Archive for July, 2009
Minnow gets ready for the Beach
After my week-long beach vacation I picked up a few things for Minnow. One of my purchases was a beach bucket and shovel. I really wasn’t sure what I would teach Minnow with this “prop” but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try something. So I started off with the obvious – teaching Minnow to carry around the bucket. Then I decided this was just too boring. So I then proceeded to teach him to pick up the shovel – which evolved into asking him to “scoop” sand. Below you can see the video of our near-final result. Took him about 5 minutes to master this skill. He’s amazingly fast at learning new skills – he continues to impress me with each new task.
Minnow even performed this latest trick during our newest skit for a group of campers yesterday (and a newspaper photographer!). But you will just have to wait until to tomorrow to watch that video! And within the next few days I hope to be posting up a new newspaper article written about the famous Minnow of Chincoteague! So be sure to check back everyday – or else you might miss something exciting!
Accepting Boarders
Iron Horse Farm
Iron Horse Farm, where the Trick Ponies of Chincoteague live and site of my family’s new horse farm, is now accepting full boarders!
Our Facility
8 12’x12’ matted stalls with dutch doors
1 12’ x 16’ matted foaling stall
4 pastures with 2 bay sheds
1 small paddock with screenings
Hot/Cold Water Wash Stall
Tackroom with boarder lockers (lockers to be constructed soon)
Bathroom
150’ x 290’ riding ring with screenings and lights (footing and lights to be added soon)
Access to stadium jumps
Access to miles of trails including the Laurels
For more information please visit our website!
Hippo….what?
As promised I have plenty of new and exciting things going on with the trick ponies! I stayed at Iron Horse Farm until 10pm last night working with the horses. I missed them so much after my week-long beach vacation. After spending the week reading my new book “The Click that Teaches: Riding with the Clicker” by Alexandra Kurland I had lots of ideas spinning in my head that I wanted to try with my own horses. So when I arrived at the barn around 6pm last night, the first thing I did was drag out an old bareback pad that I had. I attached stirrups to it as well as some extra thick pads underneath for added cusioning. I “saddled” up Minnow and threw a bitless bridle on him. I think Minnow was a bit concerned because he hasn’t had any type of girth on in well over a year – due to his diagnosis of ringbone (equine arthritis) in March of 2008. (don’t worry all we did was walk)
My plan was to attempt the hippodrome stand. Now if you are hearing this word for the first time you are probably thinking – what the heck? Basically the hippodrome is a trick riding term which pertains to standing on the top of your horse while he usually gallops around the arena. Many trick riders use this in their performances and some even perform the hippodrome roman style – meaning having 2 horses in tandem that they stand on. I’ve never had any trick riding training, and honestly I’ve only ever seen it performed in demos/exhibitions. I secretly wish I could attend a trick riding school because it looks so cool.
So that being said – here is an example of a young girl doing the hippodrome stand on her pony Puddles.
I have noticed that most trick riders perform the hippodrome with a special trick riding saddle that in addition to having lots of extra straps and handles to hold onto, it has 2 foot loops near the front to put your feet into in order to perform the hippodrome. But since I don’t own a trick saddle I figured I’d try to do it bareback (hence the bareback pad). I have seen bareback roman riding – but I haven’t been able to locate any hippodrome stands with a single horse and bareback. Maybe its not possible? Its definitely hard! Lucky for me Minnow is so fat and wide that I had a little extra room to spread my legs for balance. But before I say much more….watch my attempt below:
As you can see when Minnow starts and stops suddenly it is very hard to keep my balance (hence why I fell off at the end). I was trying to experiment with different ways to position my feet for balance. I think I’m going to have to do a bit more research – especially to find out if anyone performs the hippodrome without straps to straddle the horse. This idea would be very similar to the way a jockey rides. Their stirrups are so short that when a jockey straightens his legs he’s almost standing.
So anyway I hope you enjoyed my failed attempt at the hippodrome stand. If there is any trick riders out there I welcome as much help as I can get! Check back on tuesday – because I not only worked on the hippodrome stand with Minnow, but I also taught him a brand new trick. But for suspense you will have to wait till after the weekend to hear about it!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
From Beach to Barn
So I’m back from the beach (a little early) – and I know you all missed my posts on the blog. Well have no fear – I’m back in action. I haven’t been out to the barn yet as we got in late last night, but I will surely be out there after work! I did get to pick up our Dachshund, Ammo, from my parent’s house and he greeted us with a very enthusastic HELLO! This was the first time we left our 9 month old puppy somewhere …I think he was very glad to be home in his own bed. He did get to have a lot of fun with my parent’s dog Trooper however. I felt a little bit like a mom going away on vacation without their child for the first time – I missed him terribly. I don’t know how I will do it again when I leave for Chincoteague, Virgnia in 2 weeks for pony penning – atleast Ammo will get to stay home with my husband.
Family Photo with my in-laws
Now you may notice that today’s post is not about the trick ponies (afterall I’ve been away from them for almost a week) because there isn’t much to report. I did however do some beach reading of my newest clicker training book. So I have lots of ideas floating in my head. I even picked up some beach toys for Minnow so that he can learn some new tricks before pony penning. So stay tuned as all that develops next week! And hopefully these few photos from my beach vacation will satisfy you – I even threw in a photobooth strip (I have a complete obsession with photobooths and I swear one day I will own one in my own home).
Ammo glad to be home in his bed
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Clicker Training Interview
This is going to be my last blog post for a few days…….because I’m going on Vacation! I’m ready for a little break. I have a tendency to go, go, go all the time and don’t take much time for myself. So my short trip to the beach is coming at a very good time. Although I will miss the trick ponies greatly! And my Dachshund, Ammo too!
Now back to the post for today….
I wanted to share with you a neat interview with Sharon Foley about clicker training. You can listen to it here. I have to admit that I haven’t gotten to listen to the whole thing yet (everytime I sit down to listen to it I get interrupted). But I will do so shortly! And if not you can all tell me what you learned!
Anyway hope you are able to enjoy the 4th of July weekend with friends and family (and ponies too). See you when I return!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
