Posts Tagged ‘chincoteague minnow
Sunshine on this Cloudy Day
Day 2 of the Nor’easter here in Eastern Pa. Its not really riding weather and the Trick Ponies have been a bit chilly during this sudden change in weather – but have no fear, they are bundled up in the barn keeping warm. But there is some sunshine on this very dreary day.
Minnow has received another fan letter today. It always makes me so happy to receive letters from people who have met and fallen in love with Minnow just like I have. My whole goal in traveling, performing and painting with Minnow is to be able to touch people. Perhaps Minnow will spark a lifelong love of horses in a child or even just brighten someone’s day. As I’ve said before, what I do with Minnow and the other trick ponies has never been about making money. Its always been about spreading the joy of horses, Chincoteague Ponies something special. Horses are amazing creatures and sometimes we get lost in the need to pursue a goal instead of just having fun with them. I hope that when people watch Minnow and I perform they can see how much fun we are having together, and how much Minnow enjoys it. He wouldn’t stand by my side if he didn’t love it.
So when I received this letter today it really touched me. I’d like to share some of it with you.
Its hard to believe that Pony Swim has been 3 months ago. As a first time visitor to Chincoteague, and a 50 year old fan of “Misty” I can’t find words to express what a delight the Pony Show was. Minnow (and you) ruled! The show was the highlight of the week, hands down!
A strange thing happened on this vacation. Its the first joy I experienced since my husband passed away a year ago. I felt his spirit so close in Chincoteague (we had planned an anniversary trip someday). Its as if I left part of my heart there. I shall return next year.
Minnow’s painting that I brought home, “All the Pretty Horses of Chincoteague” has caused quite a buzz around here – especially with the children. It is like a rainbow that shines in my life every day.
I think thats one of the best letters I’ve ever gotten! I could have never imagined that Minnow would touch so many people’s lives. It seems that Minnow really has found his calling – he may have been an exceptional mounted games pony back in the day- but I think that he was always meant to be a trick pony. It makes me so happy that I get to be the one to share this with him. Minnow could have ended up anywhere in the world, but I was the lucky one to have him fall into my lap. To think that at one point in his life Minnow was an unwanted/neglected pony living in a forgotten pasture. Now he’s King of the Barn and my best friend. Tonight he will get a very big hug from his #1 fan, me!
Feed the Starving Artists
I recently decided to update the PonyPaintings.com online shop. After 3 years it was time for a refreshing look. So get yourself over to the website and check out the new layout. And while your at it, be sure to pick out your favorite pony painting, afterall they are one-of-a-kind originals and the same painting will never be created again.
Don’t forget that with every purchase you are helping to feed and care for the wild ponies of Assateague Island, and the ancestors to the Trick Ponies of Chincoteague. Not only that but your purchases also help to keep the Trick Ponies happy and healthy. Your painting purchase goes directly to buying lots of hay for the boys! We can’t have any starving artists now can we!
The Wedding Guest
Our Wedding
On Sunday (October 4th) marks the 1 year anniversary for my husband and I. 1 year ago I married my high school sweetheart of 7 years and my best friend. From the very beginning we knew we’d be married someday. We spent our senior year of high school together and continued on to college together- both obtaining art degrees. And when the day came that I knew we would finally be married…..there was only one guest that I absolutely had to have at my wedding (well aside from my family).
Me and the girls
And that was Chincoteague Minnow. Minnow has been with me nearly as long as my husband has. My husband was there the day that I brought Minnow home to live with me – as a free lease from a family friend. And for 6 years Minnow has tagged along with my husband and I as we graduated high school, left for college (Minnow came with us), and then started our lives together. Minnow taught my husband to ride and appreciate horses and he taught me more than I ever could have imagined. I’ve always said that Minnow is a once in a lifetime horse, and it was only fitting that he should attend our wedding.
The Boys
So in May of last year I started the daunting task of searching for a wedding venue. No easy task when you want to have a horse as a guest. My mom was thrilled with the idea and we schemed about what Minnow would do/be in the wedding. My mother-in-law was a bit on the fence about the idea, but she willingly went along. I’m probably known as the horse crazy daughter-in-law. Many places laughed in my face when I said I wanted my horse IN the wedding, while others seemed quite willing to accommodate. I finally settled on a place that happened to be right across the street from where Minnow was living at the time – a nature conservancy that had an old mansion to accompany it. And then came the task of figuring what Minnow would do in the wedding.
Minnow walks down the isle with my sister
My mom jokingly told me that I should have Minnow be the flower girl – I don’t think she had any idea that I would take the idea seriously. I decided that I would train Minnow to throw flowers out of a basket as he walked down the isle. I knew that if I could teach Minnow to paint that it would be totally plausible for him to learn this. In fact he picked it up after 2 days of training. Below is a video of the training process that my husband filmed.
My husband tolerates the love that Minnow and I share
Once friends and family began to hear rumors that there would be a “Flower Pony” at the wedding I was met with much skepticism. In their minds it was one thing to have a horse at the wedding (I’m sure they were thinking horse drawn carriage) but to have him actually walk down the isle – and throw flowers? Most people asked me – what will you do if he leaves a stinky surprise behind? and won’t the crowd scare him? what if he runs into the audience? I usually responded with none of that will happen – I know Minnow. And I really did.
My sister and Minnow
If I had thought about having him attend 2 years earlier I would have said there is absolutely no way that he’ll be calm. Infact 2 years earlier Minnow was terrified of almost everything – I could barely even handle him at a horse show. So to think that only 2 years after his trick training and all around clicker training began that I would be having him walk down a wedding isle with hundreds of people was kinda crazy. But Minnow and I pulled it off – as I knew we would. I think he knew that this was important to me.
The Flower Pony
October 4th, 2008 came and I was so excited! Not just to marry my high school sweetheart – but also to prove my friends and family wrong as my little Minnow walked down my wedding isle. I also think I was proving to myself, that I knew this pony, and I knew that he would make me proud. It was sort of a culmination of what Minnow and I had learned together over the years. Clicker training completely changed our relationship – but would it be enough to ward off a horse’s natural instincts and the desire to run from anything frightening. Not only that but I was not going to be the one walking Minnow down the isle – my little sister would. And as much as I try to impress my teaching methods on my sister – she has little patience for the training techniques I use, and she’s not “connected” to Minnow the way that I am.
So as I peeked through the trees that day, I watched as Minnow stepped up onto the stone ledge infront of my guests. I watched as he marched infront of them dropping flowers as he passed. And I watched as he walked up the steps. No stinky surprise, no freak out, nothing. I was so proud.
(sorry I don’t actually have the real wedding video to show you – I still haven’t seen it! If you are reading dad….is it ready YET?)
The wedding party
What made the day even better (well other than the fact that I got married) was that as an EXTREMELY generous wedding gift, Minnow’s owners decided to give him to me. I was so happy. I knew that they would probably never ask for him back, but in the back of my mind I always worried that one day they would want him again. Knowing that he would be with me forever was one of the most wonderful things I could have ever asked for. I found out that he was to be mine while I was on my honeymoon in Nicaragua. So when I returned home the first thing I did was rush to the barn so that I could whisper in Minnow’s ear that he would always be with me.
So thus ends my enchanting wedding story. Does anyone else have a story about a horse in a wedding? Am I the only crazy person to teach their horse to throw flowers down the isle? Do tell.
If this isn’t a convincing enough story as to why you should try clicker training with your horse, I don’t know what is.
Photography courtsey of Daniel Williams Photography. Aren’t they amazing? Hire him!
Stroke of Genius
Minnow's newest painting "Bliss"
So yesterday you hopefully read about how there are now TWO painting ponies at PonyPaintings.com. I briefly mentioned how I used Minnow as “teacher” to show the other ponies how it was done – and today I’d like to go into that a little further.
When I started painting with Minnow on Sunday I began thinking about the different strokes that he does. Sometimes he makes up and down marks, sometimes he swirls the brush around, sometimes he jabs at the canvas, and occasionally he misses the canvas all together and “air” paints. So I started wondering what made him decide which stroke to do. Why did he choose to jab the canvas this time and not the next time? Did he actually know he was making something? The answer is actually much simpler than that (I know my horse is smart – but sometimes I probably give him way too much credit). The real answer is that I was telling him what type of marks to make – although I didn’t even know it.
New Mini Paintings by Minnow
When I paint with Minnow I no longer use the clicker, I instead just occasionally give him a bite of grain to keep him interested and sometimes a “Good Boy” or a pat. In my mind I’m just giving him a treat at random – for continuing to paint, and typically I’ll chose a time that he really made a nice mark on the canvas and then handed the brush back to me. But this isn’t why Minnow thought he was getting food.
After about a 1/2 hour of really studying how he was painting I realized that his marks are being influenced by when I give him a reward. If I gave him a treat when he did an up and down stroke then the next time he does a stroke he will do another up and down mark. Seeing that I didn’t reward him that time he tries another stroke, and then another until I finally produce a treat for him. Then the next stoke will be again a repeat of the one that produced the food. And so on the process goes. So basically without even knowing it I was directing Minnow as to what strokes I wanted him to make.
Chincoteague Minnow
Of course the next thing I did was experiment with him. I decided to only give him food when he made a really vigorous mark on the canvas. He also got a “Good Boy” as Minnow recognizes this word in almost the same way he does a click – because I use it a lot. If I give a really exuberant “Good Boy” with a hug and a pat he knows he did exceptionally well. Below you can watch the video of me working with Minnow on only “elaborate” brush strokes. As you can see he tries to just do the “bare minimum” sometimes – but I don’t reward him and wait for a bigger stroke.
I was impressed at the fact that Minnow is constantly trying to figure out what produces the food – perhaps this is why he would paint for hours if I let him. I’m going to continue to play with this concept and see if I can get him to make swirls with the brush or zig zags or something really interesting. Maybe I could even get him to paint something specific. Ever see the elephants that do that? I’m not sure if I could ever teach Minnow to paint something “specific” but that certainly would be amazing.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Pony Artist
On Saturday Minnow and I attended the Ludwigs Corner Horse Show. Minnow performed some of his tricks and then painted a few paintings for onlookers. This year’s event drew a much bigger crowd for Minnow than last year. Many people had even heard of Minnow and we’re excited to see him. This week I plan to share with you some photos and videos from the event (as soon as I am able to snag them from my dad).
"Adeline's Pinky"
So today I thought I would share with you the two new paintings that Minnow created while at Ludwigs. This was the first time Minnow painted since our trip about a month ago to Chincoteague Island. His first painting was titled “Adeline’s Pinky” aptly named by the 4 year old girl who it was purchased for. She dawned a little pink cowboy hat and was in love with everything pink. So her wonderful grandmother decided to purchase the painting for her. It was evident after Saturday that Minnow needs to get more in touch with his feminine side. All of the little girls were wanting their parents to purchase them the pink painting. Sadly I only had one, but I told them not to worry – Minnow’s always up for custom work.
"Feathers in the Wind"
The next painting was meant for the boys (or girls) – with its bright blue background. This painting I titled “Feathers in the Wind” because the light airy brushstrokes reminded me of floating feathers. This painting is still available for purchase and would make some lucky child (or adult) very happy. So if you are in love with this one you better snatch it up fast. Minnow’s paintings have been flying off the shelf this year and I’m not sure when we will have time again to paint more.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
