December 16, 2013
This evening I arrived home just past dark, and sitting on my porch was a box from Adams, with my new riding helmet in it.
*lame post alert*
I put it in, adjusted the chin strap, and sat around on the couch “breaking it in” for a while.
Daisy joined me for a photo op.
Posted by riderofchaos on December 16, 2013
https://blueridgepony.com/2013/12/16/my-new-riding-helmet/
A dog with no pony etiquette is very annoying. Not only for the rider and their pony, but for anyone else in company. It is distracting and frustrating and can be dangerous.
I knew better, yet I still let Daisy and Simon goof off and bait each other while I rode. It was a terrible precedence to set, and I knew it all along. On trail rides Daisy is fine and scouts around, ahead and behind like a pro. But riding at home she tends to spend more time running close to Simon. Last weekend my husband pointed out how annoying Daisy was becoming and how her behavior around Simon was becoming atrocious. I had been noticing this as well, and agreed, it was time to give her some direction.
Recently she has started to dart ahead, cutting close to Simon’s head, and looping back around for another pass. She is also very excited at mount up time, and has started to run around Simon barking. This is not OK.
So today I started working with Daisy and her behavior around the pony.
I started off leading Simon and instructing Daisy to stay behind me. She caught this very quickly.
Next I lunged Simon. I instructed Daisy to stay at my feet while I did so. It was a bit of a challenge. Every time Simon slowed and I had to ask him to move on, Daisy wanted to run out to him. It was also a bit of a challenge for Simon, who wanted to run in and attack Daisy. I ended up putting a rope on Daisy that I could step on if she attempted to dart out. This made the difference and after a few minutes we were consistently successful.
After that we worked on mounting. This has become quite the challenge for Daisy and took a few minutes to accomplish smoothly. I made her sit off to the side, so that both Simon and I could see her. She was initially so excited that she sat on her butt, bouncing her front feet on the ground and voiceless-barking. I went slowly, reminding her to SIT-STAY often. I faced the saddle and reminded her. I placed my hands for mounting and reminded her. I put my foot in the stirrup, and again, reminded her, SIT-STAY. I bounced a few times, and again reminded her. I bounced up and on, and then had to send her back to her SIT-STAY spot. She immediately returned and sat down, with her tail wagging so hard it looked like she would propel herself off at any moment.
working on SIT-STAY while I tightened the girth
Our next step was to work on WAIT-BACK while riding. This is a command I use when trail riding and I come up on a road or approach other riders/hikers/bikers. I accompany the vocal command with a stop sign hand held out to my side. She is generally good at following this command on trail when coming to a road, less so when approaching others (too exciting!).
This was key to working with her in the ring. She already knows the command, and knows it means to stay behind my leg/hand, and there fore, behind Simon’s flank. It took a lot of reminders, but she quickly accomplished it at the walk. By the end of our session she did not require any reinforcement at the walk. The trot was more challenging, but we ended with her not passing Simon, and only needing minor vocal or hand signal reminders.
Now the canter was a whole other situation. Not only was she less inclined to heed the command, but Simon was more interested in bucking and charging her in this gate. We did not finish the session with consistency at the canter. She did choose to run off around the field on her own a few times, and one time took a 20 second lay down on the side, which was acceptable. She did stop darting past Simon but did run past him, so improvement, but still a lot of work needed here.
All in all it was a very productive training session for Daisy. I think if I were able to work with her several days in a row, she would be able to consistently maintain proper behavior around Simon with some basic reinforcement. But I only ride with Daisy in company on weekends, so it will probably take a while.
Simon was also a champ and quickly caught on that this was about Daisy, and not so much about him. Because he neck reins, it was also much easier to give Daisy hand signals. What a good pony.
A good SIT-STAY while I prepared to mount
As a reward I took Daisy with me to the pet store (needed to pick up dog food) where she had a fantastic time on leash, smelling everything.
Posted by riderofchaos on February 10, 2013
https://blueridgepony.com/2013/02/10/dog-behavior-around-the-pony/
January 5, 2013
In my attempts to find a pony I went to the Hollins Stockyard in Cloverdale, Virginia, near Roanoke back in mid-December. It is run by C&H Sales. They have a once a month auction, on the third Saturday of the month. The stockyard is set up for cattle, with a massive barn, that appears to have been added to over and over in a sort of odd shape. It is one of those cattle barns that give the maze impression. The auction ring itself is a typical cattle one with the small circle like space under the auctioneer with the spectators sitting arena style above the ring in a horse shoe. There is no riding ring, but there is a decent sized gravel lot that the trailers park on the edge of at the bottom of the barn that horses were being ridden in.
The tack sale started at 5 and horses at 8 so Carol Ann and I arrived around 4 thinking we were well early. We got a number, and navigated the maze and made our way down to the horses. There were about a half dozen trailers, and maybe about 20 horses total including a bunch of minis.
To add to this adventure, I had called about a buckskin pony on Craigslist a few days earlier and the guy mentioned he was sending the pony along with some others to the sale that day. He told me he would not be there, but to look for a “tall ugly guy” who would be with the pony. It was easy to pick the pony out, and I quickly found the guy, who was tall, but not so much ugly. The pony appeared to be a little too tall, and was bone thin. This felt a little odd with us just coming out of a warm fall, that still had the grass pretty fatty. I also disagreed with the 11year old age I had been told, putting the horse more in his late teens.
But I still gave him a real look over, and the guys were a real crack up, entertaining Carol Ann and myself as they showed us this pony, named Marshall, as well as a few others they had for sale. Although none of the ponies met my needs well enough to purchase, the guys were extremely friendly and enjoyable to banter with. I really had a good time enjoying their company. They really worked hard to sell me a pony, but in a good nature way.
Carol Ann looked at one other pony, who was there with a portly and rather rude dealer, who completely turned me off from the start. Particularly after spending some time looking at the ponies the other guys had to show, this guy’s salesmanship left a lot to be desired.
We headed into the sale ring, which was comfortably heated, and found the seats cushioned with decent back support. Bonus. We watched hours of tack being sold, and picked up a few low dollar odds like lunge whips (I wanted a neon orange one that would be easy to find in the field) some soft ground driving reins, leather conditioner and a new manure fork). The new tack items went for a good low price, and we felt like we got some deals.
The auctioneer did a fantastic job. He was easy to understand, and he made sure to take care of his back bidders on lot items. He was entertaining and had the crowd laughing and he kept the pace moving along.
After the tack, they rolled the minis in, selling them in the $70-$150 range. They followed them up with the rest of the horses. There were a few decent ones, including a really nice looking Mountain Horse, an Arab, a few gaited rides and a nice looking Quarter Horse. But no one was bidding and for the most part the average price was just over the hundred dollar mark. The ponies we looked at all no-saled with a “we need $300” statement.
We headed out shortly before they finished the horses and made the drive home in the rain. A fun time but still no pony.
Posted by riderofchaos on January 5, 2013
https://blueridgepony.com/2013/01/05/hollins-stockyard-virginia-december-sale/
January 4, 2013
I have not found that many really cool horse things in my web wanderings lately. But the ones I have found have been sitting for a few weeks so it’s time to post them. Plus I have more than a couple old posts that I need to finish and get up here.
LED clips for your horses mane and tail. Fiber Optic strands measure 14″ long and can be trimmed down if needed. Batteries included, last 10 hours. Add new batteries once they get low. Choose from 8 fun colors: Red, Gold, Green, Purple, Pink, Sea Green, White, and Rainbow $5 each or 3 for $12, discount given after checkout. Purchase at Whinney Wear under Other fun items
while trying to find a photo of a horse sporting these, I saw this photo, which I also think is pretty cool. If you are an endurance rider or someone who rides at night, I think it would be fun. The website on the photo does not work by the way.
I have also seen these colored clips for sale. I think it would be fun if you are a parade rider, or do drill or something like that. Maybe the person who rides a horse onto a foot ball field or something.
I saw this cute photo from Wild for Wildlife and Nature.
Posted by riderofchaos on January 4, 2013
https://blueridgepony.com/2013/01/04/interweb-finds/
January 2, 2013
Last weekend I went and tried another pony. A modern build Haflinger, with the sport pony build, she was the perfect height had a cute lightly dished face. The owners were friendly, and the teenage daughter rode her around at the walk/trot for me. The pony was a bit snippety, pinning her ears and kicking out a few times. I asked for the girl to canter her and the pony tried to buck her off.
At this point I was still curious, but was not impressed with the pony’s attitude. But since I had made the drive, I wanted to give the pony a full evaluation. We went ahead and swapped saddles, so I could ride in my own English saddle instead of the western saddle the teenage girl rode her in.
The pony continued her unpleasant attitude while I rode her, pinning her ears and bucking when asked to trot. The owners instructed me to ride with an extremely loose rein, and said she was unhappy with contact. I am not sure how to ride any looser than I was. I kept letting more and more go until I had loops in my reins, and no contact what so ever. The pony did not neck rein, so my ability to steer was nil with the lack of contact.
The owners informed me that the pony had belonged to a family with children who had let the pony get away with everything, creating a virtual monster, verging on unsafe in the hands of her previous owners. Which is why they had purchased her. This was quite obvious as the pony had a very bratty attitude. And although with some additional work in experienced hands the pony has potential to make for a wonderful ride, she does not have the eager to work attitude I am looking for in my next pony.
So I passed. Again.
Posted by riderofchaos on January 2, 2013
https://blueridgepony.com/2013/01/02/bratty-pony-attitude/
Blue Ridge Pony 