Re: RC: Pony Power!

[Maureen Mathisen <blueoak@snowcrest.net>]

Rayna,

CONGRATULATIONS  on using your ponies so they get a "good" name instead
of people thinking they are always spoiled and grumpy.  I have always
said that IF they were treated and trained like horses are, they would
be more like "they used to be"--great pulling power(for Their size) and
wonderful riding mounts for children OR ADULTS.

By the way, I haven't heard the term "stoneboat" used since I left
Canada where my Dad(from Ireland) built one that was pulled by our
family "jack of all trades" horse with cords of wood down a logging
road. It was fun for me to see the  word in print again!

Just had a friend call and told me how well(l00%) her Connemara pony had
done in a NATRC ride, and then took Grand Champion.Yes--I think Arabs
and  ponies( I have crossed Connemaras but I have seen some very tough
Welsh and Shetland crosses too) would "go the distance' and then some!
The combination of good bone and  the endurance of both breeds should be
 a great combination!   I wish I could have seen your team do so well--I
know it must have been a thrilling experience for you.

Maureen
Maureen

Rayna777@aol.com wrote:
> 
> Thanks to all who responded about my wonderful ride on Jynx this past weekend.
> 
> Just wanted to let you know that she recuperated wonderfully from her 25
> miles, and looks better than ever. (In spite of the fact she hoovered grass
> the whole time she was there, her belly shrank up real good)
> 
> In regards to the posts about ponies being tougher than horses, you won't get
> an argument from me.  I drove a team of small shetlands in the local draft
> horse club and had a wonderful time at the fair that year.
> 
> We pulled a wagon, logs, and did the dead weight pull, all against draft
> horses, with the exception of a pair of POA's, who still out-weighed my team
> by nearly 800 lbs!
> 
> During the weight pull, which involves progressivly loading weight onto a
> flat skid (called a stoneboat) your team must pull the weight a distance of
> 15 feet to continue to the next round.
> 
> We pulled against the POA's, starting at 250 lbs.  We got to 2500 lbs before
> we couldn't "go the distance" But my team made it over ten feet at that
> weight.
> 
> Also of note is the fact that you can't hit the horses in any way to make
> them pull.  It's all voice command.  You may not even slap the lines on their
> rumps.  What a thrill it is to have a partnership like that!
> 
> The two ponies I had at the time were a 22 year old backyard shetland that a
> freind of mine rescued off a kill truck for a bottle of whiskey and another
> backyard shetland brought to me by the local animal control after someone had
> abandoned her and another horse by tying them to a tree and moving out of
> state.  (The horse tied with her died)  Between the two of them, their weight
> was 850.
> 
> Another interesting thing is that in pulling 2500 lbs, my little team pulled
> three times their body weight, but the Big Boys, whose teams weighed from
> 3200 to 4000 lbs got to about 3800lbs before they quit.  That's only about
> half their body weight!
> 
> The 22 year old pony routinely pulled over 1000lbs of grain from the driveway
> to the barn on a stoneboat, before we had the road to the barn.  It was about
> 250 feet. She also hauled manure at least once a week, was driven to cart 4-5
> times a week, 5-15 miles with me and the kids, and was ridden too.  All this
> on a few pounds of oats, and limited pasture!
> 
> When I pulled at the fair, many, many, people talked to me afterwards about
> how surprised they were by the amount of work the team could do.  Boy were
> they surprised to learn that Ginger, the older pony, had already been shown
> in light harness in 6 classes that day! To top it all off, it was 104 in the
> arena that day, and the ponies were just a little "hot under the collar" when
> I was done.
> 
> Once in a while I would get nasty comments about "How mean it was" to use the
> ponies like that.  Nearly always it was from someone who knew nothing about
> horses.
> My point to people is always that I feel it is much better to use a pony,
> than to let it starve or founder in the pasture.  I can't begin to tell you
> how many ponies I have resued over the years. And with the exception of two,
> (one who died of a blood clot three weeks after severly foundering, and one
> who had to be destroyed when his coffin bones fell through the soles) all of
> them were rehabilitated, went to good homes, and were used well.
> 
> I have always said that if you crossed backyard shetlands with arabs, you
> would get indestructible endurance horses.  Jynx probably doesn't have any
> arab in her, but she still proves that ponies can go the distance!
> 
> Julie, Rayna and Jynx the Wonder Pony
> 
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=