Happy New Year 2014!

First:

And todays "fun":

So today we got snow so driving a pair is out of question again due to too slippery wheels on the pair carrige. I thought then that it is time to try to drive the same ponies in tandem as we have tried it long reining already. Well it did not quite work as expected - first Ivanhoe was the leading pony but lazy as... a shetland can be. Paulette was energetic and almost bumping into Ivanhoe. Sooo we took off all harnesses and change position of the ponies and what happens, suddenly Paulette became the lazy one and Ivanhoe energetic. Neither one of them would have moved properly as the leader if my husband had not been leading as if the position suddenly made them forget the meaning of "forward" Summa summarum - no more tandem for me thank you I'll be perfectly happy with a normal pair... Shetlands <3

Christmas fun

Today we packed Ivanhoe&tack in our van and drove to the medievel church in Kokkola as there was a Christmas market and we had been asked to give some pony driving for kids. It was fun as both me and Ivanhoe had our elfbeanies on and children told their Christmas present wishes for us. Of course we promised with Ivanhoe to tell their wishes forwards to Santa Claus!

Becoming a driving pony!

Oh my! Did not think really that our "little boys" Topi and Vergu will turn 2 years soon! So I have to add them to the wannabe driving ponies-page too don't you think?! Well, they took their first baby step towards driving in the weekend and tasted bits :) As one would guess the bit bothered them a bit ;) but still they behaved nicely and we went for a short walk leading as well. Here photos of the guys:

This is THORIN AX, yearling colt by our stallion Verano Lee v.d. Zandkamp and dam our mare Swinghill's Paulette. Thorin was the best yearling colt of all shown yearling Shetland Pony colts this year at official shows!

This is DUNEDAIN AX, sire Verano and dam Dalia, Dalia is the mother of Swinghill's Paulette, too, so these boys have the same maternal bloodline, too.

Though these boys are realtives both from their fathers and mothers side, they are quite different personalities. Thorin is more energetic and thinks he is a great stallion (except when he meets Verano, then he is the smallest creature in the world :D ), Dunedain is as cool and caaaaalm as you can get.

You will probably notice the strange choose of first bit if you look at the photo of Dunedain. Well I always use straight iron bits as first bits and this happened to be small enough for these guys, though it is a bit I only use with Verano at breed shows. Well in fact, the bit is not totally straight, it is a bit curved which is just what it should be to fit in an organic mouth. Often normal straight bits are too thick for shetland ponies small mouths and very often very straight. Many bitmakers tend to make them just a shorter version of horse bits not thinking of that it should be thinner too. I never use rubber bits in the beginning though I know most people do, I think they make the same reaction as a snaffle bit would do, the foal just starts playing with the bit. I just think it is better to use straight away a normal, a bit bended straight and thin iron bit so that it just stays at its place in the mouth though the foal would try to play with it with the tongue or chew it. With rubber the try to chew it as it is fun to do with a soft bit and with snaffles they start playing with the tongue. It is just unnecessary and pointless to let them play with the bit in the beginning as we wish them to accept the bit, it is much easier and faster to learn them to have the bit in the mouth with a simple straight bit - and it is the one I will be driving them with, too. Then when they are more driven and we move forward to learn more about driving it it time to change to driving bits as liverpool or butterfly - but always straight there too, never ever snaffle.

Normal training...

Today both Paulette and Ivanhoe was driven in the pony clubs! Put the old sleighbell I have in the harness and just enjoyed the starlit sky, snow, jogging pony and the sound of the beautiful bell - I think the children loved it too :)

In the weekend my task was to get Ivanhoe to understand the whip better as an aid instead of a mark of accelerating, as a former trotting pony he reaaaally got too excited after Andreas drove him at his training last week. So after that when I used the whip (nicely of course! but still) - he did wonderful piaffes when I just wanted him to do some shoulder in-work... He has had (all the time) a very difficult time in understanding what it means when you hold him with the reins but still use the whip and so he just got too excited and even afraid of the whip as well as he did not understand what I meant (or did when Andreas drove him). So, now I have been doing the same trainings I have been doing with Verano first, to get him at all to put up with the whip and then trained him of what I want. At Saturday he got it and now he does a nice shoulder in-training with the whip just coming close to his side, to both sides and a wonderful leg yield sideways when you press his sides with the whip, also both sides. Of course I'm doing this with long reins. Don't think though this guy will never get use to the whip 100% as a pony would without trotting background, it is so hard stuck in their minds what the whip has been mostly used for, to add speed, so I'll have a long way still to try to calm him down. 

In everything you do, it is so important to understand, recognize and take into account the ponies background to make the teaching stressless for the pony as we all understand, it is the first basic rule to any animal training, a stressed pony will not learn a thing. Less is more and there is two things I really really really have always tried to avoid with horses, with trotters also: not to train the pony too much so that they get too exhausted fysically and secondly, never ask more than the pony can understand at the circumstances of the day psychically, the horse should always stay in a position where they can rely 200% in what you are doing, especially when you introduce new things. Of course, you have to add more work to training in addition to get the pony in better shape or to level up in dressage programs, but you have to know the horse to know when to ask for more. Knowing your horse inside out and feeling what would be suitable today leads you to the goal, eventually. And the trust is everything, never loose it.

Saturday night fun

If you don't have anything fun to do in a Saturday evening, take two Shetland ponies and a friend and drive 180 km to get driving lessons! Sometimes I wonder if one could have other hobbies but... you know... not.

So off we went to Kiuruvesi. Had Paulette with me more as company for Ivanhoe but I drove her too with long-reins. It was good training for her to be away from her summer filly foal Eowyn as she screamed and was a bit worried where her foal has gone. They have been in separate boxes in the stable at night a few weeks and Paulette has of course worked at pony clubs and riding lessons without her foal also but still it was a bit of a shock for her not to have her baby with her.

Ivanhoe was next on line and drove him for Andreas Hesse. It went very very well I think and so I was told :D but he was a bit too much on the bit. Had a normal straight bit now for testing so I think it will be better to drive him with the butterfly still. He is more and more in the right shape an always so forward going that he made a good impression at Andreas too.

Sadly no photos though this time as it was dark and raining! Did not even bother to take the camera with me. Extra exciting as our pony van did not start when we had everything packed and clear to start the journey home! Then after a few tries it finally did and late at 23:00 we where home!