Posts Tagged ‘horse

Sticker Shock

Today I got a surprise package in the mail from Picthall and Gunzi, a UK based children’s book publishing company. Inside were two children’s sticker books that featured ponies. It took me a few minutes to realize why I had been sent these, but then I remembered!

Inside were two stickers that features my sister’s morgan cross mare, Jet. The stickers were created from a photograph I had taken of her galloping in an open field a couple of years ago.

It may be a small publication – but it’s still something to smile about….finally putting my photography degree to some use! As of late my photography has taken more of a back burner to running my custom framing shop and managing the art careers of a couple of painting ponies. Someday I’ll get back into photographing more, I’m toiling with the idea of a few picture books…so we shall see!

You can purchase these sticker books here and here!

Tags : artist, assateague, Chincoteague, chincoteague minnow, chincoteague pony, horse, iron horse farm, jet, Kyley DiLuigi, misty of chincoteague, photo, photography, pony, published, sticker book

Pony Penning 2010 – Day 5

Friday, July 30th….my very last day on Chincoteague Island….so sad. I look forward to this trip every year (this being my third year attending) – so it’s always sad to see it come to an end. Although coming home just means that I get to start planning for Pony Penning 2011! Woohoo!

Anyway, Friday morning I was headed over to take care of Minnow again – usually by Friday I can tell he’s about ready to go home. Probably missing his turnout buddies, and his juicy pasture filled with grass (even if he only gets to experience it through a muzzle) – but this year he didn’t seem as anxious, he was a lot more content with being on the island for day #5.

Needless to say, as sad as I was to be heading home – I was looking forward to seeing the Dachshund (oh and my husband). After helping Minnow to start his day I headed back to the Assateague Inn, where we stayed for the week, to check out. After checking out of the hotel my mom and I headed out on a little shopping excursion. The first stop on my list – Pony Tails – for some much needed saltwater taffy. I have a weakness for saltwater taffy…especially when it’s freshly made! After that we went down to mainstreet in search of a treat for the Dachshund. I remembered there was a “dog” shop in town last year, but this year it was nowhere to be found. After a pretty thorough search for doggie treasures I didn’t come up with much, and knowing that my little sausage boy would just be thrilled to see me no matter what I had – I gave up on my quest.

Then after lunch it was back to the Pony Centre to get packed up for our trip home. After I finished packing the trailer Minnow had a little impromptu painting session in the parking lot behind the Pony Centre. I set up his easel in a shady little spot under a tree, and Minnow set out painting a custom work of art for one of our friends at the Pony Centre. Minnow gathered a small crowd of our friends as he whisked brushes all over the the pretty purple canvas. One of the little girls from the Pony Centre bought one of Minnow’s mini paintings with all of her Birthday money from the day before – it was so cute I nearly died as she handed me a stack of one dollar bills. I dug around in the packed car and handed her one of the new dvd’s of Minnow and his pony friends as a little extra Birthday Gift from Minnow – for her to share with her brother and sisters too.

Oh and I nearly forgot to mention that Minnow appeared in Thursday’s issue of the Chincoteague Beacon. It was a nice little article about his appearance at the Pony Centre – which you can read in it’s entirety here. (Download PDF)

Finally it was time for Minnow’s last show at the Pony Centre this year – and he painted one of my favorites of the whole trip – “Patriotic Pony”. In between his painting and trick performances I had my mom snap a few photos of me, Minnow, and the famous misty family pony – Misty’s Black Mist. Black Mist was quite funny and kept “smiling” at Minnow with this weird toothy grin…I think she had a crush on him. Black Mist wore her Breyer blanket – which brought me back to my youth of collecting endless amounts of Breyer models….most of which I still have. If Minnow were ever to become a Breyer Model, I think my life might just be complete! It’s probably because Breyers are such a nostalgia for me – you have no idea how many hours I spent as a kid playing with them – and to think that out in the World there are tons of little girls and boys playing with a model that looks like MY pony …would just be the icing on the cake for me. Oh and lets not forget that Minnow would need his little sidekicks as models too – Blitz, Boomer, and Ammo the Dachshund (complete with stunt helmet and cape)!! haha. Maybe someday it will happen….you never know….and if you want to write like a bazillion letters to Breyer telling them that Chincoteague Minnow should be their next model – I definitely wouldn’t complain. 🙂

After the show we said our goodbyes to our Pony Centre friends. I LOVE everyone that works at the Pony Centre, they are so nice and friendly – they really make it inviting, and every single one of them has a love for the ponies. I miss all our PC friends when we leave – but know that we will all reconnect again…if not only through facebook.

Thus began my 250mile drive home – partially in the dark – and when we pulled up to the entrance of Iron Horse Farm around 10pm, I was very happy to be “home”. Boomer and Blitz came bounding to the fence to greet us, and I had missed their curious little faces. I whisked Minnow off the trailer and plopped him out into the pasture with the boys. Minnow wandered off to scarf as much grass as he could through the tiny hole in his muzzle – we know where his priorities lie. Boomer and Blitz waited patiently at the gate for some much needed attention. They wanted their itchy spots scratched and their noses rubbed, and they WANTED to do some tricks! I love when I go away and when I come back all my ponies just want to be in my company – it’s the greatest feeling.

But our time was short-lived as I was pretty tired and ready to head home to see the little Dachshund. When I pulled up to the house I could see his little sausage body jumping around in the sunroom. I burst through the door throwing my bags to the floor as Ammo jumped up to lick my face. He squealed and wiggled – oh boy did he wiggle! Instantly I noticed his tiny little sausage frame wasn’t so tiny, seems he had put on a little extra weight since he had become accustomed to sleeping 11 hours a day while I was gone. (I was sure to schedule a much needed exercise trip to the dog park to swim the very next day!)

Sigh. What a wonderful end to Pony Penning Week.

There is nothing like coming home after a long trip and being greeted by the animals that love you. I hope they know how much I love them too.

Tags : 2010, assateague, chesapeake boomerang, chesapeake lightning, Chincoteague, chincoteague island, chincoteague minnow, chincoteague pony, chincoteague pony center, dachshund, dog, farm, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, misty of chincoteague, misty's black mist, painting, painting horse, painting pony, pony, pony penning, trick, trick horse, trick pony

Pony Penning 2010 – Day 4

Thursday, July 29th was the day of the Chincoteague Pony Auction. I was up pretty early and headed over to the carnival grounds to watch the action. If you plan to buy a foal (or sit through the entire auction) its a good idea to bring a lawn chair over to the fairgrounds several days in advance. People set them up and tie them together with notes stating they are taken/etc. I’ve never done this before – but this year I thought ahead and brought a lawn chair with me to the auction. Luckily I was able to squeeze it in to an open spot so that I would have somewhere to sit.

The auction started with a drill team demonstration by my friends over at the Pony Centre who are members of the Chincoteague Pony Drill Team. The Chincoteague Pony Drill Team is the only drill team in the world that consists ENTIRELY of Chincoteague Ponies. Not only does that make them pretty special, but their drills are pretty unique and very well choreographed too. The drill team has been invited to some very special events over the years, in fact this year they were even invited to perform at the World Equestrian Games, unfortunately the cost to attend was too great and they will not be able to participate.

Performing a drill at the carnival grounds is not an easy task. The “arena” (if you can call it that) is about the size of a roundpen, and it’s parameters are encompassed by masses of people, cameras, and noise. The entrance into the arena is a narrow chute, just wide enough for one pony to fit through, if that “arena” doesn’t spell claustrophobic, I don’t know what would. Any average horse probably wouldn’t dare enter that arena, or at least they wouldn’t enter without a fight. But the Chincoteague ponies take it in stride, no spooking, no crazy antics, in fact they perform in that arena just like they would at home.

After the drill team performance the auction began. There is no order in which the ponies come out, it’s simply whichever ones the saltwater cowboys can grab. This is a major drawback if you plan to bid on a foal. For example, say beforehand you have chosen which foal you really want to buy – you’ve set a budget of say $1,500, and can’t spend more than that. The foal you want just so happens to be the very last one they pull out of the pen to auction off, the bidding soars to $2,000 and you have passed your budget. You loose the auction and since it was the last foal you have nothing else to bid on – looks like you won’t be bringing home a foal this year.

This is what happened to a woman this year. She had been a long time visitor to the island for pony penning with her mother. Last year her mom passed away from a stroke – and it had always been their dream to buy a foal. So this year she returned to the island alone with the plan to purchase a foal in memory of her mother. The foal she chose was one of the very last ones to be auctioned off, and when bidding rose just $200 more than she could afford – she lost the pony of her dreams – with nothing left to bid on. Sadly the woman came away without a foal in memory of her mother.

If you plan to bid it’s also good to know that the first couple of foals out usually go for very cheap. People are still working up the nerve to actually buy a foal, and if you are lucky enough to have your favorite appear in the beginning – you might be able to get him for a steal. The first couple of ones sold for $400 – $500, a record low for foals at the auction.

Then about the third foal out, my favorite appeared, a black and white colt with three perfect shaped white hearts on his body. The bidding started to go fast as I realized the woman behind me was bidding on a foal. At $4,200 the foal was sold to the woman sitting behind me. When she returned to her seat after paying for her purchase she couldn’t help but share her story with everyone. Apparently a few days before the auction she had met a woman at the pens over on Assateague. This woman worked for some sort of therapy place (I’m not sure if it was for the elderly or what), but she had come to the island looking for a horse to be a therapy animal for her facility. On Assateague she spotted the little colt with the heart markings and instantly felt a connection. She felt destined to own this foal, and believed his purpose was to help others. Sadly there was a catch – she could not attend Thursday’s auction for some reason – but as luck would have it she met a woman (a stranger) who would be attending. She arranged to have this woman bid on the foal at the auction for her. She set a budget of $4,200 and handed the stranger her credit card with instructions to try to purchase the foal for her. They both agreed that likely the bidding for this special colt would get too high – but the woman insisted that even if she lost the foal, she wanted someone to share her story with whomever bought him. Well that never happened, because the kind stranger won the foal for her at the max of her budget and the foal would soon be on its way to be a therapy animal for others. Many would say this is the magic of the island ponies at work.

I watched every foal come through the auction – and photographed all of them as well. You can see all my photos over at www.greenhorsestudios.com

After the auction I took a trip out to Kendy Allen’s (owner of the largest herd of Misty Family Ponies) Chincoteague Pony farm off the island on the main land. I met her gorgeous stallion, Tougher than Leather, as well as a few other Chincoteague Pony Mares. Misty family pony, Twister, was due to foal anyday – and with her ginormous size many wondered if she was carrying twins! (we now know it was just one LARGE palomino filly – the spitting image of her mom). I also met Star and her new foal that had been born just a few days before. After Star’s foal was born momma became anxious about being separated from the herd of horses (which included some big Thoroughbreds and a few quarter horses) – Star broke out of her enclosure (with newborn foal in tow) to join her herd. After many attempts to keep her and her foal separated, it was evident the mare would just not be happy until she was out with her gang. So with newborn foal at her side, she happily was coexisting with her herd. Star’s foal was super cute – its so hard to be around so many cute foals during pony penning week. It’s even harder not to bring one home with you.

After a busy afternoon I headed back to the Pony Centre to perform with Minnow. I always find that the Thursday night crowd at the Pony Centre is the VERY best crowd. Maybe they are still full of excitement after bidding on foals all day – I’m not sure – but whichever the case the crowd is usually loud and very excited to see everything that is “Chincoteague Pony”. When the crowd is happy, Minnow is happy – he paints crazier strokes, ad lib’s more in his tricks, and just has a lot more fun. At the 8pm show I decided to ride in the Extreme Pony Race with Minnow. It’s been a year since I’ve saddled him …. the last time being at the Pony Centre in 2009. A little light exercise for Minnow is great, even with his arthritis – but I tend not to like to hop on his back during a show. Not because it’s bad for him (I did give him bute all week – aka horse aspirin) but more so because I wonder if people think I’m being cruel when they see him take a few limpy steps. The fact remains though, that the less exercise Minnow gets, the fatter he gets. And the fatter he gets, the more weight and strain is put on his ankle with the ringbone. But I knew Minnow was feeling good this night, and I knew a light bit of trotting would be fine for him.

So after a year of not being saddled, Minnow entered the area face to face with a small jump. He hesitated (probably thinking “what the heck I thought I was retired”) then popped over the X. We had a slight trouble backing – never his strong suit, then proceeded to complete the rest of the tasks. Minnow stayed at a comfortable trot – which was fine – I think he didn’t feel well enough to canter. And although we didn’t break any records in the race, I was happy to think he got to work his muscles a little.

Then it was off to bed for my little Minnow – as he too had had a busy day meeting fans and being as cute as ever. I enjoy the closeness time I get to spend with Minnow when we are down there. Back home at the farm I have to share my time between all the ponies. I struggle between keeping Boomerang fit and ready to compete and working on tricks with Minnow so he doesn’t get bored in “retirement”. I know Minnow is sad when I pull Boomerang out of the pasture to go for a ride and he’s left standing there looking longingly at me for attention. A week down in Chincoteague scratching his itchy spots, giving him lots of baths and treats – is just oh so wonderful, and I’m sure he looks forward to it every year just as much as I do.

If you’d like to see all the photos from the auction you can check them out here: www.greenhorsestudios.com

Check back tomorrow for a recap of my last day at Pony Penning 2010!

Tags : 2010, assateague, Chincoteague, chincoteague minnow, chincoteague pony, chincoteague pony center, farm, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, misty of chincoteague, painting, painting horse, painting pony, pony, pony penning, trick, trick horse, trick pony

Pony Penning 2010 – Day 3

Wednesday, July 28th was the day of the 85th Annual Chincoteague Pony Swim! This was the third year I’ve seen the swim, and let me tell you it is still amazing each time I see it.

I started the day by heading over to the Pony Centre to feed Minnow, then my mom and I with a friend from the pony centre headed over to the Pony Shuttle stop by our hotel. The Pony Shuttle runs people to Memorial Park – where they encourage people to watch the swim from. But…you can’t see anything from memorial park – except dots. So we took the bus to memorial park and then proceeded to walk to Pony Swim Lane. Pony Swim Lane is where the ponies come ashore after the swim. If you want a really good spot you have to wake up at the crack of dawn to claim your spot. I love watching the swim, but unless I was buying a foal, I didn’t really feel the need to wake up quite that early (although I did do it the first year).

This year I was lucky and the swim seemed much less crowded. I staked out a spot under the foot bridge, and surprisingly didn’t have to trek through too much swamp mud to get there. I met a woman there who had been watching the swim every year for the past 24 years. In the back of my mind I wondered if that might be me someday.

I ended up standing around for nearly 3 hours waiting for the ponies to swim. I think the tide was really high and the saltwater cowboys were waiting for the water to recede. The ponies ended up making the swim with the water at its highest it had been in many years. They all made it safely ashore, and I spent an hour watching them mill around. Foals finding their mothers, Stallions finding their mares, and even stallions trying to steal other mares.

I watched as a pair of ponies plowed into one of the cameras set up by a media crew and couldn’t help but laugh. They stand in amongst the wild ponies taking pictures and filming the action, oblivious to the fact that they are STANDING IN A HERD OF WILD PONIES. I think sometimes that people forget that even though they seem very domesticated at times, the ponies live on an island – void from corrals and “normal” human contact. Their instincts to to protect their young and their herd are much stronger than a domesticated horse, and if you are standing in the way of something they want, you better make sure you get out of their way.

The swim took up most of my day as this years swim was pretty late – and not to mention the fact that then we had to walk several miles back to the Pony Centre. My feet still hurt thinking about it.

We arrived in time to grab some lunch before Minnow’s first show. Minnow painted “Slack Tide Swimmers” – what I thought was a perfect tribute to the day’s pony swim. Minnow always does his best work while on the island, maybe its the salt air, maybe he feels “home” – either way I really LOVE the paintings he creates down there. At the 8pm show he painted “Carnival Ponies” – which prompted me to head to the carnival grounds after the show.

My favorite part about the carnival grounds – not the ponies, not the rides, not even bingo – no its the soda! Something about that little plastic cup filled to the brim with pepsi and crushed ice is oh so refreshing after an exhausting day. That and a plate full of funnel cake just hit the spot. I wandered around the grounds, and ultimately ended up at the Chincoteague Pony Association Booth. Minnow donates a percentage of his sales to the CPA – to help feed and care for the wild ponies of Assateague Island. At the booth I learned that the 2009 foals from the swim never got registered with the CPA. Well I guess technically the people that got foals received a certificate that said their pony came from the ’09 swim – but they didn’t allow the purchaser to name register their foal, or have documentation of their foal’s lineage. I also found out that this would be the same for the ’10 foals.

I’m not sure why the change – but I do hope they go back to the way it used to be – it seems much more official that way. I think the fact that they didn’t really “register” the foals this year – significantly hurt the foal prices too. Last years purchasers I believe were unaware of the change, but this year everyone knew what the plan was.

Regardless of any changes in the protocol this year, I do believe that the swim was still just as spectacular as ever!

If you’d like to see all the photos from the swim you can check them out here: www.greenhorsestudios.com

Check back tomorrow for a recap of the 2010 Pony Auction – and find out if I ever raised my hand to bid on a foal!

Tags : 2010, assateague, Chincoteague, chincoteague minnow, chincoteague pony, chincoteague pony center, dachshund, dog, farm, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, misty of chincoteague, natural horsemanship, painting, painting horse, painting pony, pony, pony penning, trick, trick horse, trick pony

Pony Penning 2010 – Day 1

Well I’m finally back and slowly recovering from my week spent on Chincoteague Island in Virgina for the 85th Annual Pony Penning. Pretty much my entire year builds up to this event as I prepare Chincoteague Minnow with new tricks and skills that he can showcase for the week that he’s down there. After that last week in July, I sort of collapse, and then slowly recover again as I brainstorm new tricks and ideas for things to work with the ponies on.

So since last year I recapped the entire week on the blog, I thought I’d do the same this year – so that even if you didn’t make it to Pony Penning this year, you can relive the excitement with me!

On Monday, July 26th – I headed out to the farm early to feed horses and finish packing up Minnow and his ever accumulating belongings (he has a bigger suitcase than I do). This year I was dreading leaving the Dachshund at home, as I’ve become even more accustomed to having him with me constantly. I was also worried he’d think I abandoned him since instead of accompanying me EVERYWHERE for the next week, he would instead have to spend about 11 hours home alone each day – as my husband works (with a long commute). Sadly the island isn’t a very “dog friendly” place. It’s kind of ironic since you’ll see ponies walking the street, making appearances at libraries and shops, and strutting the sidewalks – yet spotting a dog is few and far between, not to mention most of the hotels frown on them, they aren’t allowed in the fireman’s carnival grounds, and trying to find a shop that sold dog cookies or items was next to impossible. So as we pulled out of the farm I reluctantly headed to drop Ammo back at my house as he would have to spend the rest of the day alone. (I’ll elaborate later about how Ammo took to being a “homebody”).

The drive down to the eastern shore took us about 5 hours. Minnow is an excellent traveler, and 5 hours is next to nothing for him when he’s made past trips to Kentucky topping out at about 13 plus hours.

We arrived at the Chincoteague Pony Centre about an hour before Minnow was due to perform in his first show – note to self….leave much earlier next time!! We unloaded Minnow and my mom walked him around while I frantically unloaded all of his trick equipment and painting supplies. By the time 4pm rolled around I was a little frazzled – and I think Minnow knew it.

Minnow opened the show by painting a wonderful painting which I dubbed “Dance in the Mist”. I think he was a little out of sorts as well – because although he painted wonderfully I could tell he was a little distracted, and his strokes were a little less focused.

Later as we waited outside for his next cue to perform his tricks I could feel his bundle of energy getting ready to explode. I knew all he wanted to do was leap into the air and let it all out, who can blame him after spending 5 hours on a horse trailer – not to mention I had given him some bute (sort of like asprin for horses) to help with the arthritis in his ankle – so he was feeling pretty good.

Minnow entered the arena to perform his tricks and I had a little trouble focusing him again. He performed everything I asked, but had some slight hesitations as I could tell he was thinking about taking a lap around the arena bucking. But Minnow was a trooper, and held it all in. That just goes to show you that my training with him from the beginning with working on controlling adrenaline really paid off.

After the 8pm show I knew Minnow was struggling to control his excitement. As I turned him out in his paddock for the night I watched as he took two huge leaps into the air. He was saying FINALLY I can let it all out! A few circles around the paddock to meet his new Chincoteague Pony neighbors and he was quite happy to dive into his hay.

I went back to the hotel and crashed for the night – it had been a LONG day, and I knew we would be doing it all over again tomorrow!

Look for the continuation to our journey to Chincoteague Island tomorrow!

Tags : 2010, ammo, art, artist, assateague, Chincoteague, chincoteague minnow, chincoteague pony, chincoteague pony center, clicker training, dachshund, dog, farm, horse, iron horse farm, Kyley DiLuigi, misty of chincoteague, natural horsemanship, painting, painting horse, painting pony, pony, pony penning, training, trick, trick horse, trick pony

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