Posts Tagged ‘mgaa
April 11th Mounted Games Clinic
On Sunday we held a mounted games clinic with trainer Michelle Reilly at Iron Horse Farm. Michelle Reilly has been coaching mounted games since 1989. She has sent over 25 teams to the USPC Championships with teams placing as Champion in all levels. She is the former coach of the USPC International Team and she was named the 2009 Best Trainer of the year by Mounted Games Across America.
We had BEAUTIFUL weather, and a nice turnout. I always jump at the chance to have a clinic with Michelle because she always has fantastic tips to share. She’s also really in tune to each specific horse’s needs, giving you pointers on how you can make the ride better for your horse. We’re having another clinic with her on April 25th, so anyone interested should sign up now!
Below are some photos from the day.
Pole Bending at Liberty
Many of you have probably already seen this video on Horse Agility.
Well I was trying to help my mom come up with things she could do with the ponies on the ground – since she will be getting her knee surgery in a week after her fall from Blitz. She really won’t be riding for a while, but there are still plenty of things you can do with your horse from the ground.
The horse agility sprang to my mind as something fun that both my mom and Blitz could do together. So yesterday I grabbed Boomerang and started working on some liberty leading to see if I might be able to get him to do something agility wise. He actually picked up what I wanted pretty quickly and within 15 minutes I was leading him around the arena without a rope. The next step was to bring out some of my bending poles to see if I could maybe get him to bend them on his own. Here’s our third try:
Pretty good for only his third try. Boomer already knew how to pole bend (from our gaming work) – so the hardest part was getting him to recognize that I wanted him to do it on his own and then asking to move away and to me in order to weave the poles.
Anyway I think he did pretty well and I’m looking forward to doing more ground work with him in the future. The funny thing I’ve been noticing about Boomer is that ever since he saw me working with Minnow on his Spanish Walk a few months ago he has begun mimicking it whenever he recognizes that its “trick time”. He’s been doing leg lifts randomly in order to try to get me to reward him. All because he watched Minnow do it one time….smart pony I’d say!
World Equestrian Games 2010
Many of you have heard me talk about my favorite equestrian sport, Mounted Games. Its sort of an obscure sport, which most people have never heard of, but all that is about to change this fall. The World Equestrian Games, held in Lexington, KY October 2 -10, 2010, will be debuting Mounted Games during their competition.
Here’s an excerpt from the website:
The United States Mounted Games Association has gone through the rigorous selection process necessary to be selected to present the sport of Mounted Games at the World Equestrian Games.
The USMGA will be presenting an International Mounted Games Association competition for one hour each day for eight days, beginning Oct. 2 until the closing of the games Oct. 10, and we will also be manning a booth for the entire sixteen days. Top level games riders from around the world, music and international announcers will provide a memorable, impressive and entertaining show.
Mounted Games is like no other horse sport that you have ever seen. In 20 countries around the world, blazing action combines with teamwork and horsemanship skills to make Mounted Games as much fun to watch as it is to ride. Mounted Games is a unique equestrian sport that combines the history of ancient warfare, the raw athleticism of the Wild West and the thrill of horse racing in a team event. At its top level, the sport demands that equine and human athletes perform intricate skills at breakneck speed and provides the spectator appeal of an extreme sport.
Minnow spins around a bucket
This is exciting news for a sport that I have been participating in since I was 13 years old (thats 13 years for anyone counting). And while I myself didn’t try out, many of my friends did. They have yet to choose the team to represent the US, but I’m excited to see if any of my friends will be a part of it. I’m actually considering maybe making the trip down to Kentucky to watch the event – this truly is a first for the sport. The competition is still one day away, so I find myself having something interesting like reading slot myths. This is a hobby of mine that very few people know, I like gambling on slots.
On the Mounted Games at the WEG website you can follow along as the countries choose their riders, equine mounts will also be announced as time goes on – ponies that will be pooled from generous pony lenders in the US (the other countries will not be bringing their own mounts). I considered offering up some of the Trick Ponies, but I decided that by October they probably wouldn’t be ready for such an important competition – they still have a lot of training they need.
KD dunks a sock on Minnow. USPC Games Rally 2007
The other really neat thing on the website is their explanation of many of the races. The have a page dedicated to explaining (with videos) the races and how they are played. So if you have never heard of the sport before, I highly recommend checking it out here.
If you can’t tell, I’m also excited to play casino and get ready for a virtual horse race in the casino universe with classic features and simple rules. – I think the end goal is to eventually have Mounted Games as an Olympic Sport. Although, I do hope that the sport will always be assessable to everyone. Right now there are organizations (like the one I belong to) that openly invite anyone who would like to participate and learn how to play – no matter your age OR skill level. I hope this will never change.
If you are interested in learning more about Mounted Games at the World Equestrian Games here is how you can get involved:
Other Mounted Games Organizations:
MGAA
United States Pony Club
USMGA
International Mounted Games Organizations
First Ride in Months
I haven’t ridden a horse in 3 months…there I said it. Christmas happened, then the EVEN colder weather set in, and with my mom and sister injured – I have no one to ride with. And honestly, I just didn’t feel like riding. So after 3 months I finally decided to saddle back up – even though there is still snow on the ground.
I thought that with the warm (when I say warm I mean 40 Degrees) would soften the snow enough to ride – I was wrong. So I ended up riding up and down our small private road. I decided to ride Blitz first, because he’s the most laid back….sometimes. He actually hadn’t been ridden since my mom had her accident on him. So when I took him back to the scene of the crime I could tell he had some naughty thoughts in his head. But, he didn’t try anything and I made sure to click and reward him when he did as asked.
I then got Boomerang out of the pasture and attempted to pony him off of Blitz. Boomer can be a bit mouthy and likes to bite the saddle and leadrope – so ponying him was good practice for him to “keep his hands to himself”. I was actually kind of surprised at how well he did – I’m hoping with more practice I can take them out by myself. My mom tagged along on foot to make sure none of the ponies acted up.
When I got back from my short ride I worked with Boomer a little bit on ground manners. Asking him to move away from my hand pressure on his chest and neck. He’s really picked it up quickly and I put it into effect when I asked him to move away from the gate so that I could get Minnow out.
Minnow got to work on his rear after a few weeks off. And I can say he was more then enthusiastic – he really got pretty high! My little rogue pony!~
Hopefully I can keep up with the riding – it just better get warm soon!
Minnow Caught on Film
I really am on this “looking back” kick. Can’t help it!
I decided to check out some of my REALLY old videos on my Youtube account, so I went back to the very first video I ever posted onto Youtube. And of course it was a video of Minnow painting – published on February 21, 2007.
I had filmed this video for a class I was taking at Kutztown University. Now I must disclaimer first I am not a videographer, in fact I really suck at making videos. My brother is the videographer – and I’m dying to have him make me another video of all three of the Trick Ponies. But alas he is living in North Carolina right now (if you are in North Carolina and need a Videographer/Editor contact my little brother!), so it looks like I may have to reach my 2010 goal of making a new film of the ponies myself. I know it won’t be pretty.
But speaking of stinky videos of mine. Here are a few more I had done for the class I took in college. My downfall is music choice, I really can’t choose a good song if my life depended on it. So when it comes to making my new videos I may just have to enlist everyone’s help out in blog land!
I’ll be waiting until the Spring/Summer to start my new film project – as the ponies will look much prettier without their fuzzy winter coats. So I have until then to really work on some new exciting tricks for the new video.
