Posts Tagged ‘painting
‘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
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!
Keeping it in the Family
Boomerang
Last weekend was a busy painting weekend as Minnow created lots of new works and Blitz took to painting his first masterpiece with ease. But what about Boomerang? Younger brother to Blitz by a year and devoted follower/watcher of King Minnow – Boomer has the least amount of trick training (or training in general) out of all the Trick Ponies. But that didn’t stop Boomer from picking up the paint brush just like the others.
I mentioned a few days ago that I basically taught Blitz how to paint by allowing him to watch Minnow create his own masterpieces. But Blitz had already had some basic training on how to pick up objects and had already steadily been practicing holding the paintbrush. So when I decided to let Boomer give it a try, I wasn’t sure how he would do. Boomer knows one “mouth” trick and thats to play fetch. He successfully retrieves a fetch toy with his mouth – a trick that he really only learned this summer and has yet to have much practice with it. So I had a lot of doubts that he would even hold the brush considering I had never showed it to him before.
Boomer playing with the tuff ball
But Boomer is not your typical horse. I’m not kidding when I say I have YET to find a single thing that Boomer is afraid of or won’t do. Odd for a newly turned 6 year old that doesn’t have much life experience. In fact before I bought him last summer his only true experiences were ring work and a few hunter shows. He’d never even been out on a trail – something that can be quite scary for a horse the first time. Scary rocks, tall trees, rustlings in the bushes. So on the day that I purchased him in Virginia I was amazed when he went out on a trail with me, walked over a bridge, and let pool noodles smack him in the face with not so much as a bat of the eye. I knew then that Boomer was a special kind of horse. Since then I’ve exposed him to countless things that never seem faze him.
Just this Wednesday I had an 11 year old boy stop by my farm. I popped him on Boomer and told him to run through the obstacle course I had set up in my ring. The obstacles consisted of the giant ball, a tarp, some strange flags, a bicycle, and a bunch of soccer balls among many other things. Boomer had seen some of the stuff…never the soccer balls. Boomer kicked the ball around with the boy on his back, he tamped over the tarp, picked up the flags, let a pair of jingle bells flap all over his face, let the child ride the bicycle while leading him and trotted through the cluster of soccer balls. Lets just say I was so proud of Boomer. He’s definitely one in a million.
Boomer after his painting session
So that being said – back to the painting. After letting Minnow and then Blitz practice their painting skills I decided to pull Boomer out as well. He stomped up to the easel and stood infront of it like he had been doing it all his life. I handed him a paintbrush and he actually held it. After a few practices holding it I decided to ask him to touch the paper. Several minutes later he was consistently touching the paper. I decided not to ask too much of him (like strokes and such) in one day, but I have no doubt that within the next week or so Boomer will be the third painting Chincoteague pony to reside at Iron Horse Farm.
Boomer has been really fun to train because I can do/show him almost anything. With Minnow (and Blitz too) I have always had to be careful how or what I show him. Minnow in the beginning had extreme trust issues, not to mention he had issues with sound or anything that made a noise. As you can see he’s progressed TREMENDOUSLY in the 6 years I have had him, but I still always have to be careful what I ask of him or show him. With Boomer he’s like a clean slate. The first time I showed him a tarp he picked it up and flung it at his unsuspecting brother Blitz. Funny – but it set me back a bit with Blitz’s training…thanks Boomer. On Wednesday I brought out the big ball and he proceeded to put all of his weight on it until the point where he layed down on it (with me on his back!). With Boomer the possibilities are endless as to what he can learn. It makes me dream of days where maybe I will be walking him into a school or a nursing home so he can entertain people or perhaps he’ll be riding on a float in a parade – if I can think of it he will probably do it! My guess is (and he’s lucky) Boomer has never been given any reason to not trust people. He was born and raised by the loving people that I bought him from (www.1000welcomesfarm.com) and I think he’s been fortunate to have a life thus far where nothing bad has ever happened to him. I’ve never had a horse before that didn’t have some sort of traumatizing issues – and as much as I love working and helping the troubled ones, its a bit refreshing to have a pony that has no issues.
So I ask you….can you think of anything CRAZY I should try with Boomer? I’d love to hear your suggestions!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
September Giveaway – WINNER!
September Giveaway
So its time to announce the winner for Minnow’s mini-painting giveaway. Interestingly we had 23 views to the post but only 3 people commented to win the prize! But regardless, with the help of Random.org we were able to generate the completely random winner! And the winner is….. Mary H. from http://stalecheerios.com/blog I love her idea of a liberty act with multiple horses. I’ve always dreamed of the day where I can work all three of my boys in the ring at one time. So congrats to Mary – and I hope you enjoy Minnow’s painting. And for everyone who didn’t win I still have a gift for you!
If you purchase a Pony Painting between now and next Friday (October 2, 2009) I will give you 10% off the painting price. To receive the discount simply e-mail me at info@ponypaintings.com with the subject SEPT SALE and tell me which painting you would like to purchase. I will then send you an updated paypal invoice that reflects the sale price.
Hopefully we will be able to have more giveaways in the future….so keep reading!!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
