June 22, 2013

Tuesday was a washout, but I was also busy doing bridesmaid duties for my friend’s wedding next weekend, so I did not spend much time playing pony. I did notice there is a bit of a power struggle between Poe and Simon. Both seem to make faces at the other and both seem to respect those faces. For now Linus is still hanging tight with Simon, but clearly defers to Poe as well. I suspect that eventually Poe will take over the lead role.

Wednesday I was happy to see Simon and Poe being buddy buddy.  Sadly this means poor Linus is being shunned, and has a few fresh bite marks on him.  I was told that Simon and Poe were grooming each other throughout the day, swatting flies and getting along great like two best friends.   So that’s a success.

Linus and Simon both had a nice dirt coat on, but Poe was pretty clean, and just needed a light brushing off.  I did rasp his front hooves down a little.  Just rounding out the toe some to hold him over until the ferrier comes out.  I plan to tackle his back hooves on Thursday.  He stood politely and snuffled my hair when I was bent over.

I have a bridle more sorted out for him with a simple snaffle baucher on it.  This seemed to work, although I might need to pick up a smaller size, or at least add bit guards to square it up in his mouth a little.

We started our ride off with a very brief lunge, and some basic w/t/c. He does have an odd feeling canter, but it looks normal from the ground.  Next we pushed into some games skills, starting with a few trots and canters through bending and then switching to mug shuffle.  We played through a few rounds of 2 flag, and practiced some bottle picks and places.  Next I introduced litter.  I scooped one up on the end of the stick, walked around with it, and then dumped it back on the ground.  Poe was cool with it.  So I scooped it, rode around, rattling it a lot, and then dropped it a few more times at a walk and trot.

Then we moved onto ball and cone.  I pulled him up to place the ball and when I leaned over, he dropped his head to the grass.  I yanked him up and he instantly popped his shoulder and turned to move towards the barn.  I moved him back into line with a firm no, and we went back to work.  Although it was no big deal for me, I can totally see how this behavior would have been too much for a small rider. Just very typical pony.

The big learning curve right now is neck reining.  Which is very easy to put on over time and I am already working diligently on that throughout all our riding.  The general point is to neck rein and direct rein at the same time.  I am also using my leg pressure to reinforce this, and work on very sharp turns.   Since he does not know the skills yet, and I am still a little unsure of him, and him of me, when I lean over for something, I lose a lot of my steering ability.  And since he is still not sure what I am doing, he is unable ot auto correct his course on his own. But that is just fine.

Right now I am sort of crash coursing him through the equipment, and trying to get a feel for him and give him a feel for games. I am not so much running through races, as getting him used to the equipment, skills and techniques that are required of a games pony.  So, standing while a rider leans over, or reaches, moving past things while a rider performs picks and pulls, loud clanging noises, and things flashing around behind his head, fun stuff like that.  I will begin doing some flat work specifically focused on neck reining and tight turns soon.  And I will also be piecing together the games and start really working on him learning them as well.

For now, I would like to have him ready to go out and ride at an easy w/t in the green division this coming Sunday.  I am not usually able to make these small events that offer a training pony division, and there just happens to be one this Sunday that I can attend.  For him, as with a lot of the green ponies, the goal of these events is just to get off the farm, to be around other ponies, and to get a feel for the set up and layout of ring operations.  For him specifically, it will be other ponies moving back and forth past him, and hopefully learning about handoffs.  He will also get to take part in race starts, and the general format of, up and back.  I plan to keep it at mostly a walk/trot.  There is no need to acknowledge the racing aspect at this time.

We finished our ride Wednesday with a quick run back through each skill and then headed up for some cookies and a quick shower for Poe.

I find it endearing that Poe is an eager cookie hound.  Most ponies I have gotten in the past have been unaware of treats for ponies, but Poe was clearly loved and rewarded in this way.  When I untack him he looks at me like, ‘ok, where’s my cookie?’

I also noticed during feed time last night, that Poe has taken the lead.  Simon seems happy with this, so all is good.

June 21, 2013

On Monday, Carol Ann brought her new pony Jinny out.  Carol Ann found Jinny on Facebook over the winter as an unbroken free Welsh pony, and has since gotten her all straightened out and well under saddle.

I grabbed Simon and we had a nice little practice.  This was Jinny’s first time off Carol Ann’s farm, and the first time practicing games with another pony.  So she learned about hand offs, and quickly picked up the skill.  We went through several races and had a good time.  Jinny still needs to learn to neck rein, and get a better feel for the races, but she already has quite a bit down.  A pony that is clearly geared right for the sport, Jinny is going to make Carol Ann a nice little games pony.

And have I mentioned how cute she is?

       June 19, 2013

This past Sunday my husband and I drove down to Floyd and picked up a pony.  He was a bit too smart, and had learned to take advantage of small riders in an ornery pony way.  But was said to be handy and sweet.  He also already had the basic ground requirements like loading, tying, leading, washing, clipping, etc.  He sounded like a games pony prospect and he fit my other criteria.  So I decided to roll the dice.

When we got there he was a little excited, but loaded right up into the trailer without hesitation.  Although he did start stomping around, so we grabbed his coggins, shook hands and said thank you to his very kind (now previous) owners, then took off on the three hour drive home.

When we got back to the barn, we put Simon and Linus out into the big field and brought Poe, the new pony, into the barn yard and let him loose. Simon and Linus spent a good 15 minutes, running, bucking, farting and all out showing off.  Simon would slide up to the fence between him and an interested Poe, and start digging up the ground and arching his neck, before flashing his tail and taking off across the field again.

Once this all settled down I tacked Poe up.  It looks like Simon’s saddle will fit him, and I just stuck Linus’s bridle on for the ride since it had a simple D ring snaffle on it and is easy to adjust.  Rich went with me and we took Poe down to the riding field where I started off lunging him.  He did great, and clearly knows this drill.  Although I am not sure what his woe cue is, and it took a bit to get him to break down from a solid steady trot.  Next I climbed on, and noted that he stood pretty patiently while I did so.  Then I hacked in a circle around Rich in lunge fashion.  Poe was great.  Very responsive, he pulled up on the numerous “woes” I sprinkled into the hack, and had a supple mouth.

Next I moved out and trotted around the riding area, changing directions repeatedly, and spent some time shifting my weight and leaning around.  And then I trotted through bending.  Poe was interested and curious why I was shifting my weight, but never attempted to scoot under or away from me.  After 2 trots through bending I shuffled some mugs at a trot and took note that he did not so much as flick an ear when I rattled the mugs and loudly clanked them onto the poles.

My final trial for the day was with flag.  I rode up to the cone and pulled one flag and flipped it up and over the pommel of my saddle.  Poe reacted by scrunching up some.  This is very common, as flags being whipped around behind a pony’s head and next to his face can be reminiscent of a whip.  Even for a pony that has no whip fear, it can still be disconcerting.  Poe did not try to dart off or freeze up, which can be a common reaction, but simple scrunched and went on extra alert.  I had Rich stand near the cone and I trotted past it picking another flag, with less movement, and then Rich rewarded him with a treat, while I patted his neck and told him “good boy”.  Next I trotted back and forth past the cone, picking and placing the same flag back and forth, making more and more elaborate gestures with it.  Poe was not bothered.

Figuring that was a good start, we ended on a great note, and untacked.  Poe stood politely to be hosed down, and then fly sprayed up.  I stuck one of Simon’s old (slightly large) fly masks on him, and showed him the hay in the barn yard and let him loose.  Rich and I watched him wonder around, take a short roll and investigate for a bit, and then we gave everyone their tiny dinners before leaving them all to their own devices for the night.

The following morning, I opened the gate from the barn yard to the big field, allowing the ponies to intermingle.  Knowing that Simon needed to come off the grass that afternoon, and they would all be in the barn yard together, I wanted to allow them to sort some stuff out on their own while they had a lot of space to work with.  Poe cautiously slipped out past the other boys.  Simon was only interested in what I was doing, and Linus was only interested in what Simon was doing.  It was very anti-climactic.  After a bit I decided all was ok, and headed out to work.

So far I really like Poe.  Poe being short for Napoleon.  He is an unregistered POA, black blanket app.  He has the thin mane and tail and pink nose, which is typical of the breed.  I was told he is 13.2h but I think he might be an inch shorter than that.  Although I need to measure him to be sure.  He does seem a tad shorter than Simon who is 13.2 ½, but Poe is also shorter length wise, with a more compact build.  Regardless of height, I felt comfortable riding him, and like I had enough pony under me, but would still be able to reach things.  I am looking forward to seeing how quickly he takes to games, and also installing some power steering (ie, neck reining) and getting to know him better.

Updates will be forth coming!

Scary – meeting the other boys through the fence.

We started off on the lunge line.

Next we walked and trotted around the lunge area.

We went through bending!

And we shuffled some mugs.