Today was all about teaching the ponies manners when being led on a walk. Most of the horses and riders  had some troubles when we first started, especially me. I was working with a pony named Jack. He was a more dominate  LBE with  RBI tendencies. His main problem was he did not know that I had a space bubble too. No matter how much I backed him, he was still coming right back up to me and trying to walk in front of me. Near the end of the first walk, Les helped me to teach Jack to stay back. Les told me that the reason I was having a problem with him was because his energy was higher than mine, so I couldn’t get through to him. Les matched Jack’s energy and when he did this Jack, stayed back and listened to Les. Jack did the whole second loop with Mariah walking mostly on a loose lead and staying back nicely.

While Les was helping Jack, I walked with Virginia and her mini pony, Moosey. Virginia rode him the whole walk and she did a great job of keeping him in line, even when he wanted to go off and eat. Sometimes Moosey would try to go fast to catch up with Raisin, who he shares a stall with. Moosey acts like Raisin’s child. He has a loving relationship with her and can’t stand to be a way from her. Virginia and Moose make a great pair. Virginia may be young but she is a GREAT rider!!

We walked a lot to day and at the end, we played games in the barn aisle. We learned the body parts of the horse and acted out the Seven games! What a great way to end the day. It was a good day. We all had a fun and everyone a had smile on their face every minute of the day!

Pony Pros 7/28/10

~Emma~

Today we went on a trail ride/walk. The first half Emma [pony pro Emma] and I walked Jack. With Jack, we were working on having him stay behind us. In order to this, Emma and I flapped our arms like a chicken, spanked the ground with the stick in front of us, and wiggled the rope behind us.

After the first loop, we came back to get some fly spray for the ponies/horses because the mosquitoes were really bad! Then Les took over Jack and we helped other kids.

On the way back, I walked with a girl named D and her large pony, Charlie. D was working on the same thing as Emma and I- having the horse stay behind the person. D did a great job at helping Charlie with this task. She has gained a lot of confidence from this clinic!

Then I caught up with Little and Bridget. Bridget had a sprained ankle from tripping in a mud hole so she rode the whole way. If it was a different horse, Bridget might have had to walk. Little was so good today that Bridget didn’t have to walk at all!

Today we went on a trail walk/ride. The kids who had introverted horses rode first then lead their ponies in hand for the rest of the time. The kids who had extroverted horses led first then rode. Like Moose for example – he is a right brain introvert so he rode first. Sometimes Moose is a left brain introvert because even though he doesn’t make faces at you all the time, he is still confident and opinionated like a left brain introvert.

On the other hand Frodo, Reagan’s pony, is a classic left brain extrovert. Frodo is a party pony, he can get anybody to party, even a twenty-six year old mare named Sophie.

Charlie, D’s pony, is a medium spirit left brain introvert with a lot of play drive. He is chestnut and white pinto.

Sophie, Emma’s horse, is a right brain extrovert with a lot of  energy for a twenty-six year old mare.

Raisin, Maddie’s pony, is a right brain introvert with a lot of attitude. She has some left brain extrovert confidence and play drive, which makes it really confusing.

Thanks for reading,

Maddie