OT--A pony named Destry

[rabbitgirl]

Pics to follow next Friday, we hope!

Rose

 

[FrenchLopGirl1280]

I'm not sure where you live but if you are close to any of these places I would go.

Its called Equine Affair and it is held annually in the following places

Pomona Ca in Feb

Columbus OH In April

Louisville Ky in September

Springfield Ma in November

They have clinics and shows which you can watch including monty roberts, parelli.

They also have tons of stuff to buy at cheap prices. If you go I wouldgo for 2 days minimum one day to shop and one for shows because thereis just so much to do.

http://www.equineaffaire.com

 

[rabbitgirl]

That would be fun! I'll talk to my horse friend and see if she's going--maybe I can hitch a ride.

Rose

 

[Fluffy]

aww gr8 horse!!! wow congrats!!!

 

[rabbitgirl]

Pony update....lol

I forgot the camera AGAIN!!! But I've been working with him....we had afun little fight yesterday. As soon as his former owner left, it wasjust me and Destry in a small pen, no lead or any restraint. He lookedat me, quite obviously thinking "hmmm, how much mischief can I get awaywith?"

I should mention that Destry leads "hands free" with voice commandonly. So I gave him the cue to follow. He follows all right--right onmy heels trying to derail my shoes.:XThen he reaches out andpretends he's all sweet...and bares his teeth at me! Whoooo boy, thatwas IT for me. It was so obvious he was seeing how far he could pushme, just like a naughty toddler. Biting ponies are not good, so Iwhipped around and jumped right in his face with arms out, growling"NO!"

A VERY surprised pony tossed his head, bounced back, and stared at me.I turned my back and gave him his cue again. Right on target, hestarted to follow too close and reached out to nip. Repeat above step.

A couple rounds of that, and his head dropped to the ground and he madechewing motions with his mouth, showing that he was ready to listen. Hewas a very good boy afterwards, following on command inwalk-trot and stopping 3 ft. away until I gave him the "approach"signal, when he could come close and get his head scratched.

He did play some more testing games, but I won.It was quiteentertaining. A bit unconventional, but it seemed to click....he didwhat I told him, anyway.And I had no external control topull on him, so it was important that he chose to submit.

I felt really stupid at first, but started to have fun when I realizedhe was responding and I could read his body language. What a stinkerthough!! lol

Rose

 

[CorkysMom]

Hah, the visual that presents is quite funny...but sounds like your doing great with Destry!! Good job!

 

[LuvaBun]

Rose, it's great the way you are getting Destryto respond to you. It's only in his nature to see how far he can pushyou, but he realised that you are Boss. Do you still feel comfortablewith him? DON'T forget the camera next time :X

Jan

 

[rabbitgirl]

PuterGeekGirl wrote:

Hah, the visual that presents is quite funny...but soundslike your doing great with Destry!! Good job!

Thanks....I feel like an idiot when I'm working with him because I'venever had a horse. But I'm learning too, and years of difficult smallcritters helps with the large ones.

Rose

 

[rabbitgirl]

LuvaBun wrote:

Rose, it's great the way you are getting Destry to respondto you. It's only in his nature to see how far he can push you, but herealised that you are Boss. Do you still feel comfortable withhim? DON'T forget the camera next time :X

Jan

Me big boss. Oh yeah right. hehe

He took one look at me and thought "wimp!" (all 90-some lbs. of me,lol)--and it was so funny how apologetic he got after I started"bossing". He's very expressive, which is why I do still feelcomfortable with him, because I can tell what he's going to pull next.Just like Bub. It's funny how his brattiness went farther in taking myfear away than when he was being all sweet. lol

I was thinking was "you little stinker! You're just like Bub!"

Sorry about the camera *sheepish me"

Rose

 

[LuvaBun]

<<<Just like Bub.>>>>

Could there be anyone just like Bub. Do you think you will intodusethem to each other? I can imagine Bub being kinds jealous that his'Lady' has another male in her life. He will probably spray you fromdawn to dusk - Jan

 

[rabbitgirl]

LuvaBun wrote:

<<<Just like Bub.>>>>

Could there be anyone just like Bub. Do you think you will intodusethem to each other? I can imagine Bub being kinds jealous that his'Lady' has another male in her life. He will probably spray you fromdawn to dusk - Jan

Yeah, like he doesn't already.hehe

No, I don't think they will ever meet. That much attitude in a ten foot radius would be scary.

Rose

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Congratulations! Horses are so fun andexciting to ride. It's great to know so many people on thisforum love horses to! Your Shetland sounds soooadorable!Mymareis 14.2-14.3 hands high QuarterHorse (although she is completely gray) who we named Mouse(don't laugh,we thought it ws cute for her personality). She has anamazing stop on her--first time I rode her I nearly fell off,lol. I love Shetlands, but I am way to big for 'em!(5'8"). Have you ever done any trails? They are really fun,especially when you camp, too. Barrels, Poles, Team Penning,& Roping are really fun too! So far I can only ropeoff the ground though (& not that well, lol).

~Caitlin~

Here is a pic of her and my sister's paint

 

[Bassetluv]

Just wanted to say congratulations on becomingowned by a pony, Rose! I know what you mean about the size of horsesbeing intimidating; I'm 4'11" (well, just about) and not quite 100 lbs.Horses are huge to me! I love them though, have since I was a child,but haven't had the pleasure of owning one. The closest I came to thatwas the few summers when I went to a local campground and rode theirhorses with my friend. One of the horses adopted me...Carrie. She wasaround 14.2 hands and looked a bit like a Welsh cob. I rode herbareback during those summers (and fell off almost as many times as Igot on!). Missed her terribly when I couldn't go there any more, and Istill think about her, even though that was almost 30 years ago.

You are so fortunate to have Destry, and I can't wait to see picturesof him, along with updates on how his (and your ) training is going!He certainly sounds like personality-plus! Oh, and about bodylanguage...I remember reading something many many years ago thatBarbara Woodhouse (she was a famous British dog trainer) wrote abouthorses. She used to train wild horses in South America, and she saidthat when one wants to be able to approach a skittish or wild horse, togently but forcefully blow air through your nostrils, and stand yourground but keep on doing it. The horse will become curious andapproach, because that is how they 'greet' other horses. Well, I don'tknow if that bit of info is of any use to you or not, but I found itinteresting. I tried it once on some cows and found it worked.LOL...she also claimed that cows are actually more natural jumpers thanhorses! That truly surprised me.

But I've heard that Monty Roberts' methods are one of the best tofollow...he is an amazing trainer...so it will be interesting to hearyour progress with Destry! And pics!!!

 

[rabbitgirl]

ScoobyDoo wrote:

Congratulations! Horses are so fun and exciting toride. It's great to know so many people on this forum lovehorses to! Your Shetland sounds soooadorable!Mymareis 14.2-14.3 hands high QuarterHorse (although she is completely gray) who we named Mouse(don't laugh,we thought it ws cute for her personality). She has anamazing stop on her--first time I rode her I nearly fell off,lol. I love Shetlands, but I am way to big for 'em!(5'8"). Have you ever done any trails? They are really fun,especially when you camp, too. Barrels, Poles, Team Penning,& Roping are really fun too! So far I can only ropeoff the ground though (& not that well, lol).

Caitlin,

All the quarter horses I know are massive, not like yours. Destry'sjust my size, lol. Although he could stand to lose a bit of chub. Iused to ride trails at summer camp as a kid, and I've ridden withfriends. Destry's fairly young, and not yet trained. I don't ride allthat well (although I can get along ok)--just nothing fancy. So nothingexciting with him yet, just ground work. Actually, I'm finding thatquite exciting enough while I learn about this whole training thing.

Rose

 

[rabbitgirl]

Bassetluv wrote:

Just wanted to say congratulations on becoming owned by apony, Rose! I know what you mean about the size of horses beingintimidating; I'm 4'11" (well, just about) and not quite 100 lbs.Horses are huge to me! I love them though, have since I was a child,but haven't had the pleasure of owning one. The closest I came to thatwas the few summers when I went to a local campground and rode theirhorses with my friend. One of the horses adopted me...Carrie. She wasaround 14.2 hands and looked a bit like a Welsh cob. I rode herbareback during those summers (and fell off almost as many times as Igot on!). Missed her terribly when I couldn't go there any more, and Istill think about her, even though that was almost 30 years ago.

You are so fortunate to have Destry, and I can't wait to see picturesof him, along with updates on how his (and your ) training is going!He certainly sounds like personality-plus! Oh, and about bodylanguage...I remember reading something many many years ago thatBarbara Woodhouse (she was a famous British dog trainer) wrote abouthorses. She used to train wild horses in South America, and she saidthat when one wants to be able to approach a skittish or wild horse, togently but forcefully blow air through your nostrils, and stand yourground but keep on doing it. The horse will become curious andapproach, because that is how they 'greet' other horses. Well, I don'tknow if that bit of info is of any use to you or not, but I found itinteresting. I tried it once on some cows and found it worked.LOL...she also claimed that cows are actually more natural jumpers thanhorses! That truly surprised me.

But I've heard that Monty Roberts' methods are one of the best tofollow...he is an amazing trainer...so it will be interesting to hearyour progress with Destry! And pics!!!

Ha!! another small person!! You're about exactly my size. I'm going totry that blowing thing. Hey, I can't confuse him any more than Ialready have. hehe

I'm continually amazed that the whole Monty Roberts concept WORKS! Imean, Destry has very very little training, and he responds the sameway as Mr. Roberts describes. We're going through an adjustment periodnow where he is testing the limits, but that's normal. I'm his "herd"while we're working together and I don't blame him for trying to figureout where he fits in the hierarchy.

I'm glad no one's watching my experiments....some of them look pretty funny....hehe

Rose

 

[m.e.]

So where are those pictures?:waiting:

 

[rabbitgirl]

mmmmm....don't kill me....little bro took the camera on his Utah trip!! It'll be awhile....

*cringing and ducking* SORRRY!!!



Rose

 

[bluebird]

Congratulations, my son has a halflinger mare,size wise she is a pony but dont ever call halflingers ponies peopleget insulted.I love ponies they will test you though..when you showthem you are the boss they are fine.bluebird

 

[rabbitgirl]

Testing....ohhh yes, been there! lol

It did surprise me, but I think it's funny.

Rose

 

[rabbitgirl]

Destry and I have been getting on quite well and getting to know each other. The little schmoozer.

After two rounds of being a little brat, today he was almostsickeningly sweet. Kept coming up and pressing his head into my back,nosing me, following me,etc. etc. I'm thinking "aww, sweet"until he reached down and started to gnaw on the toes of myboots.:shock:

I yelled at him (strong teeth!!), and poor persecuted Destry went overto my friend and schmoozed some attention from her because his Rosiewas "mean". What a ham! Can anyone say "Bub"??

Anyway, we enjoy each other's company and I win more power struggles than I lose, anyway.

Rose

P.S. I got to ride him bareback while a friend led him--he did fine, no bucking or rearing!