Adventures!

[Kelly]

What adventures have you taken your minis on lately?

Do you have any pony adventures planned for this summer?

Post your fun adventures here!! Along with pics, we all love to see pics!!

Happy Trails!!

 

[Kelly]

Thunder’s TSC Adventure

Don’t laugh, but I had a few errands to run yesterday and Thunder wanted to go with me. So I got the Pony Express ready and away we went. Everyone gets a kick out of seeing my little ponies load and unload from the van, you just don’t see that everyday.

We ended up at TSC and he did AMAZING!! I absolutely LOVE that he looks towards me to be his leader! I tied him to the buggy and he just followed me around the store ever so calmly, nothing bothered him at all.




On the way home we had to stop for gas. I opened his door so he could hang his sweet little head out over the stall door for some fresh air. He didn’t like when he couldn’t see me and he started whinnying. But as soon as he saw me again he quieted down and relaxed. He did so GREAT being out by himself!! I just love this little guy and am so proud of him!!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I'm planning an adventure tomorrow, weather permitting. I am meeting two other miniature horse folk and we will walk through town, across a highway, and up to the grain elevator. This is the public scale where I weigh my horses. I will try to get some pictures. Should be close to a 4 mile walk. Sure hope Midnight has lost some weight; I am very discouraged.

 

[MaryFlora]

Well, Kelly, Thunder had to be the cutest face in the entire store! Did he get to pick out a treat? Fabulous training going on there!

Your walk sounds like a fun adventure, Marsha! I‘m sorry you’re discouraged and hope you have a great walk with your horsey neighbor. I’ve seen those weighing areas by our feed mill but for some reason didn’t realize they were sensitive enough for a pony!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

We met at my sister's house in town. A new miniature owner--she was looking forward to the opportunity to expose her new guy to different things, myself with my two horses, and my sister with her little horse and biggie. It was about a mile out to the elevator, which has the public scale. We enjoyed walking down a quiet street and catching up on horse news. Crossed a highway, which was not busy, then on to the elevator. The elevator isn't very busy right now, as wheat harvest is still about a week away. The scale is the length of a semi. We try to get our horses onto the scale while not stepping onto it ourselves. For some of us, it is a challenge with wiggly horses. In the picture, you can see the red number is the weight--I think one of the women who works there is standing on the scale. They always come out to visit with the little horses. The dollar number is the price of wheat that day. I took mine to stand inside the elevator; there is a big grate for wheal to get dumped into, so we didn't go across.
Midnight was 260--down 28# from when we started the dry lot. Dapper Dan was 240#, down 40#. The big horse was 1173#, down some also, which she was glad to see. Her little horse, the pinto in the photo standing on the scale, was 320#. The new miniature owner's weighed 200#, down #8 from when she got him a few weeks ago. She said he paced a lot at first and wouldn't eat, but has settled down now.
Midnight was a total idiot all day. When I went out this morning, she had injured her eye. I think it was on the elm branches I give them to play with. I had to stop at the vet while in town to have it seen. Flushing, ointment, fly mask, banamine, and hopefully it will be better tomorrow. She yelled and wouldn't walk nicely or mind me at all. It was kind of embarrassing as the new miniature owner is proficient in the Parelli technique and has already gotten her new boy to learn cues .
It was a good day (except for the eye injury) and we will meet again to walk.

 

[Willow Flats]

Sorry about Midnight's eye, but the weight loss is certainly something to celebrate!!!! Also getting another mini owner friend. It can help us stay motivated.
I bet midnight will do much better next time when she has two good eyes. And isn't it just like the guy to lose more weight than the girl? Always been my human personal experience.

 

[Kelly]

Marsha! Y’all had quite the adventure!! Love the pics!

 

[Abby P]

Congratulations on the weight loss! It must feel so great to be seeing results.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Well, I just found out one reason Midnight was an idiot. While we were having lunch, she was in a pen across the road from a stallion. If I had known he was a stallion, I would have put her somewhere else. I thought she was just excited to be around other horses.
Yes! Happy about the weight loss on her! I'm not so concerned about Dapper Dan losing weight; 240-250 is the average weight for him. As he is 25, I'm not going to worry too much about dieting on him.
Very nice having another miniature owner. But she is so focused on the training program, it gets a little tedious sometimes. Probably a little envy, also, as her little horse will be a trick champion very soon, and mine will still be...

 

[Kelly]

Wonderful? Beautiful? Marvelous? Marshas Marvelous Magnificent Midnight!!!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

We trekked on foot again to the elevator public scale for our 2 week weigh in. It was so challenging, taking both horses; next time I'm just taking Midnight so we can work on walking manners. At home, she is a perfect lady on a walk, but when I take her town she embarrasses me. She put her ears back and did that snaky mare thing at one of the horses walking with us. She squealed at another in our group. She kept shoving against me and trying to move to the other side.

Harvest is in full swing so the elevator was busy with semis bringing wheat in. None of the horses were especially bothered by the traffic. There was a old couch cushion on the side of the road so we practiced walking on it. A few water puddles, which was no challenge this time.
Midnight's weight stayed the same, but Dapper Dan had gained back 20 pounds. The other two little horses had both gained. The big horse had lost some.
We walked about 50 minutes. I forgot to get the exact time; I was so distracted with my unruly horses. We did see a scissortail fly catcher sitting on a yard sign.

 

[Kelly]

Disclaimer: Do NOT try this at home!

I think I have found a way to walk all 4 of my little ponies at once and it seems to be working out pretty good for me. Hubby wasn’t home to take my pic, so I had to take one myself… 3 of them are tied together and Shadow is on cross ties, YIKES! Again, do NOT try this at home!!


From the left: Thunder is tied to the wall, he gets to walk by himself. Next: Stormy is tied to Shadow. I walk Shadow and then Breezy is tied to Shadow. One hand I have Thunder, the other hand I have Shadow. Shadow has 2 ponies tied to him, one on each side. Shadow is the most dominant out of the bunch and the biggest so he can handle them. Stormy has to walk on the outside of everyone because he is the wicked red headed step child and the instigator of the bunch. What an adventure for all of us!!

I will try to have my hubby take a pic of all this craziness real soon!!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Kelly, I think that will work. You will get some nice upper body workout for sure. Working with their personalities sounds awesome. And definitely your walks will be Adventure.

 

[Kelly]

Trinity River Trails - Clearfork

Fort Worth has miles and miles of trails that runs along the Trinity River and through downtown. Horses are allowed on all of these trails!! They have a very cool app that you can download to find all the trailheads. Some of the trailheads are really close to our new house, only 10-15 minutes away!!


A picture of just some of the Trinity River Trails.




I took Stormy and Breezy to the Clearfork Trailhead today where we walked 3 miles. They did great!! Can’t wait for more Trinity River Trail Adventures!!!

 

[Willow Flats]

Kelly, That's awesome!!! There is only one place you can take a horse hiking close to us and there isn't much shade. Glad for you!

 

[Kelly]

Thunder’s Russell Feed Store Adventure

Thunder loves getting out and he totally insisted on going with me to Russell Feed store in Crowley. Everyone there was so kind and absolutely loved my little pony!! And not to brag or anything, ok… maybe a little bragging ….everyone commented on how well behaved he was, WOOHOO!!

















While we were there, I got to swing on a swing, clank together some BIG wind chimes, and Thunder came nose to nose with an elephant

 

[Kelly]

Trinity River Trails - Clearfork

I was thinking about getting a chicken and I got one!! His name is Shadow!!!! And boy was he a big ole chicken today! He just about knocked me off my feet when he saw his very first bicycle flying down the trail headed straight to eat him!! I wish I could say that he calmed down towards the end of the 3 miles but I really can’t LOL!! And guess what else he did today, that little brat!… he peed in my Pony Express van… not cool!!

I took Shadow and Thunder to Clearfork Trailhead this morning. We went down a different trail today and it was beautiful. There were tons of trees and lots of shade which is always a plus. Thunder did great, he had to trot just about the whole time to keep up with us, but he didn’t seem to mind too much, poor little guy! He only got tired towards the end, so we slowed down for him.




Thunder & Shadow

 

[Kelly]

NEIGHBORHOOD WALK

I took all 4 little ponies on a 1.3 mile walk through the neighborhood. Everyone behaved really good except…. Stormy… but that is just Stormy. Stormy likes to walk slow…. really slow… and Shadow likes to walk fast. So Stormy would get mad that Shadow was walking so fast and nip at him, then Shadow being the dominant pony would get mad at Stormy and nip him back, then me being the MOST dominant I would get mad at Stormy and whack him with the lead rope. Stormy is gonna have to learn to walk faster, no one else complained at all. Breezy and Thunder were perfect little ponies!!




From the far left: Stormy, Shadow, Breezy, & Thunder

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I really like that idea of using the surcingle. Bet the neighbors enjoyed the parade.

 

[Kelly]

Neighbors loved our little parade!! Yep, I used a surcingle and attached the ponies to the surcingle using leg straps from full size horse blankets. I like the elastic ones so they have a little give to them. They were $10 for the pair of leg straps and the perfect size.