Posts Tagged ‘pony penning
June Events & Sitting Ponies
Well June is officially here – and thus begins our countdown to pony penning! The pressure is on for me to think up a new skit for Minnow to perform while we are down there. I have a few random ideas floating around my head – but suggestions are definitely welcome!
I do need to come up with a plan though, so I have an idea of what new tricks I need to teach Minnow this year. In the hopes that working on some new tricks might spark an idea for me I started training both Minnow and Boomerang to sit.
We’re at the beginning stages right now, (although Boomer has had some previous lessons on it last year with me – I just got a bit distracted before finishing it) but I’m sure they will both get it soon. I’ve been training them together – something I only sometimes do – but working them at the same time is really helping them to learn faster. Boomerang I think might catch on a bit quicker than Minnow, as he’s less concerned about touching his butt to a rustling bean bag chair. Minnow would much rather prefer to pick them up and throw them. haha.
I’ve also been having Minnow watch me cue Boomerang to lay down – and I’m just waiting for the opportunity when Minnow offers this trick to me so I can reward him. Any day now….I can just tell!
Amongst the pony training, Ammo has also been getting ready for his big performance at the Keystone Dachshund Races next weekend.
I swear he’s really excited! 🙂
Ammo will be performing around lunchtime with his pal Super Trooper (my mom’s Australian Shepherd/Labrador). This will be Trooper’s debut performance and he’s been working really hard! Let’s just say I’m off in search of a doggie sized tutu today – it’s going to be epic.
So if you are in the Lewisberry PA area next Sunday June 12th around from 12pm – 6pm – be sure to shop by to watch Ammo race for charity & perform with Trooper. We’ll also have a booth set up where ammo will be selling some of his artwork- with perhaps a few pieces from the ponies as well. It’s definitely a fun day with the profits benefiting the Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue. We hope to see you there!
P.S. Ammo says that anyone who sports a “Go Ammo” t-shirt on Race day to support him will get an extra slobbery kiss!
Blitz and Minnow grazing at home at Iron Horse Farm
2011 Wild Pony Foals
If you are like us, you are counting down the days until the annual pony penning in Chincoteague. So at least now you can get a little preview of some of the 2011 foals that have been born already this year on Assateague.
Wild Island Ponies, is a website run by an Assateague Pony enthusiast – who mostly uses the site to document the ponies for her own pleasure.
Kelly now has up a list (and pictures) of some of the 2011 foals she’s spotted on the island – some during the Spring Roundup. You can check them out here.
It’s a really cool resource if plan to attend a swim (or even just visit Assateague) anytime soon. I personally can’t even remember some of the mares and stallions on the island – and talk about helpful if you had plans to buy a foal this year!
There are definitely some cute babies in the bunch this year – I can’t wait to see all of them at the end of July! For a complete list of the pony penning schedule you can visit our website. Hope to see you there! And don’t forget to come visit me and Minnow at the Chincoteague Pony Centre.
Minnow and Ammo go to school
Today was a big day for Ammo the Dachshund and Chincoteague Minnow. Together they went on their very first Elementary School Visit to the Renaissance Academy in Phoenixville PA. The older kids had been reading Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry and the younger kids read My Chincoteague Pony by Susan Jeffers.
"It's so hard to wake up early"
Ammo was a little unenthusiastic to be up at 4am – I literally had to drag him out of bed and plop him into the car. He had had a very busy day the day before, so I think he was a little extra groggy.
Ammo & Cricket helping to pack
We gave two talks/demos while at the Renaissance Academy. Most of it was geared around Misty of Chincoteague – since that’s what the kids had been learning about. I talked about the real life Misty, and how she also went on school visits, and into libraries, and even rode an elevator once. We also talked about how Misty had a sidekick named Alex the Dachshund who liked to jump through a hoop, climb ladders, and dress up in doll clothes (the kids got a chuckle out of that one). I also had pictures of Misty and some of the pony swim and auction. We even had a special picture of Minnow and Misty’s great-granddaughter, Black Mist.
The kids had some great questions for me too. Like is Minnow afraid of anything? To which I replied – his biggest fear is flash photography, he believes that the flash is lightning – so perhaps when he was wild on Assateague Island as a foal he had to live through a terrible storm. And can Ammo do a back flip? Sadly no. But we also had some interesting questions about Misty, and the kids seemed very interested in learning all that they could.
Eventually we transitioned into performing Minnow & Ammo’s award winning Super Pony vs. Super Dog skit. Minnow was a star as usual – and he won every time in their little super hero battle of tricks as the kids clapped the loudest for him each performance. Ammo didn’t go unnoticed – as the kids broke out into laughter as soon as Ammo’s stunt helmet came out. Ammo was still a little groggy (he’s such a baby), so although he performed all of his tricks – he was in sort of a slow motion. No spur of the moment hole digging like he normally does (he always gets a big laugh on that one), but he was still just as adorable as ever – even if he was a little tired.
Minnow painted a fabulous painting during his performance, which is now hanging at the Renaissance Academy. The kids helped name it “Misty’s friend Minnow”.
Along with my fabulous mom, who never fails to drop everything and assist me with the boys (thanks mom!), I also brought my brother, Taylor, along – who’s home for a short time from his home in North Carolina.
Taylor is an amazing videographer/editor – and I was thrilled when he agreed to film our performance. I’m so excited to see what he comes up with, because all of his stuff is amazing! Seriously, check out his website! But since talent cannot be rushed, we will have to wait several weeks until he gets home and has a chance to edit it all together.
Taylor also edited and filmed (even recording his own music) the main video on our website (check it out here) – which he amazingly shot in one day! (oh and P.S. don’t let the height difference fool you – Taylor is my younger brother)
After the performances I walked Ammo and Minnow around so all the kids could have a turn petting them. Each kid also got a trading card that had a different picture of the ponies and ammo on the front.
Ammo took the opportunity to take a nap, while Minnow wanted the kids to get all his itchy spots. I love seeing all the kids smile and laugh and seeing them all petting Minnow reminded me of this Photo of Misty.
Photo from : Life Magazine
Ammo passed out immediately on the way home, you have to remember he’s only 2 years old – and he only just began performing in front of audiences last summer. He still has many years ahead of him! Minnow on the other hand didn’t want to go home!
We had lots of fun on our school visit, and I hope there will be many more in our future!
You can see more photos of the event on the Renaissance Academy Library Blog, and a short video up on the Phoenix Newspaper (an article will be accompanying it shortly).
2011 Trick Pony Goals
Last year I made a list of goals I wanted to accomplish with the trick ponies, hoping that by writing them down it would really help me to complete them. My plan worked! Because I completed all but one of my ten goals last year, I think I can pat myself on the back for that one!
Here’s a little recap of last year’s goals:
1. Teach Minnow to rear CHECK
2. Teach Blitz and Boomer to lay down on command CHECK for Boomer
3. Finish teaching Ammo and Boomer to paint CHECK (Ammo learned to make scratch art)
4. Come up with a new skit for Minnow to perform CHECK a performance of dueling super hero’s with Ammo
5. Make a new video of all of the trick ponies (and the Dachshund) performing CHECK thanks to my talented brother
6. Move Boomer up to compete in the Masters Division in Mounted Games CHECK we competed this past year in masters
7. Take Blitz to a bombproofing clinic/and or some Dressage events
8. Teach Ammo and Minnow some tricks together CHECK seen in their super hero performance
9. Find more venues/performances for Minnow to do – events that raise money for charities would be great. CHECK we attended the Equine Extravaganza, MGAA Nationals, and did several new camp performances.
10. Spend more time doing “nothing” with the boys CHECK
The only thing I didn’t get to do was take Blitz on an outing. Blitz is owned by my mom now, so she spent a lot of last year training him – hopefully this year I will find some time to take him somewhere.
So in keeping with my tradition, I thought I should come up with some new goals for this year. I’m so excited to get started and I have BIG plans for the boys this year.
2011 TRICK PONY GOALS
1. Take some western riding lessons with Boomerang
2. Push myself past my comfort zone and compete in something I’ve never done before
3. Teach Minnow to sit or lay down
4. Fine tune Boomerang’s cues for bow and lay down
5. Train some more tricks using the pedestal
6. Teach Minnow a brand-new trick skit for Pony Penning 2011
7. Teach Ammo the Dachshund a skit he can perform alone
8. Take Blitz on an outing (Dressage, Paperchase, Mounted Games, Tricks, etc)
9. Paint with the boys more often
10. Read a training book (or video) and teach one skill from it
11. Teach Boomerang flying lead changes, rollbacks, and a better sidepass
12. Read Misty of Chincoteague…again! 🙂
Sounds doable right? What are your goals for 2011? Anything I should add?
Pony Penning 2010 – Day 5
Chincoteague Minnow, Me, and Misty's Black Mist
Friday, July 30th….my very last day on Chincoteague Island….so sad. I look forward to this trip every year (this being my third year attending) – so it’s always sad to see it come to an end. Although coming home just means that I get to start planning for Pony Penning 2011! Woohoo!
Anyway, Friday morning I was headed over to take care of Minnow again – usually by Friday I can tell he’s about ready to go home. Probably missing his turnout buddies, and his juicy pasture filled with grass (even if he only gets to experience it through a muzzle) – but this year he didn’t seem as anxious, he was a lot more content with being on the island for day #5.
Needless to say, as sad as I was to be heading home – I was looking forward to seeing the Dachshund (oh and my husband). After helping Minnow to start his day I headed back to the Assateague Inn, where we stayed for the week, to check out. After checking out of the hotel my mom and I headed out on a little shopping excursion. The first stop on my list – Pony Tails – for some much needed saltwater taffy. I have a weakness for saltwater taffy…especially when it’s freshly made! After that we went down to mainstreet in search of a treat for the Dachshund. I remembered there was a “dog” shop in town last year, but this year it was nowhere to be found. After a pretty thorough search for doggie treasures I didn’t come up with much, and knowing that my little sausage boy would just be thrilled to see me no matter what I had – I gave up on my quest.
Chincoteague Minnow and Black Mist
Then after lunch it was back to the Pony Centre to get packed up for our trip home. After I finished packing the trailer Minnow had a little impromptu painting session in the parking lot behind the Pony Centre. I set up his easel in a shady little spot under a tree, and Minnow set out painting a custom work of art for one of our friends at the Pony Centre. Minnow gathered a small crowd of our friends as he whisked brushes all over the the pretty purple canvas. One of the little girls from the Pony Centre bought one of Minnow’s mini paintings with all of her Birthday money from the day before – it was so cute I nearly died as she handed me a stack of one dollar bills. I dug around in the packed car and handed her one of the new dvd’s of Minnow and his pony friends as a little extra Birthday Gift from Minnow – for her to share with her brother and sisters too.
"Purple People Eater" by Chincoteague Minnow
Oh and I nearly forgot to mention that Minnow appeared in Thursday’s issue of the Chincoteague Beacon. It was a nice little article about his appearance at the Pony Centre – which you can read in it’s entirety here. (Download PDF)
"Patriotic Pony" by Chincoteague Minnow
Finally it was time for Minnow’s last show at the Pony Centre this year – and he painted one of my favorites of the whole trip – “Patriotic Pony”. In between his painting and trick performances I had my mom snap a few photos of me, Minnow, and the famous misty family pony – Misty’s Black Mist. Black Mist was quite funny and kept “smiling” at Minnow with this weird toothy grin…I think she had a crush on him. Black Mist wore her Breyer blanket – which brought me back to my youth of collecting endless amounts of Breyer models….most of which I still have. If Minnow were ever to become a Breyer Model, I think my life might just be complete! It’s probably because Breyers are such a nostalgia for me – you have no idea how many hours I spent as a kid playing with them – and to think that out in the World there are tons of little girls and boys playing with a model that looks like MY pony …would just be the icing on the cake for me. Oh and lets not forget that Minnow would need his little sidekicks as models too – Blitz, Boomer, and Ammo the Dachshund (complete with stunt helmet and cape)!! haha. Maybe someday it will happen….you never know….and if you want to write like a bazillion letters to Breyer telling them that Chincoteague Minnow should be their next model – I definitely wouldn’t complain. 🙂
A happy little girl with her Minnow painting
After the show we said our goodbyes to our Pony Centre friends. I LOVE everyone that works at the Pony Centre, they are so nice and friendly – they really make it inviting, and every single one of them has a love for the ponies. I miss all our PC friends when we leave – but know that we will all reconnect again…if not only through facebook.
Thus began my 250mile drive home – partially in the dark – and when we pulled up to the entrance of Iron Horse Farm around 10pm, I was very happy to be “home”. Boomer and Blitz came bounding to the fence to greet us, and I had missed their curious little faces. I whisked Minnow off the trailer and plopped him out into the pasture with the boys. Minnow wandered off to scarf as much grass as he could through the tiny hole in his muzzle – we know where his priorities lie. Boomer and Blitz waited patiently at the gate for some much needed attention. They wanted their itchy spots scratched and their noses rubbed, and they WANTED to do some tricks! I love when I go away and when I come back all my ponies just want to be in my company – it’s the greatest feeling.
But our time was short-lived as I was pretty tired and ready to head home to see the little Dachshund. When I pulled up to the house I could see his little sausage body jumping around in the sunroom. I burst through the door throwing my bags to the floor as Ammo jumped up to lick my face. He squealed and wiggled – oh boy did he wiggle! Instantly I noticed his tiny little sausage frame wasn’t so tiny, seems he had put on a little extra weight since he had become accustomed to sleeping 11 hours a day while I was gone. (I was sure to schedule a much needed exercise trip to the dog park to swim the very next day!)
Sigh. What a wonderful end to Pony Penning Week.
Minnow and my Mom
There is nothing like coming home after a long trip and being greeted by the animals that love you. I hope they know how much I love them too.
