Posts Tagged ‘painting pony
Baby Boomer
A newly born Boomerang, March 21, 2003
I’m so excited to share these!! Last week I got a package of Boomer baby photos in the mail from Boomer and Blitz’s breeder. Both Blitz and Boomer were born at 1000 Welcomes Farm in Chapel Hill, NC. The pair share the same stud, Chesapeake Powhattan’s Promise, but different dams. Boomer is out of Tidewater Sufer Chique (a Sufer Dude daughter) and Blitz is out of Tidewater Fable.
As I’m sure you can tell I LOVE both Blitz (originally “Lucky”) and Boomer, so I’m a big fan of the foals that their stud “Squat” produces. If you are in the market for a pony be sure to check out their sales list, one of their foals, John Henry, is already competing under saddle…and he’s gorgeous! John Henry would make an awesome mounted games pony as he looks to be pretty unflappable (I saw a video!) just like my two boys. I’d take them all home if I could!
Anyway, enjoy a trip down memory lane – way back in 2003 when Boomerang was first born.
A yearling Blitz looks out for little brother Boomer. How cute!!
Capturing Lay Down & More Bow Work
Yesterday I again brought Boomerang out to work on his bow work. Day #2 proved to have much progress for him. He is now consistently lifting his leg when I tap and holding it up with not as much guidance from me. He is also offering knee to the ground almost every time. He still has to get the hang of making sure his back legs are far enough back to compensate for the lowering of the front half of his body, but he’ll get there. With a few more sessions he should have this trick mastered, which is when I will put the final verbal cue onto it. The cool part will hopefully be transferring it over to saddle. I never got to do that with Minnow because I had to retire him from ridden work before we mastered this. I could probably still get him to do it, but I feel mean asking since I know how painful putting his weight on just one leg is – add the weight of a rider to that and it would be even worse. Perhaps if he could loose some weight first I’d be able to try – but since he can’t be exercised that proves even harder.
Here’s a clip of Boomer’s bow progress:
During our bow session I noticed Boomer showing signs of wanting to lay down in the soft sand. I let him lay then clicked him and sat with him for 5 minutes just feeding and petting him. Then I asked him stand again and used my target stick to get his nose to the ground. I myself began pawing the ground to entice him to do the same to ready a spot for himself. A few minuted later and he was back on the ground again. I got him to repeat this about 5 times. The best part was he offered all this while my parent’s aussie mix was running around barking like crazy and my dad had started up the 4wheeler so he could water the arena. How’s that for a bombproof pony!
**I added music to this clip because all you can hear in the background is my parent’s dog barking like crazy. 🙂
I’m hoping with a few more sessions we’ll have the bow and lay down mastered so that we can debut them at MGAA Nationals!
Paisley Pony Columnist
Ammo the Dachshund is the newest columnist for the Paisley Pony equine magazine. His first article is now out in the Spring 2010 issue. You can download the article here (it’s on page 10).
Yesterday Ammo accompanied me to the Devon Horse Show to watch the Grand Prix Jumping. Along our travels we stopped at the Paisley Pony Booth, unfortunately no one was there, but that didn’t stop Ammo from sitting atop the stack and handing out magazines to his fans.
Ammo was wonderful and sat in the packed grand stands with me. Most of the time he slept curled up on my lap as the crowds cheered and screamed. He never made a sound. Slowly people around us started to notice the little wiener dog in the bleachers. Ammo was met with pats and kisses and people oohing and ahhing over how well behaved he was, especially when they found out he was only 1.
Then as the Jumpers came to an end the sky started to open up with flashes of lightning and thunder as well as threats of impending downpours. Ammo expertly navigated the crowds of people dashing to their cars and we heeled right by my side.
He spotted our car in a sea of sedans and dashed to wait by the back door. Once inside he curled up on his blanket and slept like a baby the whole way home.
I love that little Dachshund, he’s the best sidekick.
Boomerang’s Bow
Last night I spent some time working with Boomerang on the ground. We worked on moving away from pressure, turn on the haunches, turn on the forehand, and sidepasses. I then thought it would be fun to see if I could get him to bow. Boomer really likes the soft screenings in our arena, and almost every time he sees it he tries to lay down in it. I knew working in a soft fluffy part of the arena would entice him to put his limbs on the ground.
I started off by just working on getting him to pick up and hold his leg up. Each time picked up a leg when I tapped it, he got clicked. Eventually I progressed to enticing his head to the ground with a treat, and pretty soon Boomer was putting his knee to the ground. This is the same method I used to teach Minnow to bow back in 2004. Minnow has a pretty nice bow when he wants to, but its tough for him to do now because of his ringbone. I think it hurts a little, so I try not to ask him to do it too often, and I’m quicker to let him offer less of an effort than I would expect from Boomer. I think with a few more sessions Boomer should have a pretty nice bow, perhaps nice enough to showcase at MGAA Nationals in a few weeks. We shall see!
Painting Pony Website Has New Look!
After months and months of hard work, mostly on my husband’s part, we have finally launched the new Painting Pony Website. The old website was outdated and drab, mostly because it was the product of my tinkering and teaching myself how to design a website on my own. And while I WAS thoroughly impressed with myself and my ability to at least create a functional website, it wasn’t a true representation of Painting Pony.
Painting Pony needed a brighter look that was playful and fun, just like the ponies. I also envisioned a beach-ier feel, after all the ponies do hail from an island, and I wanted the website to have more information about Misty of Chincoteague.
Enter my graphic designer husband. He unknowingly agreed to design me a new site, probably not realizing it would take up most of his free time for the next 6 months. He deserves a big pat on the back for putting up with all my changes and stipulations. I promised him the ponies would sell more paintings so I can take him out to dinner to celebrate!
So to help kick off the launch of the new website I’m offering a FREE 5×7 mini painting with EVERY purchase. Makes a great gift for your favorite horse lover, or simply keep it for yourself! Enter the coupon code NEWWEB in the notes to seller section during check out to get your free gift. This offer will expire on May 31, 2010.
