Posts Tagged ‘natural horsemanship
Night watchman
The farm’s a little safer at night with Super Pony Minnow on duty.
Bombproof Pony
On Sunday we held a little event at Iron Horse Farm. It was mostly a mounted games competition but we also set up a little obstacle course for anyone who wanted to give it a try. Most of the games ponies were pretty great about running through the course – hardly bulking at any of the obstacles.
That’s one of the great things about mounted games. It introduces the kids & ponies to a wide array of strange objects, ultimately creating a pretty bombproof pony.
After watching all of the kids have fun through the course I decided to pull Boomerang out and give it a whirl….bareback and bitless. Boomer is an exceptional pony who is VERY brave. I have yet to find ANYTHING that makes him nervous or spooky. On the rare occasion he may take an extra second to look at something, but without fail he will always crosses it, touches it, or picks it up in his mouth. Here’s a video of Boomer and I doing the course for the first time. It should be noted that he hasn’t seen ANY of these objects before in their current setup, nor has he gone through the course. Also we typically set up objects in our arena, so it’s in a different setting than he’s used to.
P.S. I had the fastest time of the day! woohoo!
And here’s a video of Boomer cantering over the tarp. He’s such a cool pony.
Check out Ammo the Dachshund’s posts on the day’s events. Part 1 & Part 2
Pony Penning 2010 – Day 3
to see all of the 2010 Pony Swim photos visit www.greenhorsestudios.com
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.
"Slack Tide Swimmers" by Chincoteague Minnow
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.
"carnival ponies" by Chincoteague Minnow
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!
Pony Penning 2010 – Day 1
Ammo says goodbye to Minnow at the Farm
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”).
Minnow's got the trailer packed with all his trick supplies
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.
Minnow between performances at the Pony Centre with my mom
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.
"Dance in the Mist" by Chincoteague Minnow
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!
"Assateague Riptide" by Chincoteague Minnow
Look for the continuation to our journey to Chincoteague Island tomorrow!
Painting Pony DVD release!
For the past month my family has been working on a little project. My younger brother, Taylor, is a talented filmmaker and editor, and my younger sister, Laurel, has a special talent for photography. Armed with a fleet of talented trick ponies, and a Dachshund, we decided to make a new Painting Pony DVD.
With my brother up from his home in North Carolina, we spent one day shooting out at Iron Horse Farm. The ponies were amazing – performing their tricks over and over again so my siblings could get the right shots – even Ammo endured the hot day in his flannel stuntdog gear so we could capture him among the ponies.
I think the end result turned out fabulous! I think it really shows what life is like for the Trick Ponies (and Ammo). I especially love the music, which was mostly created by my brother (who is also a talented musician) along with his band, Cinder Cat – the music gives it a magic feel.
The DVD is available for purchase in our Online Shop. Give it as a gift, send it to a friend – spread the joy of Chincoteague Ponies! We hope it will bring a smile to your face.
And since we want everyone to be able to enjoy the magic of these special ponies and their Dachshund friend, we’ve uploaded the video to youtube. Spread it around! Share it on facebook, twitter, myspace, etc!
Special thanks to….
Taylor Hellhake from Depthink Productions
Cinder Cat
Laurel Hellhake (in collaboration with O’Leary Photographics)
Iron Horse Farm
and
Ammo the Dachshund & The Trick Ponies of Chincoteague!
