In which Chimi is Afraid of a Mini Horse

With fall in full swing and winter approaching way to quickly, I am getting back into the swing of things since I took some time off to plan my wedding, get married, and enjoy a fun little honeymoon! So now I'm faced with a pasture of fat, furry unfit ponies that are getting ready to head into winter. With predictions of this coming winter, and arctic air already finding it's way towards us in SC, I'm trying to get in as many rides in as I can!

Warm summer day trail rides of past....

So the other day in the cold (42* is cold for November in SC!) I took Chimi out for our first ride of our "Back to It" fitness program. We headed out to the woods for a pleasant trail ride (plus I don't really have a great area to ride at my house- the flattest part has a burn pile on it that was started by the previous owners and we keep needing to add stuff to it!)

I decided to go on the River Ride because it was fairly flat, good footing, and would be quick enough for me to get home before it got dark. So off I go on a fresh 17h Oldenburg who was excited to be out and about. Chimi enjoyed a good trot down the driveway and then we wiggled through the woods, down along the road and headed into the Small Field that would take us to the trail that follows the river. Well, the neighbors that live in the house by the river have 3 horses- 2 normal sized ones and a cute little mini named Prince. As it happened they were out walking/riding in the River Field which you can just sorta see from the entrance of the Small Field. Both the bay and the grey had riders and there were 2 people on the ground with one walking the Mini. Now to give you guys an idea how far away they were- I couldn't tell who was who. All I saw was 2 horses and 1 mini with some people on the ground. If I could guess how far away they were I'd say easily 1/4 of a mile as the crow flies. Again- note of importance THEY WERE FAR AWAY. Suddenly Chimi's head went straight up in the air and he stopped dead in his tracks and refused to move forward. I know that my horse has some unnatural fear of mini's but usually he doesn't freak out unless they're close. Prince was a QUARTER of a mile AWAY and walking the opposite direction of us! I did everything I could to get Chimi walking forward but all I got was a horse quickly descending into a full blown panic attack. Chimi was running backwards, hopping up, and shaking like a leaf. I knew I had to get out of there because I was by myself, the situation was only getting worse, and did not need to push the issue at that moment. Poor Chimi was so freaked out he couldn't even process that I was trying to walk out of the field (in some manner of control) that he just kept going backwards and looking around for the "Evil Munchkin". FINALLY after about 5-10ish minutes he blasts through the opening in the fence and we jog our way back the way we came. I let him open up into a controlled trot b/c he needed to get some distance between us and that "Thing".

REALLY Chimi??? They're so tiny!!!!

I finally get him calmed down and headed off towards the Grain Bins- the opposite way of the river and my intended plan! On our way to the grain bins we passed by my neighbors house and their 2 dogs were out. They started barking and jumped out from behind the trees to bark some more at us- Chimi could care less. He just kept walking. We head into the woods and up to the Hill Field with deer jumping through the woods getting away from us. Chimi ignores them. We then have a nice trot around the Hill Field , scaring even more deer, and Chimi just blasting around the field in a big trot enjoying himself. We head back into the woods and scare up even more deer and Chimi continues to ingnore them. I mean seriously- my horse is afraid of a MINI but doesn't even bat an eye at camouflaged deer and barking dogs leaping through trees????????? 

Fall leaves- somewhere in those woods are hundreds of deer!

We even spotted a 6 point buck and his doe-friend on our way home and it was like Chimi and the deer were good friends. We just walked by them and they watched us go by without taking off into the woods. I think Chimi did a little horsie wave as we went by. Heck I wonder if the buck comes and shares a blade or two of grass with Chimi at night. They could be sitting around at night talking about the weather for all I know!!!

Do you see the Buck? He's in the middle

But thinking on this- I'm glad my horse isn't bothered by the deer. There are so many that live near us that going on trail rides would be very difficult if he freaked out every time a deer jumped. I think we'll run into more deer around the area than we will miniature horses. But I do need to find him a mini friend so he can get over his fear!!!! My mom has a neighbor with a bunch of mini's.... Might be talking to her about keeping Chimi for a day!!!!! HA!

Between the ears 

Polo-Cross-Train-In-G(rass)

One of the benifits of boarding at the farm where the pony club equipment is stored is the ability to borrow it when it just sits there looking at you day in and day out... Well ok when I say the equipment I really mean the Polocrosse mallets that are hanging in the tack room!!! Our club bought the mallets back when I was in high school because of Festival 2001 where we all came back totally in love with the game! We never got competitive with the game, but loved having the mallets around to tool about on our horses. Heck it's a great way to find out how quiet your horse is, because lets face it- only a certain horse is going to let you swing a stick around on it's back!

http://www.ezpolocrosse.com/

Lately I had been eyeing the mallets and wondering how Gus would do... So day 1) I grabbed the mallet and slowly introduced it and the ball to Gus. He was a saint! He probably was more interested in the grass  we were standing on then the stick I was holding in my hand- he didn't flinch a muscle. So next came the ball, at first he thought it might be edible and sniffed it for a few seconds and then realizing it was just a plastic lacrosse ball (the real polocrosse ball has been lost in the shuffle of moving between 3 barns) and he went back to snoozing. I rubbed the ball all over his face, shoulder, flank, etc. Then I started lightly tossing the ball at him to see how he would react it if accidentally hit him, again nothing- the only thing he did was reach for some mouthfulls of grass while I pelted him lightly with the ball. So obviously he's fine with the mallet and ball being in some sort of control, so the next step was to see how he would react with it in motion. I started swinging the mallet in large circles by his eyes and flanks, nothing, zero, nilche. Gus continued to stand there and look at me like I was some crazy person because he wasn't bothered at all by flying objects!!! Good sign Gus!!

http://www.ezpolocrosse.com/

Day 2) Ride time!!! I tacked up Gus today and took him out into the field to see how would react in "play" mode. I waved the mallet around and then tossed the ball straight out in front and VOILA! He did nothing. My horse was so game and awesome that I decided his next career should be as a polocrosse pony!!! He's a great height, obviously doesn't care about the ball and stick, he's top man in the field but doesn't usually bite or kick except in play, so he'd be aggressive but not dangerous (a plus for a polox pony) the only issue I foresee is speed. He's not the fastest horse in the world, and it does take an effort to make him go anywhere, but I think if he was playing a game he'd pick up the pace and get a little more excited. He's really handy and listens to your leg really well so today I didn't have any problems stopping and turning with one hand on the reins (another reason that I'm in love with his Dressage training!!!) The only problem we had today was ME!!! I couldn't pick up the ball for the life of me!!! Walk and sometimes at the trot I was ok, but every time we would canter right past the ball... Now to give myself some credit, and not take the total blame... we only had a lacrosse ball which is about half the size and much lighter than a polocrosse ball. Plus the grass was really tall and the mallet kept getting caught on the grass blades instead of being able to scoop up the ball. So word to the wise- there is a reason polo players and polocrosse players play on mowed fields!!!! Plus I lost the ball a couple of times and had to walk around looking for it- even with it being bright orange it was difficult to see if it was buried under a tall thick clump of grass!!!!

Now I just need to find some friends in the area to come over and play a game with us! And find a REAL polocrosse ball....  But if not I'll keep playing by myself because it really is a great way to cross train Gus. He has to listen to my leg cues, practice galloping forward and slowing down, and turning with balance- all good things that an eventer should know! So here we go- it's Polo-Crosse Training time!!!