Posts Tagged ‘clicker training
Master Painter
Silver Raindrops by Chincoteague Minnow
So as I mentioned yesterday, Chincoteague Minnow created three new paintings during my family’s barn opening party on June 20th. I was able to get them uploaded to the website yesterday, where they are now available for purchase. You can check out all the paintings Minnow has available by clicking here.
Partly Cloudy by Chincoteague Minnow
Next Monday Minnow will be performing and painting t-shirts for a local group of campers at Iron Horse Farm. I think everyone will have a blast with this project – Minnow will certainly enjoy the attention!
In other (unrelated) news – my “Dachshund House” seems to be moving along (the home that I am trying to buy because my Dachshund will love it). The sellers accepted
our offer and now we move onto inspections – keep you fingers crossed for us, my husband and I are very much looking forward to having a place to call our own. We will definitely be decorating the house with artwork done by The Trick Ponies of Chincoteague. And I can’t lie that I contemplated letting Minnow come over and “paint the walls” – you have to admit that would probably be a first, but I’m not sure I could get my husband to consent. 🙂
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Minnow stands on the pedestal with all 4 feet for the first time
Minnow Performs
On Saturday we had our big barn party to celebrate the opening of Iron Horse Farm. Despite the on and off downpours of rain we had a pretty good turnout. The rain even cleared enough so that Minnow could paint and perform for party attendees. Minnow seemed to be a big hit as all the children gathered around to watch him. He created 3 new paintings – one of which I decided to keep because it turned out to be a colaborative effort between Minnow and my Dachshund, Ammo (who ran across the painting while it was wet giving it some very neat paw print marks). Perhaps Ammo will be the next artist in the barn.
Minnow was definitely on his game on Saturday – as soon as crowds appear he becomes the little showman. He performed all his tricks flawlessly and even for the first time got on his pedestal with all 4 feet. I thought he was quite impressive and I was very proud of him!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
The Look of Understanding
So I felt badly at not posting much “trick horse” stuff lately. So here is a series of videos of a trick trained horse named Lukas. I love watching the connection Lukas has with his trainer, you can actually see him responding and thinking about her every cue. I’ve noticed that this particular connection between a trainer and horse is particularly present in clicker trained/reward based trained horses. You can tell the horses actually want and enjoy learning. All of my boys have the same look in their eyes that Lukas does. Its a wonderful thing when you can find a way to communicate with an animal – something amazing starts to happen.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Mounted Games in the News
Recently some of my riding companions/friends were featured on the news for our sport of choice, Mounted Games. I think its great that our sport is making strides to get Mounted Games noticed by the world – we all have high hopes of someday having Mounted Games added to the list of equestrian sports in the Olympics. What an accomplishment that would be! Anyway enjoy the videos! WATCH HERE
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Footlong Racing
Ammo waking up the morning of the races
On Sunday I took my Dachshund, Ammo, to the Keystone Dachshund Races. I had pre-entered him months ago and was very excited to attend. The event was held to raise money for the Keystone Dachshund Rescue – I’m always up for supporting a good cause…especially if it involves animals. I had been practicing with Ammo for this event – mainly working on his “Come” – which being a puppy of 8 months old was somewhat difficult. I knew he would be plenty fast enough (he can keep up with my australian shepherd/lab mix no problem) it was more a question of would he listen to me.
Ammo gets ready for the start of the race
Well my suspicions were right – Ammo was more interested in touching all of the other puppies than to running to me. He even sat down in the middle of a race to give himself a good scratch. He didn’t even want his treats (a huge first for him!) and despite my best efforts he didn’t win a single race even though he was the largest and oldest puppy in the divisions. But despite my puppies’ failure I was still very proud of him, aside from not listening when I called he was very well behaved. I felt like a proud mom attending their child’s first sporting event (so this is what it feels like!). My husband and I (along with many of our family members) had a great time – hopefully we will be able to attend next year. I thought it was wonderful to see all the different colors and sizes that dachshunds come in. We saw a whole array of Dachshunds – even some in baby front packs and strollers. Ammo’s buddy, Trooper (my parent’s dog and Ammo’s best friend), tagged along for support. People commented on what a strange Dachshund he was (weighing in at 55 lbs and legs 10x’s longer than the average Dachshund) – I had to laugh.
See all of the photos from the event here.
Ammo stoping inches from the finish line for a good scratch
The day after the races I had to take my poor little guy to have a baby tooth pulled that wouldn’t fall out. When I picked him up he looked at me with the saddest eyes and ran straight for the car. I felt horrible – he spent the rest of the day moping around – I’m sure he will forgive me in the future….but I couldn’t help but feel like a terrible mom. He got extra kisses that night…and I even snuck him into bed with me…he just needed his mama. 🙂
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Ammo proudly displays his ribbons from the day
