Posts Tagged ‘trick
Trick Pony Friends
I’ve discussed most of the happenings at Pony Penning 2009, and as the week of re-caps is now coming to an end, I figured I’d go over the last few things about our trip to Chincoteague Island. Minnow attended the Pony Center shows as a guest Trick Pony, but did you know that the Chincoteague Pony Center is already home to another talented trick pony? Thats right, Teaguer, official mascot of the Chincoteague Pony Center, had to take a week long vacation from his tricks while Minnow was visiting. But, I was lucky enough to be able to watch his adorable skit, even if he didn’t perform it during the shows that week. Watch our special viewing below.
Talented Bowing foals at the Pony Center
Not only is the Chincoteague Pony Center a place to go to watch performances of what the amazing Chincoteague Pony breed can do, but its also a place to buy foals. Now these foals aren’t wild born like the Assateague Ponies, they are instead bred in captivity, many of which have parents that started off life on the island as a wild pony. There can be great benefits to buying a foal that has already been handled since birth – it can be a lot easier to train. Anyway, I was able to get some photos of some of the foals at the Center, many of which have already sold and will go to new homes as soon as they are able to be weaned from their moms.
Once of the foals, Calypso Blue, is actually a half brother to my own Boomerang and Blitz. All 3 ponies share the same father, Chesapeake Powhattan’s Promise. In getting to watch this foal, I can tell he’s related to my boys – he’s got the same quirky personality and facial expressions. This foal has already been sold, and I’m sure whoever bought him will be taking home a very special baby.
Calypso Blue, half brother to Boomer and Blitz
And finally, who can forget the imfamous Misty of Chincoteague. Thats right, I even got to visit with Misty (and her last foal, Stormy). The stuffed versions of them that is. Now I know a lot of people are thrilled that they can still visit with the horse that made the book “Misty of Chincoteague” so famous, but is it just me, or are they just totally creepy? I don’t know about you, but as much as I LOVE Minnow, I definitely don’t think I would ever want to have him stuffed and displayed in my living room. Talk about nightmares! But either way, Misty and Stormy are on display at the Beebe Ranch for all to see.
Stuffed Misty of Chincoteague
Stuffed Stormy
So thus completes my trip to Chincoteague with Minnow. We had a wonderful time, and we’re very hopeful to return next year for Pony Penning 2010.
For more photos from the week please visit www.greenhorsestudios.com
The Auction – Pony Penning 2009
So yesterday I talked about the Chincoteague Pony Swim which was part of Pony Penning 2009, but there is another element to this annual event. The Auction! For days before the swim people line the auction arena with chairs, many tied together with reserved seating signs in the hopes of gaining front row access to the event. Some come for the pure enjoyment to watch the ponies being paraded into the spotlight, while others have the agenda of buying a foal. I wish I was the latter of the two, but sadly it will be several years before I can afford to add another Chincoteague to my brood.
Nightmist Legend and Tommie Turvey
The auction begins early on Thursday morning with opening announcement and performances by local equine groups. This year the Beebe Ranch and NightMist Legend made an appearance. Nightmist Legend is the son to the late Nightmist who died earlier this year due to complications of colic. It is clamied that Nightmist was one of the last living direct decendents of Misty of Chincoteague. Nightmist Legend is owned by Mike Pryor of Pennsylvania and is now being trained by the famous Tommie Turvey as well as several other trainers. Tommie Turvey is known as the equine etremeist as he trains horses to perform tricks as well as roman riding, he even trains horses for movies (a local gypsy vanner farm in my area is having Tommie train their horses for an upcoming movie to be filmed next summer). I have been following Tommie’s training methods some this year, as I now own several of his dvds. I still prefer to clicker train my horses, but some of his techniques are useful to combine with my method of clicker training. I had the privledge of talking with Tommie at the Beebe Ranch during my trip and I even invited him to come to my performance at the Chincoteague Pony Centre, but sadly he didn’t seem able to make it. But anyway, below is a clip of Tommie working with Nightmist Legend at the Auction. I believe the horse has only been in training for a few months, so I’m sure with further training by Tommie he will be a master of tricks!
Next up to perform were my friends at the Chincoteague Pony Center, and the world famous Chincoteague Pony Drill Team. I have never seen them perform in person, and I thought it was great! Some of the patterns they did in their drill were really complex – gave me chills! Anyway you can watch for yourself below!
Now on to the main event! The Pony auction! It really is quite a show, a group of two men bring out a feisty wild foal and parade it around the ring for all to see while the auctioneer does his thing. Some they have to muscle as the foals rear up and buck, but most of the time the foal quickly subsides to being led around. Its very humane I think, much better than being roped or let to race around an arena at the risk of spectators and the foals. The excitement lasts for several hours until all foals are either purchased or bought as buy-back foals to be sent back to the island. The foals are then penned up for the night to rest until they either make long journeys to their new homes on friday or are sent back to the island with their herds. Many that are too young to leave their mothers are sent back to the island as fall pickups and will be ready for their new homes come October.
All of the auction fun makes me dream of the day that I can take home a foal. Yes, I do have 3 very wonderful Chincoteague Ponies at home, but I dream of the day that I can train a foal from the beginning. I just know we will create a very special bond together. Several lucky children this year had their dream of owning a foal come true with the help of the feather fund, an organization that chooses children each year that they will help to buy a foal. You can read all about them on their website.
more photos of the auction can be see at www.greenhorsestudios.com
Braving the Swamp – 2009 Pony Swim
Specators brave the swamp for the 2009 Pony Swim
So the main event involved with Pony Penning is the Chincoteague Pony Swim across the channel. Specators wake up early to get a front row seat to this exciting event that only lasts a few minutes. Many wade through the swamp and muck and stand for hours with cameras posed waiting for the coast guard to set off his flare that signals the start of the swim. Last year was the first time I attended the swim, and after waking up at 4am, wading the swamp, and standing for four hours while crabs nibbled at my feet just to see the ponies cross the water, you may be thinking….did I dare do it again this year? Heck yes I did! And it was just as awesome the second time!
The salwater cowboys make their way through the swamp
This year though, I decided not to wake up at the crack of dawn. Instead I woke up around 7am, stopped by the Pony Center to feed and check on Minnow, and then proceeded on to the swim site with my mom around 7:30am. We walked a few blocks to Pony Swim Lane (where the horses come ashore) and then proceeded to treck across the swamp to the landing area. And when I say swamp, I mean swamp. You sometimes fall in the muddy, mucky water up to your knees and you better wear sneakers because the crabs are all around ready to prey on unsuspecting victims. So after braving the swamp I was able to squeeze my way under the food bridge for a pretty good spot to view the swim. Luckily I have a telephoto lense on my camera, so even though I had to stand behind several people I was still able to get some nice shots.
2009 Chincoteague Pony Swim
Seeing the ponies cross the water is such a beautiful site to me. I invision Minnow as a tiny foal braving the water to come ashore. I so wish I could have been there in 1993 when he was a tiny little thing. I believe he was one of the smallest of the herd that year (hence the name Chincoteague Minnow).
Surfer Dude 1992 Stallion
Anyway so with the herd ashore I had no time zeroing in on my favorite stallion, Surfer Dude. He is the favorite to many with his stunning silver dapple coat color and his blonde mane and tail. I’m lucky to own a Sufer Dude grandson, Boomerang. I have developed this theory that Minnow and Surfer Dude are full bothers. Surfer Dude being a 1992 buy-back foal and Minnow being born a year later in 1993 its certainly plausable. Both boys have the same build and body type, and their matching muscle necks are unmistakable! So since there is no way for me to know who Minnow’s dam and sire are, because they didn’t start keeping accurate records until 1994, I have determined in my own little fantsy world that Minnow and Surfer Dude are full brothers! 🙂
Riptide looks for his mom
So as I watched the combined herds grazing on shore I notice a lively colt making his way through the crowd, obviously looking for his mom. As he got closer, my mouth dropped, Surfer Dude had a look-alike son! This stunning cold dawned his father’s blonde locks and silver dapple coat as well as a beautiful blaze. I was in love! I watched as Surfer’s son found his mother, a chestnut named Southern Belle, and the pair stuck close to Surfer Dude’s side. Now I know I was not the only one with eyes for the Surfer Dude colt, as word quickly spread around the island of the new beauty. “Surfer Dude’s Riptide” as he was later named ended up fetching the highest price tag at the auction as a last minute buy-back (meaning he would never have to leave the island again) of $11,700. Yeah I definitely didn’t have that in pocket change. But the good news is that Riptide returned to the island. Which means in a few years he will be producing beautiful foals just like his predessesor father, Surfer Dude. Which also means that possibly in 4-5 years I may have the chance to buy a Riptide colt! (I say colt because I’ve never been good with mares/fillies). That news is very exciting to me, I think Riptide will be sure to produce some wonderful offspring and I hope that I maybe one day I will own one of them!
Riptide finds his mother, Southern Belle
To see all of my photos from the swim and auction visit www.greenhorsestudios.com
Surfer Dude's Riptide
"Passing of the Torch" Father, Son, Mom
Pony Penning 2009 Paintings
So we’re going over our fabulous trip to Chincoteague Island this week, and what hasn’t been discussed yet is the paintings! Its the main reason we went down there! Minnow set about painting during each show (thats 2 paintings a day) and during each performance we would auction them off to the highest bidder. Some of the profits were donated to the Chincoteague Pony Drill Team and some of them were donated to the Chincoteague Pony Association to help feed and care for the wild ponies of Assateague Island while the rest of the money helped pay for my trip down there.
I strongly believe that Minnow creates his strongest work on the Island, I guess you could say he has the Island as inspiration. His paintings sold for an average of $180 with the prices ranging from $100 – $250.
So without further ado….I give you Minnow’s masterpieces!
"Chincoteague Light Storm"
"Paradise in Chincoteague"
"Assateague Wonder Dust"
"Assateague Morning Splash"
"Tidewater Stampede"
"Assateague Saltwater Ponies"
"Chincoteague Carnival Pony"
"All the Pretty Horses of Chincoteague"
Which one is your favorite? Do you own one of these paintings? We’d love to hear from you! And don’t forget that we still have many wonderful paintings up on the website, and if you see a color scheme you like – custom paintings are always available!
Trick Horse in Chincoteague
Ok, so those of you following this blog have probably been WAITING for me to post an update on how my trip to Chincoteague Island with Minnow went. We had kind of spotty internet – so posting down there wasn’t much of an option, not to mention my days were packed with pony swim excitement and performing! So anyway, this week I’m going to go over how our trip went – complete with videos and pictures from the exciting week.
Today I’m going to share with you some of the videos I took (well had someone else take) of Minnow performing. The first video is of us performing our beach picnic skit. Considering that Minnow learned some of the tricks only a week before our trip I was so proud of him! We had a few little mishaps during the week, like Minnow not wanting to do some of the tricks, but we pressed on and overall I think everyone enjoyed his performance.
This next video is of the Extreme Pony Race. Basically it is one small “act” in the Chincoteague Pony Center Performance in which some of the ponies/riders are asked to go through sort of an obstical course. The whole thing is timed, and if you have to skip a task (or you don’t complete it correctly) then 5 seconds is added onto your time. Minnow was asked to perform the extreme pony race twice during the week – having never seen or tried it before. I had been buting him all week so that he wasn’t in any pain from his arthritis (normally I never ride Minnow), and honestly, he could use the exercise and its good to use his joints sometimes. Anyway, this video is of the first time Minnow tried the extreme pony race, and much to my surprise we won, infact we were undefeated the entire weekend! Go Minnow! If you watch closely you can see me using the bitless bridle with Minnow, I had many comments after the show from people asking about this unique bridle and how I liked it. Of course I think the Bitless Bridle should now sponsor me because I was quite the spokesperson if I do say so myself!
As you can see I didn’t ask Minnow to complete the backup task. He did back up for me at first, but when I asked again he gave me a big head toss. Now I know my pony well, and I decided he was not happy with this request, so I opted to skip the skill. Some people may see this as me being too “soft” and I should of made him do it, but honestly Minnow has done so much for me, and he constantly performs for me when I ask him to, with barely much of a protest. So when I can tell he’s frustrated and not up for it, I opt to let it go and ask for it another day. This is what makes our relationship so special. If you had a bad day and didn’t feel like doing something – and someone forced you to do it anyway, you can bet that the next time that person asked you to do something you’d start to resent them for asking. This is who I like to view horse training. I pick and choose my battles. If I can tell my horse is definitely not in the mood (maybe they are grumpy that day, maybe the flies are bothering them) then I usually decide to save it for another day. 9 times out of 10 if I respect how they are feeling they will perform bigger and better for me the next time I ask.
After the extreme pony race I was actually complimented by several spectators for not making Minnow perform the back up. In the end those compliments were well worth it to me. Minnow was happy, and specators appreciated my decision to make it more enjoyable for my horse.
So there you have it, a little peak into my week on Chincoteague Island. And for those of you wondering, sadly I did not come home with a new foal, but I swear I will someday! I actually had my eye on a georgous colt, you can hear all about it in this weeks posts, so keep reading!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
