Posts Tagged ‘training
2011 Pony Penning Recap: July 28
Thursday was Auction Day! We got up early and headed over to the Carnival Grounds where we had already left our lawn chairs a few days earlier. I was smart this year and remembered where the sun rose the year before – so I made sure to position my chair on the right side of the wooden awning so I’d still be shaded long after the sun rose. It wasn’t the “most” ideal spot to take pictures, as I was a couple rows behind people – which meant to get a clear shot I had to stand up (and block the people behind me). But I tried to do so quickly so everyone could see.
The prices for foals this year were still way down from previous years (even though last year was even lower). It really makes me wish I was in a position to buy a foal. But alas, it costs much more than the price to buy the foal at auction – you have to then feed/hay them, pay for vet and farrier bills, and boarding. Someday I dream of buying one at the auction (Minnow came from the auction in 1993, but I did not buy him then).
The highest priced foal was a buy back foal that sold for $6,700 to the buy back babes. The buy back babes are a group of people that pool together their money to buy foals that are buy backs meaning they will be sent back to the island to live for the rest of their lives.
One of the most exciting parts of the auction was when one of the foals nearly escaped. See the foals are brought out into the auction arena by several people who try to hold the foal from escaping. For most of them this is their first contact with a human – resulting in many bucking/rearing ponies.
And this is exactly why one of the ponies was able to wiggle free from it’s handlers and made a mad dash towards one of the exits.
This is the only shot of the “escape” I was able to get (it happened really fast) but as you can see one of the Saltwater Cowboys was able to grab the foal by the tail before he was able to make it all the way out of the exit. I’m not sure what they would have done had he gotten all the way out – which also made me wonder why there is open chutes to the auction pen. Any “rogue” pony could escape into the fairgrounds – which is also not completely fenced in.
The rest of the auction was rather tame – well as tame as you can get with a bunch of feisty wild foals. I’ve always wondered why the cowboys try to hold the foals, it would probably be a lot easier for them if they just corralled them into a holding pen in front of the auction crowd. Although I get the impression that this method is tradition – and it’s actually pretty entertaining.
A family sitting in front of me at the auction decided to buy one of the buy back foals – spur of the moment. I watched the kids all day long begging their dad to buy them a buy back pony (his wife was begging too). I think it was their first time at the auction, but they must have been swayed by the moment, because their dad ended up buying one of the buy back foals for about $4,500 (I forget the actual price).
After the auction we grabbed some lunch at the fairgrounds and then headed to mainstreet to meet Cezanne. Cezanne’s claim to fame is that he was the highest priced foal sold at the 1989 Chincoteague Pony Auction at $2,500 (Sold to Kevin McBride, the famous Chincoteague Artist). He has gone on to sire many Misty family ponies over the years and continues to do so where he lives now in Ridgely, MD at Hawkeye Stables.
Across the street at the Library I stopped in to see Misty’s Heart of the Storm visiting with her public. Heart of the Storm is Misty’s Great Great Granddaughter and is helping to continue on with her legacy.
Then we headed back to the Pony Centre for the Pony Shows.
"Chincoteague Wildflowers" by Minnow - Pony Penning 2011
Minnow’s first painting was reminiscent of Wildflowers! And thankfully my dad and sister decided to come down for a few days – which means I was able to get some pictures/video of Minnow performing.
The lighting inside the Pony Centre wasn’t ideal, but they were still able to get a few action shots of Minnow performing his new skit.
In between shows Minnow painted “Raindrop” for one of the girls at the Pony Centre – she named it after her Misty descendant Chincoteague Pony, Raindrop.
"Raindrop" by Minnow - pony penning 2011
We also spent a little time watching the ponies out front in the corral, mostly this pony, Miss B.
We discovered that Miss B was Blitz & Boomer’s little sister! She shares the same stallion (Chesapeake Powhattan’s Promise) that our boys do. We thought she really took a resemblance to Blitz, including the “lightning strike” on her rump.
Miss B is 3 years old, and has already taken to pony rides like she was an old pro.
Isn’t she sweet!?
Then in the evening show Minnow painted one of my favorites, Chincoteague Island Sorbet – doesn’t it remind you of ice cream?
"Chincoteague Island Sorbet" by Minnow - pony penning 2011
Which after the evening show I headed promptly to the Island Creamery to get my fill of ice cream! Yum!
Tomorrow I hope to have our final recap of Pony Penning 2011, complete with VIDEOS of Minnow painting and performing. So check back soon!
Check out all of our Pony Swim Pictures at Green Horse Studios!
Live Performance! Super Dog vs. Super Pony
Do you remember when Minnow and Ammo made their first Elementary School Visit back in May? Well, the day has finally come – their live performance video is complete! My brother Taylor (the filmmaker) shot and edited this whole video – and it turned out really cool!
We can’t wait to make more school visits in the future – making kids laugh is so much fun!
If you are having trouble viewing the version above, try the one below (without the super cool super hero music):
Tomorrow we’ll resume with out pony penning recap! Yeah!
Check out Depthink Productions and Envision Event Media for all of your movie making needs!
2011 Pony Penning Recap: July 27
July 27th was Pony Swim Day! The swim was set for between 12 and 1pm (whenever slack tide was) – this was the latest the swim time that had ever been set since I have been attending for the past 4 years. This gave us plenty of time to go out to breakfast before we had to make our way over to Pony Swim Lane.
If you have never been to Pony Penning – there are a few things you must know – if you want to see something…..like really see something….then you have to be willing to get a little dirty.
This is my mom, trekking through the swamp near Pony Swim Lane in order to get to a good spot for viewing the swim. Most people that have never been to the island ride shuttles in to watch the swim over at Memorial Park – but if you want to see more than just a few dots of swimming ponies off in the distance, you really need to go to Pony Swim Lane. It is here that the ponies come ashore after their swim, and where you can get up close and personal. Some people head to Pony Swim Lane and take one look at the mucky marsh and opt to wait on the road (where the horses will later be led down the street to the carnival grounds). But if you have come this far, you might as well take off your shoes (or pull on your rubber boots) and brave the swamp. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Its mushy, smells like dead stuff, and there are crabs everywhere – but it will wash off, and you will get to say you saw the ponies swim across the channel!
Usually I opt to stand under the foot bridge where the ponies come ashore to take pictures. But being that I’m 5’10” – crouching under a bridge for several hours is not so much fun. So this year I decided to wade into the bay and hoped that I could sneak my camera lens through the crowd. I lucked out, because being tall came at an advantage as I could stand about 6 feet behind the crowd and I had a clear view of the swim. We only ended up waiting about an hour for the swim to start, signified by a red flare set off by the fire department.
My telephoto lens on my camera gave me the ability clearly see over to Assateague, where the horses first hit the water.
The swim doesn’t last very long, but every year I see it I still find it enthralling. I like to picture a tiny little Minnow making that swim back in 1993, I bet he was the cutest foal that year!
Interestingly after the swim we had one rogue foal that decided she would much rather be back on Assateague.
She managed to slip through the cracks of the watchful Saltwater Cowboys and started to make her way back to Assateague before anyone noticed.
I believe she was the Neptune foal (signified by the baling twine around her neck) – which means she was the first foal to reach the shore, and would be the foal the person with the winning lottery ticket would get to take home.
After the swim we headed back to the Pony Centre to get Minnow ready for the pony show.
"Marsh Grass Stampede" by Minnow - pony penning 2011
Minnow always does his very best paintings during pony penning – and I’m not just saying that. And I find it so interesting that each year he seems to paint with a different technique. Last year he painted most of his paintings in a more diagonal stroke technique like this:
"Assateague Saltwater Ponies" by Minnow - 2010 Pony Penning
But, this year most of his paintings were done in a more up and down motion:
"Slack Tide Swimmers" by Minnow - pony penning 2011
I’m not sure how or why he decides to paint different ways on any given day. I don’t give him any sort of direction when we are painting, I simply hand him a brush with paint and let him do his thing. When people want to know how I taught Minnow to paint I always sort of struggle to come up with an answer. I just handed him a brush one day and waited to see what would happen. When he ultimately decided to strike it against the canvas he was rewarded – and almost immediately he began to create strokes and marks with it. His “style” as it is today developed over time, and by his own accord. To some extend when I reward him randomly for painting I think he believes he is getting rewarded for different strokes. But when he decides to paint for a week on end in the same style (instead of varying it up like he normally does to earn rewards) it makes me question what makes him decide to paint any certain way? I may never know. Perhaps he truly is inspired to paint the rolling ocean, or a herd of wild horses! Whatever the case may be, one thing is for sure, his paintings are truly amazing and I’m so glad that he gets to share them with the World.
Check out all of our Pony Swim Pictures at Green Horse Studios!
And check back tomorrow for a recap on the Chincoteague Pony Auction!
Hero Juice
Rumor has it, Minnow has been drinking a whole lot of this lately:
Which would explain why he’s been constantly seeking telephone booths we’re down in Chincoteague performing for the 2011 Pony Penning!
We LOVE Minnow, but SUPER MINNOW is quite the showman.
He’s also quite the comedian…..
Oh Minnow, what would we ever do without you?
Off to Chincoteague
Well the day is finally here! We’re headed off to Chincoteague Island for the 2011 Pony Penning Swim!
The weeks leading up to our adventure were busy! Minnow kept himself occupied by painting and practicing his new performance to display at the Pony Centre this week.
We’re very much looking forward to showcasing everything we’ve been working and training hard for this week. We know not everyone can make it down for Pony Penning – in fact we had to leave our beloved Ammo the Dachshund at home (something tells me he’ll be sure to keep himself occupied without us though). But don’t worry, if you want to keep up with all the action & goings-on, be sure to head over to our facebook page – where we will try out best to keep you updated on everything we’re up to!
And when we return we’ll have lots of pictures and videos to share with you on the blog!
