Posts Tagged ‘chincoteague minnow
New Paintings!
"Fence Painting" by Chesapeake Lightning
I’m happy to announce the release of 4 new paintings. Chincoteague Minnow has painted 2 works of art and also for the first time EVER we are offering 2 paintings by Chesapeake Lightning (Blitz). Blitz only recently just learned to paint and I’m happy to report that he’s enjoying it just as much as his older brother Minnow. I find it fascinating that Blitz has a completely different technique when it comes to painting. Minnow prefers to be a little more “wild and crazy” with his brush strokes, while Blitz is very precise and methodical. He really likes to paint up and down strokes and is very deliberate about where he puts the brush. I like to call his style “fence painting”, because thats exactly what it looks like.
Anyway, you can check out all the boys work by visiting their online shop here. The paintings make a great gift for friends and family. And don’t forget that by purchasing a Pony Painting you are helping to support the wild ponies of Assateague Island. Two Christmas gifts in one!
Don’t forget to bid on Minnow’s Christmas Ornaments to help raise money for the Main Line Animal Rescue.
"Sugar Plum Dreams" by Chincoteague Minnow
‘Tis The Season To Give
Chincoteague Minnow - Head Painter
Since 2007 Chincoteague Minnow has been creating paintings. What started off as a fun project to do with my spunky little Chincoteague Pony turned into a way to give back to my community and evolved into not just one painting pony, but a herd of painting ponies. Since Minnow’s very first painting was created I have been donating some of his profits to some of my favorite Charities. This year we raised enough money to donate $150 to the Chincoteague Pony Association. All proceeds generated by the Chincoteague Pony Association goes directly to the care, maintenance, and support of the wild ponies of Assateague Island, VA for items such as – Feeding, Veterinary Bills, Farriers, Inoculations, etc. The wild ponies of Assateague have been on the island for over 300 years, and my very own Chincoteague Minnow was born on the island in 1993. I choose to donate to this organization because they use the money to help continue on a 300 year old legacy and preserve a breed that likely would have otherwise been extinct. Each year volunteers from the Chincoteague Fire Company visit the island to provide medical care to ponies in need, they also provide hay for the ponies when food is scarce and they bore holes in the ice so that the ponies have water to drink in freezing conditions.
Myself and Minnow with one of his paintings
I am thankful for those who care enough for this wild and ancient breed to donate their time to keep them happy and healthy. It warms my heart to know that Minnow (and the other trick ponies’) works of art can go towards helping their own kind, and their wild ancestors.
This year I have also decided to donate to one of my local animal shelters, Main Line Animal Rescue. Rescues are extra special to me, because Chincoteague Minnow was once a victim of irresponsible horse care. It took me a long time to regain his trust again, and I am thankful everyday that there are those out there that rescue and give love to animals just like Minnow.
To raise money for the Main Line Animal Rescue Minnow painted 2 Holiday Christmas Ornaments on November 29th. We will be giving away these ornaments on the blog to whomever bids the highest. 100% of the sales will be donated to the Main Line Animal Rescue.
In order to be the highest bidder simply comment on this post with how much you are willing to donate. The two highest bidders will each get one of Minnow’s custom painted Christmas Ornaments along with a 4×6 photo of Minnow painting. So get into the Holiday Spirit – help a worthy charity – and get something unique for your holiday tree!
"horse-painted" ornaments by Chincoteague Minnow
HOW TO WIN:
Comment: Place a comment on this post with the total amount that you are willing to donate. You may comment as many times as you like – your highest bid will be used in the contest.
Prize: The two highest bidders will each receive a custom ORIGINAL painted glass Christmas Ornament by Chincoteague Minnow along with a 4×6 photo of Minnow painting. Payment will be accepted by paypal at the close of the contest.
Deadline: The deadline to bid is December 12th at 10am EST
100% of the sale of Minnow’s Holiday Christmas Ornaments will be donated to the Main Line Animal Rescue.
Don’t forget that there are lots of great paintings still available in the Ponies online shop. With each purchase you are helping to raise money to help feed and care for the wild ponies of Assateague Island. Several new paintings will be going up for sale soon!
-KD & The Trick Ponies
www.ponypaintings.com
Spending My Time Wisely
On Friday I did something I haven’t done in a really long time…but was long overdue.
It was a surprisingly mild November night, and after finishing all of my barn work and chores I decided to spend some time with Minnow. Armed with a few brushes (and the dachshund bundled in his winter coat) I settled myself into the pile of hay in Minnow’s stall. Minnow munched around me, occasionally giving me and the dachshund kisses (he’s so sweet like that). I scratched his itchy spots, brushed his muddy coat (from all the rain we’ve had) and basically just enjoyed being with him. I sat in his stall for about an hour before dragging myself away.
I’ve always known the importance of just enjoying my horses, not asking for something specific from them, just letting them be horses and observing. Its of huge importance for horses to bond with their owner/rider/special person – and to be undemanding of your horse helps to accomplish this. But, in actuality its always hard to find time to do this. You carve out time to go to the barn – and you want to “do” something. I know the feeling, I’m guilty of this all of the time. But horses don’t feel this same need, and sometimes its better to do nothing.
I think I spent the most time doing nothing with Minnow when I was in college. When he was in his most intense part of training with me I decided to bring him to college with me. Needless to say I think I spent more time at the barn evading school work than anything else. But it brought Minnow and I much closer.
I’d just sit in his stall and watch him eat hay, or I’d lay in the grass with him while he got his fill. I even studied in the pasture while he was just “being a horse”. Most of the time he ignored me, but occasionally he’d wander over and nuzzle my hair, or tug at my boots – signs that he was interested in me and what I was doing in there with him. Getting a horse interested can sometimes be one of the toughest things to accomplish – and for Minnow especially, these steps were huge. He was a pony that was easily terrified of everything – but rather than touching it to see what it was he opted to completely ignore the situation – to the point where when faced with a strange object he would turn his head all the way around so he didn’t even have to look at it. So bringing curiosity out of him was always a major struggle for me. So with each time Minnow CHOSE to touch me, or my books he was becoming more and more curious – curiosity that helped me to get him over his fear of the mounted games equipment, fear of noises, fear of pretty much anything.
So on Friday night as I sat in Minnow’s pile of hay I thought back to those wonderful days we spent together in college and I vowed that I MUST do nothing with my horses more often.
The Greening of Whitney Brown
One of my childhood friends (who I learned to ride with!) now works at a Gypsy Vanner Farm, El Brio Vanner, across the street from my farm. Her favorite horse, Odd Job Bob, is the star in a movie that is currently filming, “The Greening of Whitney Brown”. Bob spent most of this summer with famous trick trainer, Tommie Turvey, where he learned to lay down among many other tricks. I’ve been watching Tommie’s Youtube channel all summer as I’ve seen videos of Bob learning liberty signals and tricks specific to the movie. I feel like I know a movie star…even though I still haven’t met Bob!
In the spring I brought two of the Trick Ponies over to El Brio Vanner to give my friend a preview of what I had taught them and how I had taught them – unfortunately Bob had already left to get training for his big movie debut. I’m hoping when he finally returns home in a few weeks I will get a chance to meet this special horse. Maybe I can get his autograph. 🙂
Here’s a little info on the movie:
THE GREENING OF WHITNEY BROWN follows the misadventures of ‘Whitney Brown’ (SAMMI HANRATTY), a privileged and popular Philadelphia teenager whose world is upended when her parents, ‘Henry’ (AIDAN QUINN) and ‘Joan’ (BROOKE SHIELDS), experience sudden economic problems that necessitate a family move to Whitney’s grandparents’ old farm in the country. There, far from her dizzying world of shallow girlfriends, endless parties and school pressures, she finds a new best pal: ‘Odd Job Bob’, a beautiful and spirited Gypsy Vanner horse owned by her new neighbor ‘Dusty’ (KRIS KRISTOFFERSON) — a crusty rancher who turns out to be her estranged grandfather. Through her new relationships with Odd Job Bob, Dusty and her parents, Whitney rediscovers what it means to respect not only nature and her family, but also someone very special she had almost lost touch with: herself.
And here are a few behind the scenes clips:
Super exciting! I hope someday one of the Trick Ponies will make it into a movie – wouldn’t that be cool. For now I’m living vicariously through my friend! 🙂
I’m on TV mom!
OK so I was going to wait a few more days to post this…because I thought I could get a better video of it, but I just can’t wait any longer.
My boys were on National TV!! Thats right, Ammo the Dachshund and Minnow appeared on Animal Planet’s America’s Cutest Dogs clip show on Saturday, October 24th. They weren’t one of the main videos – but a short clip of them showed up in the “Odd Couples” section. The coolest thing about it is that I didn’t even know that they had made the show. In the beginning of the summer I received an e-mail from Animal Planet’s casting director mentioning that they had come across my videos of Ammo and Minnow playing on youtube. They asked if I would consider submitting them to be considered for the show. Of course I agreed (how cool would that be) – they came back to me a few months later and asked if I would sign some release forms – which had me thinking they were really going to use the clips. But after several more months of not hearing anything I assumed they decided to go a different direction. That is until I got a facebook message from a friend who said she was watching the show and saw a clip of my boys on the show.
When I got the message I of course rushed to the tv to try to record a re-run of the episode. Thankfully it was playing again and I was able to catch all the action. Neat to think that even though it was a small clip someone still recognized them on the show. Anyway – without further ado…here is the clip as seen on the show followed by the full original video that I took of them.
Pretty cool. I hope that its the first of many television appearances – and this is infact the very first time any of the Trick Ponies have made it on TV – and to think its on Animal Planet! Way to aim high boys!
