Posts Tagged ‘iron horse farm
Every Gift Has a Story
Thanks to this great video from Etsy, I began thinking about the story behind Painting Pony , and how it came to be that on a small family farm in Pennsylvania there lives a couple of magical painting Chincoteague Ponies and their silly little Dachshund sidekick.
The story behind Painting Pony started years before the first paintbrush was ever put to canvas…..
It was 2002, and after just graduating high school I was about to take on a “project pony” from a friend. His name was Chincoteague Minnow, and all I knew about him was that he was born as a wild pony on Assateague Island and had since been bounced around between many homes for the past 10 years. At one point in his life he had been neglected, and he was now slowly on the road to recovery.
Chincoteague Ponies conjured up images of the famous Misty of Chincoteague, mystical wild ponies, and the magical love that little girls everywhere shared for them. Only the pony that came to live with me seemed to only be able to channel his inner WILD pony, with a fear of almost everything, and an inability to trust me. I spent years working with Minnow in the hopes of developing the kind of relationship with him that I had always dreamed of.
In 2004, on the verge of giving up hope, I discovered a book on how to teach your horse tricks. That winter I taught Minnow his very first trick, to give me a kiss. Things began to change, and Minnow began to look forward to my daily visits to the farm. Our relationship began to evolve, and I decided to take him to college with me that year.
Three years passed, and by the time I was graduating college I was looking at a completely different pony. My special Chincoteague Pony now shared an amazing bond with me, and we were able to communicate with each other in a way I never thought possible. In the winter of 2007 I decided to see if Minnow could learn to paint. I was a fine arts major in college, and thought it might be fun if my pony could make me a picture.
After lugging out an easel and some brushes to the farm, I handed Minnow one with paint and waited to see what he would do. His first stroke was magical and each one there after made me smile bigger and bigger. Sometimes he jabbed at the canvas, sometimes he made long swooping strokes – each one unique in it’s own way. As his masterpieces began to pile higher and higher I was running out of places to put them.
Soon I realized that Minnow had an amazing talented that he needed to share with the World. His paintings were so much more than abstract pieces of art, they had a story to tell. A story about how a little pony could overcome his fears and become something amazing. With each sale of his paintings I began to donate money to charities, in particular the Chincoteague Pony Association – which helped to care for and maintain the wild herds of ponies on Assateague Island – and Minnow’s ancestors. Over the years Painting Pony began to grow into something even bigger than Minnow and I.
With Minnow entering into his retirement years due to arthritis, two more amazing Chincoteague Ponies (Boomerang and Blitz) were added to our small family herd. Minnow took on the role of elder, and took the young boys under his wing. He has since passed on his painting talents to them, and continues to be an inspiration to them on a daily basis. Ammo the Dachshund entered our family in 2008, and quickly struck up an amazing friendship with Minnow. Never before have I seen a pony give a dachshund belly rubs.
Every time I see a child watch the ponies paint I am reminded of how I felt that first day when Minnow made his first brush stroke. A child’s smile is contagious – and there is nothing better than watching the twinkle in the ponies’ eyes when they realize they have made someone happy.
Painting Pony is about happiness and joy, and experiencing the magic of ponies. And if we can make you smile, then that’s all that matters.
Painting Pony Etsy Shop
Holiday Cards
After helping Ammo the Dachshund design his Christmas Cards for this year’s Holiday Season, I realized that I had neglected to help the ponies with their cards. So after a little brainstorming session with the boys, we came up with two fun designs for this year’s cards.
This card set features a selection from three different paintings by Chincoteague Minnow. The inside greeting says: May your Holidays Sparkle & Shine.
This card set features a selection from a Holiday painting by each of the ponies and the inside greeting reads: May all your Holiday wishes come true
In celebration of the wonderful season of giving we will be having a Cyber Monday Sale on everything in the Painting Pony Shop. 10% off all items on Monday, November 29 from 5AM to 12AM on Tuesday. And as a special thank you to all our loyal blog readers use the coupon code CYBERSALE10 at checkout to receive an additional 10% off!
Wishing you a joyous Holiday season!
All my favorite boys!
Treeless Saddle – On My Wish List
I know it’s a little early for Christmas Wish lists, but I have one item on my list this year that I really hope to get! A treeless saddle for Boomerang!
Admittedly I’ve had my current saddle since I was 12 (14 years for anyone counting)….and after a few growth spurts as a teenager…lets just say it’s less than “fitting”. I have no idea how I’ve lasted this long with a saddle that was a couple sizes too small, it’s kinda embarrassing.
I’ve been thinking about getting a new saddle for a while now, but Treeless never crossed my mind until now, mostly because I had never even heard of it! I have a friend from across the county (Oregon) to thank for my spark into the treeless saddles, Kali from Pony Pros, Kali and her husband Les run an amazing riding program for kids that teaches them about training ponies in a natural way (their own method that involves some of clicker training & even Parelli). All of their ponies (even the lesson ponies) are ridden bitless and in treeless saddles or bareback pads. It’s pretty amazing stuff!
So what is Treeless?
Treeless saddles are typically flexible and move ‘with’ the horse rather than creating a barrier of a stiff tree. Horses move more relaxed and free because no tree is constricting the shoulder. No pressure under the cantle gives relief to short and flat backed horses.
These saddles also provide a very close contact with the horse and help horses and riders with back issues. Many riders find relief from pain because the saddles are so soft and cause less jarring to the rider’s back. Beginner riders learn to feel the rhythm and find balance much faster.
Recently, while at the Equine Extravaganza, I got to meet and talk with a treeless saddle vender. I sat in a few different models, which I found to be surprisingly comfortable (I was a little doubtful at first). I am now pretty thoroughly convinced that treeless is the way to go for me and Boomerang. I regularly ride Boomer bareback at home, because I’ve found that he seems much happier to respond to my aids without a saddle on his back – he’s also lighter and just generally seems to enjoy it more. And since my switch in March to a bitless bridle I’ve been becoming a bigger advocate for the “natural way” in my riding.
So with my decision to go treeless, I went on the hunt for the right saddle. There seems to be a lot of versions out there. You of course have the big brands like Barefoot, Freeform, Ansur, Torison (I’m sure there might be more, but these are the ones I know of) but then you also have the I guess what I could call “knock-offs” which you can find on Ebay and other like sites.
I looked at A LOT of saddles online – some I ruled out because the cantel was too high. For Mounted Games it’s preferable to have a low cantel to make vaulting onto the saddle from the ground much easier. I decided then to nix the “knock-off” ones from ebay, because as much as I liked the price tags (new saddle for $99, yes please), I knew that I would be putting this saddle through the works with all the vaulting I’d be doing – so I wanted something that would hold up. And with a $99 price tag, I doubted this was possible.
In the end (thus far) I think I narrowed it down to a Barefoot saddle. I liked the look of the Freeform, but they had a higher price tag (about $1,500) – and I was going for more a used saddle pricing, and the Barefoot seemed to fit that ($500 – $900). What I also liked about the Barefoot is that it has a VPS Panel System, which basically means it has spine clearance for your horse. A lot of people opposed to treeless saddles complain that they make it so the saddle rests right on the horse’s spine (A treed saddle keeps pressure off the spine) – so with the VPS Panel System this issue is eliminated.
The great thing about Treeless Saddles is that they are designed to fit pretty much any horse. So you don’t have to worry about an ill-fitting tree, with pressure points that hurt your horse – and it also gives you the benefit of ordering online without worry about having to send back tons of saddles.
So even though I feel kinda ok about ordering online – I’d much rather be able to try something on my horse to make sure we both like it first.
Well, wouldn’t you know that Pennsylvania doesn’t seem to be in the forefront of treeless saddles, because all my local tack shops seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. Luckily the Barefoot Company seems to have a retalier in nearby Delaware!
So if you’re listening Santa, I’d like to take a trip there to pick out a new Treeless Saddle!!
And if anyone out there has experience going Treeless let me know. I’ll take all the suggestions I can get – and I’m looking forward to being the only mounted games player in the US sporting a bitless bridle and a treeless saddle 🙂 Maybe I’ll start a new trend.
What’s on your Christmas Wish List?
Images from the Barefoot Saddle Company.
November Paintings
On Monday the boys were able to break out their paintbrushes again. All three ponies painted two canvases each – all of which I love! We got kinda onto a “girly kick” with the colors, but after all who loves ponies more than a horse crazy little girl? And to top it off, the boys even broke out a bottle of glitter for the first time! I love how it gives their paintings a magical feel. Do you have a favorite?
Wonderland Adventures by Chincoteague Minnow
Magic Fairy Dust by Chesapeake Lightning
Wish Upon A Star by Chincoteague Minnow
Fairy Tale Princess by Chesapeake Boomerang
Festive Red by Chespeake Boomerang
Fallen by Chesapeake Lightning
Click on the images to see them in the SHOP.
2010 Equine Extravaganza Winner!!
Early morning walk with Minnow & Ammo
On Friday, October 29th I proceeded to pack up the pony (Chincoteague Minnow) and the dog (Ammo the Dachshund) for a big journey to Doswell, Virginia for the 2010 Equine Extravaganza. I had entered the boys into the 2010 Got Talent Contest, and we spent the past month or so perfecting our new skit. We were only able to practice the skit in it’s entirety about 4 times before we left, so my fingers were crossed that everything would go smoothly.
I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous before hand. Although I have been performing with Minnow for several years now – this was the first time the two of them would perform a skit together that required them to wait stationary while I worked with one and then the other. This was also the biggest venue we have ever performed in. Usually it’s local horse shows, camp demonstrations, and the once-a-year trip to the Chincoteague Pony Centre (which Ammo has never been to). Never a venue alongside well-known trainers/performers like Kenny Harlow, Julie Goodnight, Lizzy Traband, etc.
I shouldn’t have been nervous though, because the boys knew what they were doing. Here’s a video of their performance, which had the crowd giggling in their seats the whole time!
Mark & Dusty opened the competition for us, and then we were followed by our fellow compeditiors.
Rachael & Casper
and then
Taylor & Vesper
Then while the judges made their decisions Lizzy Traband closed out the competition
Each one of my competitors had something different for the crowd, and I loved how we had our own unique style. But in the end, my bubbly Dachshund – and the Chincoteague Pony that was born to perform took the winning title!
After the performance we got to enjoy the expo for the weekend. I got to meet and talk with animal trainer (for the movies), Doug Sloan, whom I will get a personal training session with in the near future as part of my winning prize. He was really nice to talk to, and we even talked about clicker training – and how he had clicker trainer, Karen Pryor, out to his farm to help him tap into training with this method. He told me about his new project horse whom he’s started with clicker training.
Amazing Grace
We also talked about Gracie, the trick mule who won the 2008 Talent Contest at the Equine Extravaganza. Gracie went on to stardom afterward, with the help of Doug Sloan, and starred in the Movie Get Low with Robert Duvall. She now travels with her trainer, Steve Foster, performing at venues and performing for television (she just finished filming a part in the show Larry the Cable Guy, which will air next year).
Fortunately I was able to catch Gracie’s Act at the Expo as well.
Amazing Grace the trick mule
I enjoyed watching Gracie perform, you can tell her and Steve have a special bond. Although don’t tell Gracie, I still think Minnow is the better painter! 🙂 I was excited to see that Steve trains Gracie with food rewards. I don’t think he uses “clicker training” per say, but I did notice him using a marker word of “Good Girl Gracie” occasionally. Later Steve filled in for Doug Sloan in a clinic (Doug missed most of the expo over the weekend due to being sick) on mule training (he admittedly told us he had never done a clinic before) – where he talked about training with kindness and food rewards. You could tell her truly loved his mule – although she may have needed a little refresher course on treat mugging – but Steve did say she had been performing all week and was a bit cranky. So we should give her the benefit of the doubt, after all she is a movie star!
a sleepy Ammo on the way home to Pennsylvania
We had a great weekend down in Doswell, Virginia – and I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone a bit to experience it. I think both Minnow (who wanted to keep performing all weekend long) and Ammo (who never tired of saying hello to fans) really had a fun time. The best part was that I got to enjoy a beautiful weekend with my favorite Dachshund & Chincoteague Pony. Can’t wait for our next performance!
Check out Ammo the Dachshund’s recap of the performance here.
