Adventures!

[MaryFlora]

Thank you so much for sharing your adventures! All of you, even the horses, look like you are having great fun. Even if we had never seen a photo of your rig, the lights on the trailer would be a hint.

The yellow prop plane is fun to see too, especially in the company of little horses. Horses are just timeless.

You all look a bit layered so the weather must be on the chilly side. Fingers crossed for your January trip!

Happy NewYear!

 

[MaryFlora]

Oh, PS.

I think you gals need a shirt labeled ‘biker chicks’!

 

[Kelly]

Oh @MaryFlora you would love my trailer lights, they are pony string lights! I got them from Amazon.

 

[Amyln29]

Great pics Marsha! Bummer Billy didn’t enjoy himself.maybe he would eventually get use to it


I was having a hard time finding mini horse owners who wanted to camp with me….i promise I use DO! I posted post after post on mini horse groups and it couldn’t find any ladies to go. So I thought, I have a herd, I really don’t need them to have horses , i would just like a few friends to go along with me. So that’s when I reached out to a ladies camping group. And that is where I found two ladies with mini horses and bikes!! All of these ladies are AWESOME! The Crazy 8!! (There were 8 of us) I really believe I just made life long friends We have already planned 2 more horse camping trips this month!!


3ponies was soooooo much easier than 2 ponies. If I bring 2 ponies then I have to pony one behind my bike when we go trail driving, I wouldn’t want to leave one alone at camp. When I brought all 3 ponies, I left two behind at camp. My new friend Karen fell in love with Stormy so she was always walking him around and hiking with him. 1 pony is easiest for me but hardest on them.

We were out trail driving while the rest of the gang went hiking.
View attachment 50939

Kelly! This is such a great idea!!!! I have been wanting to camp and hike with mine and I can’t find anyone around here who even owns minis in my area! I would be happy with just a hiking partner! They don’t even need to camp! . I may have to follow suit and find a hiking group! My biggest problem right now is I work every Friday-Sunday so I need to find people with the same schedule..most people are off on weekends!

 

[Kelly]

Amy! You should do it! You’ll be surprised with everyone’s schedule. Some of my new friends are retired, another one drives a bus so she is finished at 8am and can go after that, and a couple of other ladies are full time RVers. Put an “ad” out there, ladies love hiking with my ponies, it is something different for them to do. I am sure they will LOVE hiking and camping with yours too!

For your safety, the first meet-up I’d suggest going somewhere that has lots of other people.

I will be having another “BIG” meet up in the spring so new comers can join us too. Wish you lived closer!

I think everyone on this forum NEEDS to move to Fort Worth, TX

 

[MaryFlora]

Those lights are so darn cute! Everyone needs a string!

I’m in your boat, Amy…no one near that hikes or has minis, and I like your ideas, Amy and Kelly to maybe find a hiking/walking group through an ad.

An idea to play around with over the upcoming Arctic/snow system.

 

[Amyln29]

Amy! You should do it! You’ll be surprised with everyone’s schedule. Some of my new friends are retired, another one drives a bus so she is finished at 8am and can go after that, and a couple of other ladies are full time RVers. Put an “ad” out there, ladies love hiking with my ponies, it is something different for them to do. I am sure they will LOVE hiking and camping with yours too!

For your safety, the first meet-up I’d suggest going somewhere that has lots of other people.

I will be having another “BIG” meet up in the spring so new comers can join us too. Wish you lived closer!

I think everyone on this forum NEEDS to move to Fort Worth, TX

I agree!!! I need to move there!!! . If it was up to my daughter we would be there tomorrow! She barrel races and wants to move to Texas one day! My brother lives in Austin..if it wasn’t so far for me I would haul my minis on one of my visits but it’s a 14 hour drive …a friend of mine was a retired teacher and she had a couple minis..our schedules were perfect and we had big plans but she passed away suddenly a year and a half ago so I have just been doing things solo until I can find others. I’m hoping I run into mini people at some of my daughters shows..etc…

 

[Amyln29]

Those lights are so darn cute! Everyone needs a string!

I’m in your boat, Amy…no one near that hikes or has minis, and I like your ideas, Amy and Kelly to maybe find a hiking/walking group through an ad.

An idea to play around with over the upcoming Arctic/snow system.

All of us need to live next to each other!!!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

If Billy were younger I'd seriously consider trailering to one of your events. But he will be 18 this year and I can't ask that of him. I will enjoy the event vicariously through your posts!

 

[Kelly]

If you change your mind @Marsha Cassada let me know. You could always hike with him if you thinking the driving part is too much. There are usually a couple of ladies that come and hike with my ponies. It would probably be good for Billy plus he too would get to meet some new friends!

 

[HersheyMint]

I never thought I would want to move to TX until now I love hearing about your adventuresQ

 

[Kelly]

A fun little day trip to our local park

 

[Amyln29]

A fun little day trip to our local park
View attachment 51001

Love that! I wish our local parks were horse friendly!

 

[Standards Equine]

I've recently had the thought of taking our littles to a park/lake that has day-use camping and trails. It's frequented by hikers and cyclists, often with dogs. Although the dogs are to be leashed, I've encountered several who are not. How has your pony been to get accustomed to these unusual situations? We don't even have a dog at home anymore so that's by biggest concern.
Thanks for your advice!

 

[HersheyMint]

I've recently had the thought of taking our littles to a park/lake that has day-use camping and trails. It's frequented by hikers and cyclists, often with dogs. Although the dogs are to be leashed, I've encountered several who are not. How has your pony been to get accustomed to these unusual situations? We don't even have a dog at home anymore so that's by biggest concern.
Thanks for your advice!

Dogs are my big concern when I take the minis out. I carry dog mace but if the wind is blowing. I have not had to use it as yet.

 

[Amyln29]

Dogs are my big concern when I take the minis out. I carry dog mace but if the wind is blowing. I have not had to use it as yet.

Thankfully you haven’t had to yet!!!

 

[Kelly]

Off leash dogs are a big concern for sure and crazy bicyclists!

I was driving Breezy and ponying Bentley out in the neighborhood a few months ago when I was approached by a pit bull and a German Shepherd. I had never seen these two dogs before and no one was around. They didn’t charge us, they did run up to us and kept barking at us. They were a little too close for comfort for me. I gave them one little puff of bear spray to get them thinking about something else and so they wouldn’t follow us. It worked like a charm!

There is 1 city park I will not go to. There are 4 pit bulls that live and roam in the park. The sheriffs department knows about them but they tell me they are unable to catch them. I think, get a dart gun! What a liability!

If I encounter a dog by itself that is off leash, I grab my bear spray and get out of the cart. For me, I’d rather be out of the cart in case something bad happens, I feel I have more control over the ENTIRE situation.… plus my aim isn’t the greatest. I would not hesitate to spray a dog with bear spray even if the owner is there but has no control over the dog. If I approach someone whose dog is off leash, I ask them to get a hold of their dog while I pass, whether the just hold them or leash them. Good dog owners are usually understanding about this. And I am always blaming the horse, most people do not know horse language so I’ll say “my horse is scared of dogs” or “my horse bites dogs”. But again, if they have no control over their dog, then game on.

My horse is my top priority, not someone else’s dog! A tiny dog bite could turn into a huge vet bill!

 

[HersheyMint]

Off leash dogs are a big concern for sure and crazy bicyclists!

I was driving Breezy and ponying Bentley out in the neighborhood a few months ago when I was approached by a pit bull and a German Shepherd. I had never seen these two dogs before and no one was around. They didn’t charge us, they did run up to us and kept barking at us. They were a little too close for comfort for me. I gave them one little puff of bear spray to get them thinking about something else and so they wouldn’t follow us. It worked like a charm!

There is 1 city park I will not go to. There are 4 pit bulls that live and roam in the park. The sheriffs department knows about them but they tell me they are unable to catch them. I think, get a dart gun! What a liability!

If I encounter a dog by itself that is off leash, I grab my bear spray and get out of the cart. For me, I’d rather be out of the cart in case something bad happens, I feel I have more control over the ENTIRE situation.… plus my aim isn’t the greatest. I would not hesitate to spray a dog with bear spray even if the owner is there but has no control over the dog. If I approach someone whose dog is off leash, I ask them to get a hold of their dog while I pass, whether the just hold them or leash them. Good dog owners are usually understanding about this. And I am always blaming the horse, most people do not know horse language so I’ll say “my horse is scared of dogs” or “my horse bites dogs”. But again, if they have no control over their dog, then game on.

My horse is my top priority, not someone else’s dog! A tiny dog bite could turn into a huge vet bill!

I had not thought of bear spary. I was told that there is a gel mace that does not get carried by the wind. I want to check into that as well.

 

[Amyln29]

Off leash dogs are a big concern for sure and crazy bicyclists!

I was driving Breezy and ponying Bentley out in the neighborhood a few months ago when I was approached by a pit bull and a German Shepherd. I had never seen these two dogs before and no one was around. They didn’t charge us, they did run up to us and kept barking at us. They were a little too close for comfort for me. I gave them one little puff of bear spray to get them thinking about something else and so they wouldn’t follow us. It worked like a charm!

There is 1 city park I will not go to. There are 4 pit bulls that live and roam in the park. The sheriffs department knows about them but they tell me they are unable to catch them. I think, get a dart gun! What a liability!

If I encounter a dog by itself that is off leash, I grab my bear spray and get out of the cart. For me, I’d rather be out of the cart in case something bad happens, I feel I have more control over the ENTIRE situation.… plus my aim isn’t the greatest. I would not hesitate to spray a dog with bear spray even if the owner is there but has no control over the dog. If I approach someone whose dog is off leash, I ask them to get a hold of their dog while I pass, whether the just hold them or leash them. Good dog owners are usually understanding about this. And I am always blaming the horse, most people do not know horse language so I’ll say “my horse is scared of dogs” or “my horse bites dogs”. But again, if they have no control over their dog, then game on.

My horse is my top priority, not someone else’s dog! A tiny dog bite could turn into a huge vet bill!

Bear spray is a great idea! I would not have thought about that for a dog! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I have smacked a couple with my whip before. Dapper Dan was not afraid of dogs, but Billy does not like them. Not sure what he would do if two pit bulls came up to him. There is a small town I used to drive in frequently and there were many dogs in yards, not confined. I find that if I go by very slowly with no hurried movements they tend to be fine. Hopefully the horse will cooperate by going by very slowly!
My little dog is doing a good job of accustoming him to creatures leaping out of the ditch beside him.
I will look into bear spray.