The PonyPros demonstrate how they caused the 3 year old pony colts to synchronize with them during their second play session. This was Day 1, Evening Session, of their 3 day youngstock training adventure. The kids used toys like tarps, jumps, hulahoops, and a ball to increase the pony’s curiosity and play drive. As the ponies played, the girls were able to blend in cues so the ponies would continue to learn about reading their body language. The PonyPros used natural horsemanship and clicker training to cause their play session to be effective and fun.
Woke up at 4:30am. About 8 hours of sleep in 2 days combined. Took 9 horses and ponies to the Parelli tour stop. Filled the arena with PonyPros. Blew even our own socks off. The Parellis were amazingly generous with us. They gave all the kids halters and lead ropes, plus the levels 1-4 pack, and gave Les and I four-week scholarships to the center in CO. Feel like I need to sleep for days, but it was worth it Can’t believe how awesome the kids and ponies were. Check out the photos of Linda when we showed her our video, told her we had 5 more kids at home, and that we boarded 30 minutes away.
Blue Man has only been with us for 4 weeks. This was his first experience traveling off property for an event. He was rescued a year ago by Mustangs and Mohr, then came to us at the very end of April. At that time, he had basic groundwork but had not been started. He has 1 ride on him now and is, as you can see, having a ton of fun with Parelli!
Thistle has only been with us for 2 months. She was 10 years old and was ranch raised, so had had no training before coming to us. This was her second time ever in a trailer and only only her second time away from the home she was born and raised on. Look how awesome she is now!
Thistle’s partner, Emma, is a 6th grader and has only been involved in horses for 3 months. She has learned all this from PonyPros in just 12 weeks!
Peanut and Wallie are only 4 years old. This was only their second time hauling out to a different arena. They have been with us for about 9 months now and were unstarted when they came to us.
Casey is an adopted rescue horse. Conner has only owned him for four months.
Koa is an adopted rescue horse. This was her first time ever hauling out to a strange arena.
Celebrity has only been with us for 2 months. Chloe, age 12, was his partner at the tour stop.
Sam is a rescue pony who used to stand like a tri-pod because he was so fearful and in so much pain. He used to run to the other side of his pen and smash against the panels when someone walked by. He has been with us for almost 2 years now.
Because the horse who Katelynn normally works with is a rescue who is not strong enough to travel, this was Katelynn’s first time ever working with Sam. Talk about a good pony and natural student to put it together so fast and so well!
Our dream is to have an Atwood Ranch style program for ponies and to have the best kids program in the world.
We finally have a male protege for Les! I hope he comes back for more lessons Wyatt is 5 years old. Les helped him learn Parelli’s 7 Games with TAGteach. We use the 7 Games to give our students a daily warm up for getting in synch. My favorite part of the lesson was when Les was teaching Wyatt to do the Porcupine game for a turn on the hindquarters. First Les gave Wyatt the tagger and said, “Tag me when you see my legs cross.” Wyatt did an awesome job! It’s really cool to see how precise tiny kids can be when they are given a tagger. They really focus! Then Les cued Thistle and had Wyatt tag when Thistle’s forelegs crossed. Finally Les had Wyatt cue Thistle and Les tagged when Thistle’s forelegs crossed! The best part was that Thistle, who is usually somewhat lazy about the 7 Games, actually pivoted for Wyatt. This is amazing because Thistle is still learning the cues her self. What’s more, yielding the forehand is a respect game for a horse, so it is amazing that Thistle would listen to Wyatt, who is such a little guy. Thistle was a very good girl, Les was a very good teacher, and Wyatt was a very bright and persistent student.
I put a Western saddle on Cinnamon for the first time. The back cinch was no big deal at all! What an awesome boy. We went out and played on the trail course and he did some really cool stuff, including sidepassing poles, YoYo-ing back over poles from a distance, and backing through squeezes from a distance. He even put his front hooves up on the middle rung of the fence and stood on it. What a creative guy!
