Joust Race

Monday ~ October 15, 2012

Joust race is one of the favorites of most games riders.  It is generally played at full speed.  The joust rod is heavy and awkward and handing it over at full speed can be challenging.  The joust board is a specialized piece of equipment that is relatively expensive in comparison to all other pieces of games equipment and not everyone has one to practice with at home.  The targets make a loud clanking noise when they are hit down and some ponies find it a bit scary.

In this photo, Simon and I are in the second rider position. He is pushing hoof up the field and I have just successfully speared my target down.
I love Simon’s face in this photo. It matches how I think he feels playing this race, like a bad ass. I love my pony.
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography
Mid-Atlantic #5 October 14th, 2012

In the joust race two riders on each team start at either end of the field.  Rider one starts with a joust rod in hand, and gallops up the field, spearing down one target, and then continues to the end of the field.  Rider one then hands the target over to rider two, who returns up the field, also knocking one target down.  Rider three and four continue the pattern.

Here is the official MGAA instructions for the Joust Race from the 2012 Rulebook followed by the diagram of set up.

Click on the link below to see a youtube video of my team playing Joust Race last June at the Mid-Atlantic #2 competition in Doswell, Virginia.  This was Simon’s second competition.

MA #2 2011, Joust – Old School

And here are a few more Joust Race photos.

Masters Rider at Mid-Atlantic #4 2012
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Teammate Carol Ann at Mid-Atlantic #5 2012
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

Intermediate Rider at Mid-Atlantic #5
Photo: Genevieve of EquiStar Photography

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by riderofchaos on October 15, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by riderofchaos on October 15, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/10/15/joust-race/

Do You Want to Sell Your Pony or Not? – 2012

About two weeks ago I saw a craigslist pony for sale ad that appeared to meet all of my criteria.

A stocky gelding, that is the exact height I want, English/western, sounds like he is ready to go and he fits into my meager price range.

I followed the ad’s instructions and sent a text message inquiring about the pony’s age and location.  The age comes back as 8/9 and he is two hours away.  So I text back asking if I can call that afternoon.  “yes” is the response.

After work I give a ring and leave a voicemail.

Over the rest of the week I try another voicemail and another text.

No response.

So I figure they sold the pony and are just too inconsiderate to reply “sold” to my text.  Those 4 letters, so hard to text.

This Monday I see the ad renewed on craigslist.

What the… ok, a little irked now.

So I call back, I send another text and I reply to the craigslist post via email.

At this point, I already have red flags circling this pony, but I really want to know what the deal is.

Of course, there is no response.  So I try making a call at lunch time, and to my surprise, I get an answer.

Well, specifically, I hear the phone pick up and someone yelling to someone else for a minute while I say hello a few times. Then she comes on the phone and the whack-job alarm officially goes off.
During our very brief conversation she changes the ponies age from 9 to 7 and then to 6 years old.  She is sure if he is 13.2, and after asking twice, no she has not actually measured him, but she is “good at guessing”.  She insists he is not a kids pony, “he has too much spunk”.  I explain I am an adult and shopping for myself.  She continues with how great he is, he jumps, he trail rides, he goes English and western, and would make a great show pony for a kid.  I ask if he neck reins, “well I don’t know.  I haven’t ridden him”.

K, so what do you mean by, he goes western??? He carries a western saddle?

Then she mentions his “only vice”, which is that she can’t catch him.  Everyone else can, but she can’t.  “Which is the only reason he is not kid safe.  He is too hard to catch”.

Yeah, ok.

Next she says I can come try him out.  I say, “Would next Wednesday afternoon work for you?” and she says “I guess I can try and find someone to meet you this Friday morning, maybe.” I am literally making an ‘WTF’ face at my phone, but tell her I am busy until next week.  Then she tells me that she has had him for sale for a whopping two weeks and, get this, NO one has come to see him.  So she is taking him to an auction this weekend in Pennsylvania.  I roll my eyes and tell her, “well never mind then.  I wanted to come see him last weekend but you didn’t return my calls so I guess this just won’t work out.”

Then she says “well we might no sale him if we don’t get what we want.”  And that  I can “give her a ring next week”.  Yeah, cause calling her for the past two weeks was so effective.  Then she comes in with “I can find you a different pony.  I can work for you.”

It was all I could do to politely end the conversation with a “No Thank you”.

I mean really, how is she supposed to sell the pony if she doesn’t answer her phone or return calls?

And the pony shopping continues…

***If you click on this image of the ad, it gets big enough to actually read!

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by riderofchaos on October 10, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by riderofchaos on October 10, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/10/10/do-you-want-to-sell-your-pony-or-not/

MGAA Mid-Atlantic Mounted Games Series #4

This past weekend was the forth installment of the Mounted Games Across America (MGAA) Mid-Atlantic Series.  It was a two day competition held in Centre Hall, PA at the Grange Fairgrounds near State College.

I drove up Friday and arrived in the mid afternoon.  I had plenty of time to set up my stall and camp area and then I took Simon out for a nice hack.  It was very enjoyable to be joined by some of my favorite non team members, Nancy, Kim and Kelsey.  This early arrival hack really does a lot for both me and Simon.  It loosens us both up and gets some of the gusto out.

This weekend we were lucky enough to have Genevieve ride with us.  She usually riders on a different team in a different division but stepped up to ride with us when we sadly lost teammate Zoe to a job (she is a pony rider at Charlestown Race Track).  Gen fit in great, and was an amazing asset to our team.  She usually takes photos of us, but friend, Annie, stepped in for her and did a great job.

Me and Gen hanging in the hold area.

Normally our division rides first in the schedule, but this weekend the schedule was flip flopped and we rode last.  So we got to sleep in a bit, take our time feeding and cleaning our ponies up, and working our assistant referee and ring crew shifts.  We rode our first session at lunch time, which seemed really weird.  I was so off schedule that I ended up tacking up way too early.

Simon not wanting to canter in 3 mug race.

But even with all the warm up Simon was still a little awkward in the first session, which is typical of him.  Not bad, just not as dependable and consistent as I would like.  I was way off though.  I made several sloppy mistakes and cost my team some points.  I knocked my bottle off the barrel in bottle shuttle race, I took more than one attempt to scoop my litter in the litter race and I dropped my tool box off the barrel in toolbox race.  My three mug was abysmal too, but that blame goes on Simon who didn’t want to canter!

Successfully dropping off a carton in the Association Race.

I was extremely discouraged leaving the ring.  Linda tried to reassure me and explained her theory that I am so busy actively pushing Simon on, that I am not able to concentrate on my skills.

A clean drop of the sock into the bucket in the Socks and Bucket race.

Our second session on Saturday ran into the dark, under the lights.  I kept Linda’s suggestion in mind and stopped putting as much effort into pushing Simon on when I had a skill to perform.  Either that worked out, or I was just back ‘on’ because my session went a lot better.  I did have some issues seeing at the beginning of the session because it was dusk but it got better as full dark came on.  In particular I had trouble seeing the flag cone hole, but I managed.

Some of the friendly faces enjoying the camp fire.

We finished late.  Linda and Joy prepared a quick but fantastic meal and then we all enjoyed some company around the fire.  There was a little smores roasting, lots of laughing and a game of clue.

a game of Clue

We woke up to a light rain, and packed up what we could before getting ready for our work shifts.  We were all assigned to the Masters A final, which was, as always, an amazing display of rider and pony skill. I am continually awed to see these teams go head to head.  They are so fast and so fearless.

Linda and Kim riding in the near dark of the second session

We went in the ring for our final and played a hard game.  We had some hand off issues and there were a few oops errors across the team, but all in all it was a fantastic final session for team Old School.  I was very happy with my performance and Simon was there for me.  The other teams were also fantastic and the competition was fun and challenging.  In the end Time Flies got us by 10 points to take the blue.  We got second, ten points ahead of Red Solo Cup and the Black and Blue Crew held 4th.

Team Old School
Linda, Genevieve, Krista, Kim and Carol Ann

Genevieve and Annie of Equistar Photography took all of the riding photos in this blog post.  Thank you guys for letting me use your fantastic work!

Its a lot harder to pick up and put down one of these brush boxes while moving at speed than you might think.
Masters rider: Jenn

Look, Simon has all his feet off the ground. He must have broke into an actual gallop! Go Simon!

Masters rider
He accidentally pulled his whole bridle off in the middle of a race while fumbling a little during a moving dismount. He got it back on and continued on incredibly quick.

Genevieve, Kim and Linda waiting for the next race.

Preparing to drop our litter off in the Litter Race

Masters rider dropping her carton off in the bucket. I love this photo, and I think the pony is pretty cool too.

Kim smiling as always, and Matt from team, Red Solo cup, preparing for the start of the Joust Race.

Masters rider; Annie making a clean dunk in the Socks and Bucket Race.

Masters rider: Alicia
I love the combination of her and her pony. They look like a fantastic match and are really enjoyable to watch.

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by riderofchaos on October 2, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Mounted Games
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Posted by riderofchaos on October 2, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/10/02/mgaa-mid-atlantic-mounted-games-series-4/

Will I still have a Husband, a Pony and a Ferrier in The End?

My ferrier was suppose to come out this evening, to reset Simon’s shoes before I leave for a weekend of mounted games compeitition tomorrow.  But the weather is calling for rain to move in just after lunch time.  Since we do feet outside at my place, my ferrier, being the smart guy he is, rescheduled for lunchtime ahead of the rain.  Which is fine, I can slip out of work for a while and meet him.  But since I was out of work on Monday for another event, I did not rack up any extra time throughout the week to make up for it.

In comes the husband.  He has the day off work and offered to meet the ferrier for me.  I accepted this very generous offer.

Rich is a very capable guy, he is not squemish about dirt or pony slobber or anything like that, but he is not exactly equine experienced either.  And Simon is generally a very easy pony.  He stands pretty well, but he does have a tendancy to nip at his holder for attention and get a little fidgety about half way through the process.

Its been about an hour and I am waiting for the, ‘all done, it went great, that was so easy’ call.

I sure hope I still have a huband, a pony and a ferrier when this is all done.

Have you seen this photo circulating around? It is usually captioned with something along the lines of, “This is what happens when the husband helps out”. I am sure Simon looks pretty similar right now.

A few hours later…

Follow up report: I do in fact still have a husband and a pony with four freshly shod hooves and I still have a ferrier too!  Woo, success!

I asked Rich, if Alex, the ferrier, had to reprimand Simon or tell him to “knock it off” or anything.  Rich said, “no but he did have to take the treats away.”  Which made me ask, “what do you mean”.  Rich explained that when I told him there were treats in the barn if he needed them, he thought I meant he should bring the whole container with him.  So he planted the bucket, lid off, between his feet in front of Simon.  He said that it wasn’t that much of a problem for the first two feet because he kept Simon on a short leash.

I laughed pretty loudly picturing a poor drooling Simon pony, desperate for treats that were being kept just out of reach.

I am very thankful I have a husband that is willing to step up and help with pony stuff in a pinch.

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by riderofchaos on September 27, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by riderofchaos on September 27, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/09/27/will-i-still-have-a-husband-a-pony-and-a-ferrier-in-the-end/

Teeth Float Time

Yesterday Simon got his teeth done.

Now his mouth is nice and square and at maximum chewing capacity.

It will also keep him happier with a bit in his mouth.

My vet is also an equine dentist and I am really lucky to be one of his clients.  He does a great job and is always very kind with my ponies.  He is also very practical and honest which I appreciate.

For those who are unaware, here is a very brief overview of horse teeth:  Horses have front teeth, which are up in the lip area.  There is a open area of no teeth, called the bar, behind the front teeth.  Horses also have back teeth, way back in their heads behind the bar.  And get this, horse teeth grow.  Strange right?

As the horse eats, they grind down their teeth.  No horse chews perfectly and over time the teeth will become uneven and get sharp edges that can make chewing (and eventually having a bridle and bit on for riding) less than comfortable.  It will also make their chewing not as effective, so that the horse gets less food solidly chewed and swallowed.  So to keep the teeth nice and square and smooth an equine vet or dentist will “float” aka, file them on occasion.

Some people get their horse’s teeth done routinely every year. Some people get them done every few years as needed.  Some dentists use an older method of hand filing the teeth, which is a lot of hard work.  And some dentists use a power tool, which is still hard work, but not to the same extent.  It looks a lot like a drill with a really really long bit on it with a file on the end.  My equine dentist uses a power file.  Its pretty neat to watch and doesn’t take long at all.

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by riderofchaos on September 18, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by riderofchaos on September 18, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/09/18/teeth-float-time/

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