The new trailer made packing this year a little more bearable though. Instead of having to bungee pedestals, easels and paints into a bay in our two horse trailer, we now had a front and rear tackroom to work with. But with all the added storage space, we still couldn’t let little Ammo stowaway. Sadly the island isn’t very “dog friendly” as most of the parks and hotels don’t allow dogs (although ponies walking down main street to greet people is a common occurrence! ha).<\/p>\n

Minnow made the 4 hour journey to the island with ease, just as he has for the past 3 years. This was actually the first time he had ever ridden in the new trailer, but being the trooper he is it was a piece of cake. We arrived with just a few short hours to prepare before Minnow was set to perform. The first day of performing is always the hardest – because we are yet to get into a routine. Figuring out when\/where to set up his props, getting a feel for how much time between “acts” he has for a “costume change” – even for Minnow it takes a little bit to get into the swing of things.<\/p>\n

During Minnow’s first performance of the week he painted “Peace of Paradise”.<\/p>\n

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"Peace of Paradise" by Minnow - pony penning 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

I got to watch a little bit of the rest of the performances during the pony show at the Chincoteague Pony Centre – but it was hard to see everything while making sure Minnow was prepared for his next “act”.<\/p>\n

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I’m so impressed by all the kids that work at the Pony Centre. During the pony show they finagle ponies in and out of paddocks – including mare’s and foals, tack and untack horses – all while making sure they are in the arena at their designated times to perform. I have enough trouble making sure Minnow and I are ready to go in the arena (and I have my mom along to help me!). Most people don’t get to see the “back end” of it, and believe me – they make it look way easier than it is!<\/p>\n

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“Stormy Sea” by Minnow – pony penning 2011<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

During the evening show Minnow painted “Stormy Sea” and afterwards my mom and I mustered up enough energy to head over to the Island Creamery.<\/p>\n

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Double chocolate ice cream for me – I love chocolate almost as much as I do ponies! Then it was back to the hotel for the night – where I got to read Minnow’s article that made it into the paper!<\/p>\n

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You can read the entire article by clicking HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And thus our first day on the island came to an end, keep reading to hear our recap on the rest of the week!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"