Ashlees Project Pony....
13 1/2 year old Ashlee who has her own pony, Honey, a
buckskin welsh pony mare, has herself a project pony!
We were going to get her to break in Kaysand Kinda Cute for
us to give her a bit of a challenge, however Trent from Allen
Park Stud offered her this lovely little roan filly by Allen Park
Bald Eagle out of a Roan Welsh Pony Mare.
Allen Park Stud want to retain this youngster for a future pony
for the Trents neices and nephew, but obviously she needs a
lot of miles under her belt before that happens.
Ash was extremely excited at the prospect of the pony she
named 'Strawbs' coming home to our place and her starting
work with her.
The photo at left was taken down at Allen Park Stud on the 5th
of March 2009.  Strawbs is a 3 yr old now and ready to start
being worked seriously.  Trent has done quite a bit of ground
work with her already and has sat on her - but hes a bit big to
be doing too much with her.
So on the 11th March, Ash came with us to pick her up.
Strawbs loaded beautifully on
to the float to come home and
settled into the yard quickly.  
She had a chat with Legs -
and pulled faces at Legs...
Ash did nothing but just pat
her and feed her on the 11th.  
Just to let her settle in.
On the 12th March 2009, Ashlee put Strawbs
headcollar on and led her around a bit and patted
her.  She led her in and out of the stable a
number of times, and just spent more time with
her getting to know her.  Strawbs is a lovely calm
girl which helps immensely
Ash picked up
Strawbs front feet
and gave them a
bit of a tap and
picked a little dirt
out with her fingers
- will have to get
the hoof pick to
them next time! -
and then gave her
a bit of a brushing
as well.
Below left is a
lovely shot of Ash
and Strawbs.
Keep an eye on this page and we will continuously update
Ashlee and Strawbs progress.
We would also like to advise that we do NOT
recommend that 14 yr olds break in horses
on their own.
This is an exceptional circumstance where both Craig
and myself, Trent, and his brother Jason and their
father Grant all have faith in Ashlees ability, and
Ashlees parents know that we would not put Ashlee
in a position where she would be in any danger.  She
will be fully supervised at all times when it comes to
working with Strawbs.
On the 14th March 2009, Ashlee came up and spent the
entire day with Strawbs.She brushed her, and then put
the mouthing bit in her mouth with Craigs help - though
she took it really well.After letting her think about it for a
while, she put the roller on and led her around.
As we expected she might - Strawbs had a little buck as
there was this strange 'thing' around her barrel...
It was just the one buck and then she settled in to being
lunged with no problems whatsoever.
She is improving with listening to Ashlees voice
commands and body language.
After she was well and truely happy with the roller and
discovering that she can move with something around her
girth, Ashlee got Craig to hold Strawbs while she rubbed her
down with the saddle cloth and then placed the saddle on her
and girthed her up gently.  She then led her around.
After being led around for a couple of minutes to get used
to the feel of the saddle, Ash tightened the girth another
two holes and asked her to trot around.  She was fine while
trotting and as soon as Ash asked her to canter, she
launched into a lovely big buck - This is not unusual for
young horses to do and we would be more concerned
if she didnt try anything like this - as its the ones who are
the quietest to begin with that you worry will really plant you
on the ground later - once they get it out of their system
they are usually pretty good.
After some time lunging with the saddle on, we left Strawbs
in the round yard with the saddle and mouthing bit to have
a think about it and get used to it all while we did things
with other horses around the place.
Ash lunged her again lightly before taking the gear off and
putting her away for the night.
On the 16th March 2009 Ashlee came up and worked
Strawbs again - she had the 15th off as we all had Team
Penning and that took the entire day.
Ash put the bridle on Strawbs with a Tom Thumb bit on it
which is a nice bit for young horses as with the bars on
the sides it helps stop a bit slide through the mouth if the
horse decides to open its mouth.
Ash put the saddle on Strawbs and lunged her for a while
with the stirrups down so she could get used to them
flapping about and being banged in the side with
something.  She was not at all worried about that.
Then came the draw reins - they go from the girth through
the ring on the bit and back to the top of the saddle - this
lets the horse have a bit of contact but it is not a solid rein
- they can still move their head up and down and can find
their own comfort zone with it yet still have a light 'weight'
on the rein.
Strawbs was not at all concerned about this either and
happily lunged both ways as the initial session was
extremely loose and she could only just feel it. - she did
put up a little resistance in going forward when it was
tightened a touch and there was a bit stronger contact
(not tight though).
After some lunging, Ash stood on the bottom step of the
mounting block and asked Strawbs to walk around her in
both directions a couple of times.  She then moved up to
the top step and repeated the process.  This not only gets
Strawbs used to having Ash above her, but gets her used
to going close to the block and standing calmly next to it.
Ash then proceeded to lean on the saddle and see how
she would go taking a bit of weight on her.  This was not
an issue.  At first she just leant with her hands on the
saddle, then with her body and feet still on the block, then
she removed her feet from the block and had her entire
weight over the saddle.
Strawbs is a very sensible young pony.
The next step was
putting her foot in
the stirrup and
standing in it -
getting Strawbs
used to having a
bit of weight put in
a different position
- Craig leant on
the other side stirrup for Ash.
Ash then proceeded to swing her leg
over slowly and without hitting Strawbs
in the butt and lowered herself carefully
into the saddle.
After standing still just patting her for a
few moments, she asked her to turn her
head both ways. Craig then led her
around the round yard for a lap.
Ash then dismounted and hopped on from the ground.
She got up and down a few times to get Strawbs used to
this process and each time did a lap of the round yard
with Craig leading her.Please note that Craig is NOT
dressed as he should be for handling a young horse - he
wasnt planning on doing this today!!
Strawbs is a very sensible young horse and is coming
along nicely.  Trent had done a little bit of work quite
some time ago with her, but Strawbs is typical of
youngsters by Baldy and out of her mother - they all
have lovely temperaments and are easy to train.
Ashlee is doing a fantastic job with Strawbs and is a very
knowlegable and sensible young lady when it comes to
the horses!  She is very in tune with all animals.