Posts Tagged ‘pony
A Natural Connection
I came across an interesting video of a horse training process called “natural connection” which has been developed by Uri Peleg. His website doesn’t go into much detail about how he achieves this connection with his horses, but its very interesting none-the-less. He briefly touches on the benefit of riding his horse bridless, and the harmfulness of using a bit.
I thoroughly enjoy riding all of my ponies bridless when possible, but I don’t think it would be possible for me to compete with them without some sort of bridle (I currently use a bitless bridle). My boys would definitely need a lot more intense training to achieve this – but it would be amazing. I do have a goal in mind of having my current project pony, Boomer, competing in mounted games with barely any rein pressure while executing tight turns and spins at top speeds. He’s got the foundation right now, but we still have a long way to go. Its very difficult to train him more precisely without a riding ring currently, but when we make our big move to Iron Horse Farm I hope to have a much more suitable place for his training. Anyway, watch Uri’s video and I hope it inspires you to create a much better partnership with your horse.
Ponies Featured in Artwork
New artwork featuring the ponies of PonyPaintings.com has arrived! Artist BJ Redmond frequently features my ponies in her work.
A little bit about her: My name is Barbara, BJ for short. I live in Michigan with my husband. I am 66 years old and disabled (lupus). I used to raise horses, american saddlebreds, arabs and half breeds for 20 years. I have always loved horses. As a child, I painted horses horses horses. Once I had some horses, i stopped painting and actually forgot about art. About 3 years ago, I was going through depression and boredom and a christian lady online got me started on ebay. After purchasing about $1,000 worth of art, i remembered, “hey, i can do that.” since then I have resurrected the old talent and have been painting, drawing and, much to my joy, selling my finished pieces. I do many other critters on occasion, but find horses remain my joy.
Painting by BJ Redmond of Chincoteague Minnow
Pencil Sketch of Chesapeake Lightning by BJ Redmond
Music to my Horse’s Ear
I came across a website today with some surprisingly addictive music on it. I don’t consider myself a “fan” of country music at all really, but for some reason the music of artist Mary Ann Kennedy made me laugh and want to jump in the saddle all at the same time.
Grammy nominated hit songwriter from Nashville, TN., Mary Ann Kennedy, creates music that celebrates the horse. A dedicated Parelli Natural Horsemanship student herself, Mary Ann seems to express what we all feel in our hearts for our beloved horses and the life we all live with them. Through melody, rhythm and humor in song, this is music that we horse lovers can listen and ride to.
It was interesting to find out that the artist is also a Parelli follower, with many of her songs made specifically for the Parelli program. Horsenality being one of the most recognizable Parelli ones to me (I haven’t really followed the program, but on occasion I receive articles and readings from my instructor who is a dedicated follower of Parelli – I’ve discovered that I have 2 left brained ponies and one right brained one). Horses in Heaven was sort of a neat song for me, made my think of one of my childhood ponies that I lost last summer unexpectedly, he had been with me since I was 10 years old. You can see a photo tribute to my beloved, Oopsie Daisy by clicking HERE. On the lighter side of things I thought Barn Cat was pretty humorous, there are some other great ones on her website too. I thought some of the songs might be great to perform to with my horses. Anyway, enjoy!
Boomer in Training
Chesapeake Boomerang 4/13/09
I decided to post a video I took today while I was working with Chesapeake Boomerang or Boomer. I wish I had a video from when I first brought him home, because the difference in him is amazing. Boomer is a 2003 registered Chincoteague Pony (which makes him 6 years old currently), I still consider him to be very young and inexperienced. When I got him last year he was broke to ride, but he still needed (and still does) a lot more improvement. Unfortunately where I keep him right now there is no ring, and the only area that is remotely useable is a semi-flat open field, that also floods. So when I first started riding him in this area, lets just say our rides together were far from calm. I was dealing with bucks and rearing and I would have never been able to ride him alone.
But from this video (sorry for the far-away shot, it was difficult to film by myself) you can see that I have a much different horse. It was a little swampy so we had some sticky spots – and this is mostly why I am only trotting him. But incase its too far away to tell – I am working on getting Boomer to stop with his hind end under him, I then proceed to ask him to back up and spin on his haunches. It might be hard to tell but I am actually barely using rein pressure, I’m instead over exaggerating my seat and leg movements, hence why I throw my legs forward for the halt and why I lean way back when asking him to back up. Eventually when Boomer’s responses to these signals are much quicker I will not over-exaggerate them as much.
Boomer in his bitless bridle 4/13/09
After watching this video you may be asking yourself, I thought she used reward-based training methods to teach her horses, so where are the treats? And my response to that is that I don’t use it for everything, or all the time for that matter, simply because I don’t need to (again a common misconception among people is that you always need treats when riding if you use reward based methods). When I first got Boomer one of the first things I did with him was teach him to target a ball, shake hands, stand on a pedestal and give me a kiss. For these “tricks” I used clicker training (with treats) to train him. Once I had a language going with Boomer (I ask you something, you figure out what it is, you get rewarded) we had a solid way to communicate. So when I took to riding Boomer, and for example wanted to teach him to back up, all I did was sit way far back and give light taps on the rein. As I waited patiently (sometimes for a very long time) for even a step, Boomer was constantly thinking about what he had learned with me before (I ask you something, you figure out what it is, you get rewarded), so when that first step came Boomer got a great big pat and good boy. (All my ponies learn that good boy/girl means job well done – since all my treats are accompanied by this in the beginning). He didn’t need a treat right then, the “good boy” was reward enough for him. The promise of something good when he figures it out is all he needs, I truly believe horses thrive off of our approval and they simply just want to please us. Its in their nature to be “part of the herd” so to speak.
Laughter for a Rainy Day
Its pouring rain here in Eastern Pa, and as I sit at my desk at work hoping for customers to walk in the door (I own a custom framing shop – and lets face it, no one frames artwork in the rain!) I have decided today needs a little laughter. So you’re in luck – two posts for today!
Many of you following my blog by now have probably picked up on the fact that I have a love for animals – especially equines. But did you know that I not only love to train them, but I also love to photograph them? I graduated from Kutztown University in 2007 with a degree in Fine Arts and Photography, and in 2005 I really began to push the envelope with my animal photography.
The Animal Kingdom Collection by Kyley DiLuigi
I have always been fascinated by photo booths. That little strip of paper with four tiny photos seems to exude so much of the personality of its subjects. In 2005 I chose to push our familiarity with these conventional photos by inserting animals into the picture space. Portraiture need not be limited to humans; why not give animals the chance to show a part of themselves by showcasing their portraits through the means of photo booth art? I find this method and approach to animal portraiture to be both humorous and potentially fascinating. In 2006 I was a finalist in the Adobe Design Awards for this series. I was flown to Toronto, Canada for the awards ceremony and showcase of my artwork in the Royal Ontario Museum. I used many of my own horses as my models – see if you can find Chincoteague Minnow, click on the photo to the left to see more from this series – I hope it gives you a chuckle.
"Equus Callabus" Blueprint by Kyley DiLuigi
In 2007 I began a series of animal blueprints, my favorite of the set being the Chincoteague Pony of course (you may recognize my model as my own Chincoteague Minnow)! I took on a humorous approach to “mapping out” traits specific to different species and breeds. Click on the Image to the right to see more from this series.
If you are interested in seeing more of my work you can visit my online portfolio at www.greenhorsestudios.com. The images below are just a selection of other humorous animal portraits I have taken over the years. Hopefully they will brighten your day, and give you a laugh.
My sister's horse, Jet, poses as a supermodel
My horse, Nitro, gives a big smile for the camera
