earlier. I was smart this year and remembered where the sun rose the year before – so I made sure to position my chair on the right side of the wooden awning so I’d still be shaded long after the sun rose. It wasn’t the “most” ideal spot to take pictures, as I was a couple rows behind people – which meant to get a clear shot I had to stand up (and block the people behind me). But I tried to do so quickly so everyone could see.
The prices for foals this year were still way down from previous years (even though last year was even lower). It really makes me wish I was in a position to buy a foal. But alas, it costs much more than the price to buy the foal at auction – you have to then feed/hay them, pay for vet and farrier bills, and boarding. Someday I dream of buying one at the auction (Minnow came from the auction in 1993, but I did not buy him then).
The highest priced foal was a buy back foal that sold for $6,700 to the buy back babes. The buy back babes are a group of people that pool together their money to buy foals that are buy backs meaning they will be sent back to the island to live for the rest of their lives.
One of the most exciting parts of the auction was when one of the foals nearly escaped. See the foals are brought out into the auction arena by several people who try to hold the foal from escaping. For most of them this is their first contact with a human – resulting in many bucking/rearing ponies.
And this is exactly why one of the ponies was able to wiggle free from it’s handlers and made a mad dash towards one of the exits.
This is the only shot of the “escape” I was able to get (it happened really fast) but as you can see one of the Saltwater Cowboys was able to grab the foal by the tail before he was able to make it all the way out of the exit. I’m not sure what they would have done had he gotten all the way out – which also made me wonder why there is open chutes to the auction pen. Any “rogue” pony could escape into the fairgrounds – which is also not completely fenced in.
The rest of the auction was rather tame – well as tame as you can get with a bunch of feisty wild foals. I’ve always wondered why the cowboys try to hold the foals, it would probably be a lot easier for them if they just corralled them into a holding pen in front of the auction crowd. Although I get the impression that this method is tradition – and it’s actually pretty entertaining.
A family sitting in front of me at the auction decided to buy one of the buy back foals – spur of the moment. I watched the kids all day long begging their dad to buy them a buy back pony (his wife was begging too). I think it was their first time at the auction, but they must have been swayed by the moment, because their dad ended up buying one of the buy back foals for about $4,500 (I forget the actual price).
After the auction we grabbed some lunch at the fairgrounds and then headed to mainstreet to meet Cezanne. Cezanne’s claim to fame is that he was the highest priced foal sold at the 1989 Chincoteague Pony Auction at $2,500 (Sold to Kevin McBride, the famous Chincoteague Artist). He has gone on to sire many Misty family ponies over the years and continues to do so where he lives now in Ridgely, MD at Hawkeye Stables.
Across the street at the Library I stopped in to see Misty’s Heart of the Storm visiting with her public. Heart of the Storm is Misty’s Great Great Granddaughter and is helping to continue on with her legacy.
Then we headed back to the Pony Centre for the Pony Shows.
"Chincoteague Wildflowers" by Minnow - Pony Penning 2011
Minnow’s first painting was reminiscent of Wildflowers! And thankfully my dad and sister decided to come down for a few days – which means I was able to get some pictures/video of Minnow performing.
The lighting inside the Pony Centre wasn’t ideal, but they were still able to get a few action shots of Minnow performing his new skit.
In between shows Minnow painted “Raindrop” for one of the girls at the Pony Centre – she named it after her Misty descendant Chincoteague Pony, Raindrop.
"Raindrop" by Minnow - pony penning 2011
We also spent a little time watching the ponies out front in the corral, mostly this pony, Miss B.
We discovered that Miss B was Blitz & Boomer’s little sister! She shares the same stallion (Chesapeake Powhattan’s Promise) that our boys do. We thought she really took a resemblance to Blitz, including the “lightning strike” on her rump.
Miss B is 3 years old, and has already taken to pony rides like she was an old pro.
Isn’t she sweet!?
Then in the evening show Minnow painted one of my favorites, Chincoteague Island Sorbet – doesn’t it remind you of ice cream?
"Chincoteague Island Sorbet" by Minnow - pony penning 2011
Which after the evening show I headed promptly to the Island Creamery to get my fill of ice cream! Yum!
Tomorrow I hope to have our final recap of Pony Penning 2011, complete with VIDEOS of Minnow painting and performing. So check back soon!
Check out all of our Pony Swim Pictures at Green Horse Studios!
Baby Boomer
A newly born Boomerang, March 21, 2003
I’m so excited to share these!! Last week I got a package of Boomer baby photos in the mail from Boomer and Blitz’s breeder. Both Blitz and Boomer were born at 1000 Welcomes Farm in Chapel Hill, NC. The pair share the same stud, Chesapeake Powhattan’s Promise, but different dams. Boomer is out of Tidewater Sufer Chique (a Sufer Dude daughter) and Blitz is out of Tidewater Fable.
As I’m sure you can tell I LOVE both Blitz (originally “Lucky”) and Boomer, so I’m a big fan of the foals that their stud “Squat” produces. If you are in the market for a pony be sure to check out their sales list, one of their foals, John Henry, is already competing under saddle…and he’s gorgeous! John Henry would make an awesome mounted games pony as he looks to be pretty unflappable (I saw a video!) just like my two boys. I’d take them all home if I could!
Anyway, enjoy a trip down memory lane – way back in 2003 when Boomerang was first born.
A yearling Blitz looks out for little brother Boomer. How cute!!
