Posts Tagged ‘island
Super Hero Bootcamp – Minnow gets ready for Pony Penning 2012
July is a busy busy month for us, and for the past several weeks we’ve been getting ready for Pony Penning 2012!
For the past 4 years Minnow has learned a new performance to perform at the Chincoteague Pony Centre during their evening shows. Learning a new performance every year is quite difficult – not only does Minnow have to learn new tricks, but he also has to learn the order in which they are performed – and retain it!
But Minnow is my super pony and every year he amazes me at how quickly he’s able to learn new tricks and performances.
This year Minnow is going to Super Hero Boot Camp, he’s been training really hard and we can’t wait to debut his new skit at the Chincoteague Pony Centre.
If you want to see our new performance you’ll have to come visit us during Pony Penning, but for those of you that just aren’t able to make it this year – have no fear! We’re currently filming at the farm with Depthink Productions for two brand-new DVDs that will also feature Minnow’s new skit. We hope to have it available for purchase sometime next month.
You can also check out our current DVD HERE, which features all of the ponies painting and doing tricks as well as one of Minnow’s skits and some tricks by Ammo the Dachshund.
We can hardly wait to make the trek to Chincoteague Island once again!
Minnow’s favorite furry sidekick Ammo the Dachshund won’t be making the trip with us this time, but we couldn’t leave him out during our Super Hero Photoshoot.
Check out more fun photos of Super Dog Ammo and Super Pony Minnow on Ammo’s Blog.
A Piece of the Island
These two tomato sauce jars filled with sand might not look like much to you, but to me they hold much significance. See back when I visited Assateague Island at the end of October (2011) with all three of my Chincoteague Ponies – I took a little piece of the island with me. I collected these jars of sand from the beach – as a way to always keep a little part of the island with me.
My little jars of sand weren’t much to look at these past few months, but a little visit to the antique shop, and $5 later they had a pretty (beach worthy) glass jar to call home.
Now my Assateague sand sits happily on my shelf at home with my jars of sand from Belize and Nicaragua and everytime I look at it I’m reminded of the special trip I took with all three of my boys!
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!
April 11th Paintings!
On April 11th the ponies got to work on some new paintings. I regret it taking me this long to get them up on the blog!
It turned out to be another gorgeous day – the perfect kind of day for painting. This time I made sure to have time for all three of the boys to paint.
Minnow painted several new mini paintings to be sold in the shop as well as two new canvases.
"Purple Haze" by Chincoteague Minnow
I can picture the purple haze of an evening sunset washing over Assateague Island, where Minnow was born 18 years ago. This painting has a peaceful calmness about it, and I bet Minnow was remembering his days on the island when he painted this.
Purchase this painting in the shop.
"Magical Shooting Stars" by Chincoteague Minnow
The burst of gold streaks across the night sky as a shooting star passes overhead. It lights up the darkness as Minnow and his Chincoteague Pony brothers stand grazing in the pasture. The ponies close their eyes and make a wish on this magic shooting star, a wish for more carrots and a mountain of grass. Because after all, isn’t that what any pony would wish for?
Purchase this painting in the shop.
Next up to paint was Boomerang. I really regret not having the video camera set up for his painting session because he had me laughing the entire time. See, the most recent trick that I’ve taught Boomer was to smile. Sometimes when the ponies learn new tricks they have it on the brain, meaning they begin to offer it a lot because they are sure that’s what I want them to do.
So when I handed Boomer his paintbrush dripping with paint, he began to try and paint WHILE smiling. Only smiling and holding a paintbrush in your mouth is easier said than done. Needless to say his painting technique was a little less than organized, but I couldn’t help but laugh at his silly antics.
So since Boomer was having a little difficulty containing his excitement at the thought of painting, I decided to let his big brother Blitz finish up the canvas he had started. Sort of a collaborative effort. I also wanted to make sure all the boys had time to paint before it started to get too dark.
It always amazes me when the boys paint – how differently each of them approaches it. Blitz learned to paint by watching Minnow out his stall door. Minnow truly was his teacher, I was and am merely the “tool” they use to get their paint. But even though Minnow has taught Blitz to paint, their styles are so drastically different.
I consider Minnow to be more of a “Jackson Pollock” style painter. In every sense he’s an action painter. Paint flies all over, one minute he’s stroking the brush up and down and the next he’s swirling it around on the canvas. You never know what to expect when Minnow puts his brush to canvas.
Now Blitz, he’s what I would call an OCD painter. He picks up the brush, eyes half closed, and meticulously strokes the brush in a sweeping up and down motion – on one section of the canvas only. Try to take the brush from him mid-stroke and he won’t have it. He’s not ready for more paint until he’s satisfied with the number of strokes he’s made. His whole process is very methodical, almost like he’s painting a fence.
Blitz added his own “fence painting style” strokes to the canvas Boomerang started and they produced this really neat collaborative painting…..
"Ocean Blue" by Chesapeake Boomerang & Chesapeake Lightning
Boomer and Blitz may not have grown up on Assateague Island like their ancestors, but that doesn’t stop them from dreaming of the deep blue ocean. It floats around in their thoughts, a longing to dip their hooves into the salty waves as they crash along the beach. Perhaps someday they will get to experience the ocean, but until then all they can do is paint what is in their dreams.
Purchase this painting in the shop.
And of course, Ammo the Dachshund was there to clean up the mess after a beautiful day of painting.
