Posts Tagged ‘training
My Favorite Chincoteague Links
I’ve decided that what will get me past my winter blues is thinking about the Summer ahead. In particular, my yearly trip to Chincoteague Island. This will be the third year that I attend with Chincoteague Minnow to paint and perform at the Chincoteague Pony Centre. I look forward to this every year and we start planning months in advance. So to sort of get my out of my funk, I’ve decided to post some of my favorite Chincoteague Pony and Misty of Chincoteague links. So check them out, and if you’ve never been to the magic that is the Chincoteague Pony Penning….maybe this is your year to go!
Pony Paintings
The website for the Trick Ponies of Chincoteague and an outlet for their creative endeavors. See videos, photos, and shop for paintings. Discover the magic of Chincoteague Ponies!
The Colorful Chincoteague
This website details all of the wide array of coat colors that Chincoteague ponies can come in. Run by fellow pony enthusiast, Amanda Geci, this website even features some of the Trick Ponies of Chincoteague. Chincoteague Minnow is under the Tobiano link and Chesapeake Lightning is under the Sabino link.
Misty’s Heaven
Everything you ever wanted to know about Misty of Chincoteague! This website is run by Matt DesJardins and Amanda Geci, and it is evident by their website that they really are Chincoteague Pony Lovers. Misty’s Heaven documents Misty’s life as well as the Misty Family Ponies and bloodlines. Be sure to check out the Misty’s Heaven Blog too!
The Chincoteague Pony Association
A must for any Chincoteague Pony lover. Registering your Chincoteague pony helps to keep track of all the ponies that left the island. The money they earn also goes to help feed and care for the wild ponies of Assateague Island. All three of the trick ponies are registered with the Chincoteague Pony Associations, we also make yearly donations to help their cause.
Thousand Welcomes Farm
A Chincoteague Pony Breeding farm located in Chapel Hill, NC. This is also where my own Blitz and Boomer were bred and raised. A wonderful family run farm that produces an excellent herd of ponies, I highly recommend if you are on the market for a new pony.
The Feather Fund
A wonderful non-profit group that continues the work of Carollyn Suplee by helping deserving children to purchase their very of own Chincoteague Pony. I think its a wonderful organization that brings the magic of the Chincoteague Ponies into a child’s home.
The Chincoteague Pony Centre
The oldest established breeder of Misty Family Ponies, also the once home to Chincoteague Minnow. During the summer season they put on a wonderful pony show at the Pony Centre, Minnow also performs here during Pony Penning week. They also have a gift shop and during the summer months the foals can be seen playing outfront. During the off season the ponies reside off the island on the Allen Family Farm.
The Wild Stallion
Here are some photos taken on January 31, 2010 of Minnow and I. Minnow is showing off his wild stallion rear. With each day he’s getting higher and higher – as he’s building more muscle and getting stronger. Enjoy!
Spanish Walk Progress
A short video of Minnow practicing his spanish walk on January 18th.
This video makes me laugh because Minnow looks even shorter and fatter than I know him to be in real life. His body is MASSIVE. He’s got a horse sized body and head with legs and a neck the size of a miniature horse. Poor Minnow, I think he dreamed of being 14 hands, sadly he topped out at 13.1. Perhaps that is why he loves his pedestal so much – he gains a few inches in height.
I also notice how Minnow really tries to avoid lifting his right front leg. I know this is because of his arthritis in his left front. If he lifts the right then most of his weight is put onto his left. He tires so hard to work through the pain and do what I’m asking of him. I might start trying to look into some supplements that I can give him, perhaps it will help him to be a little more comfortable.
Training my Horse like a Dog
I finally was able to capture some video footage of Minnow working on his rear yesterday. I’m so proud of him. He has really been able to tune into my body language and just figure out what I wanted.
Here are some shots from yesterday morning:
And here are some videos from yesterday night:
Yesterday morning I started off working in the ring, and my original plan was to back him into the corner of the fence in order to get him to get his hind end under him some more. But (as I already knew) Minnow has confinement issues, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t like feeling trapped. I tried it once and after he casually wriggled his way around me I decided this wasn’t the best method for him. So instead we worked out in the open like before. If you notice my method was to just basically rev him up with excitement – sort of like you would to a dog if you wanted them to play fetch or something like that. I danced around a bit, called his name, and got myself really enthusiastic. My energy transferred over to Minnow and he offered several nice steps of the rear. I also used the end of my target stick to get him to push his weight back on his rear instead of resting on his front end.
Later that day I was showing my mom and sister Minnow’s progress and I just happened to place him on a slight slope outside the barn. This seemed to really help Minnow rock back on his hindend and he got much higher. I think this spot might be good to keep trying to help build his hind quarters up so that he can get even higher off the ground in the future.
I think Minnow is really enjoying the rearing and Spanish Walk training. When I turn him out in the pasture after our sessions he goes bucking and carrying on with excitement. I think the other ponies are really jealous. I’m definitely going to have to get back to their training soon!
With my mom and sister still recovering from their knee injuries and surgeries I have 3 rideable ponies to choose from (Jet, Blitz and Boomer). Yet I haven’t ridden since mid-December, because I would much rather teach Chincoteague Minnow new tricks! I’m really going to have to start kicking myself into gear if I want to reach some more of my 2010 goals like taking Blitz to a Dressage competition and moving Boomer up to the Masters division in mounted games. I also wanted to buy an equestrian lifestyle subscription box. There is still so much more to accomplish this year!
At Liberty
Here’s a neat video of trick horse trainer, Tommie Turvey, and his two horses Joker and Ace, performing a liberty act.
I don’t believe in everything Tommie Turvey does in his training, but I do think he generally cares about his horses and their well-being. I also think we can learn something from every type of horse trainer out there – adapting it to your views and ways of teaching.
Chincoteague Minnow
This video made me long to do a liberty act with the trick ponies. Alas, Chincoteague Minnow will probably never be able to do a truly noteworthy liberty performance due to his arthritis. Perhaps someday Blitz and Boomer will be advanced enough to perform at liberty with me – but we are a long way from that. Minnow certainly could do it now, but watching him limp around isn’t exactly beautiful – it mostly looks cruel. I always struggle with asking Minnow to perform (which he absolutely loves) and having him look uncomfortable as he limps even at the walk. But the fact is Minnow lives with this pain everyday, if I never asked him to move I would be faced with an even bigger blimp of a pony that would undoubtedly face even more health problems due to his weight. But to an onlooker it can look as if I am “forcing” (which if anyone knows me they know I would NEVER force my horses to do anything) this limping pony to perform. The truth is he performs because he wants to not because he has to.
