Wyndover Farm

11/01/2026

Lola died, again, so I drove her ghost to our town's family trick or treating event. We went from parking lot to parking lot, passing out candy and letting the kiddos pat the pony.

Lola was so fabulous!

I'm training her to be a new driver's first cart pony and I'm making sure Lola can handle all the things her new momma may want to try.... Like costumes and parades!!!

11/01/2026

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Lola died, again, so I drove her ghost to the City of Ferndale (Government) for their family trick or treat at Pioneer Park, Ferndale, Wa

Lola and I were joined by Se'a Manion, a friend, Wyndover Farm volunteer, and groom/navigator. Se'a had to hop off the cart in the middle of Main Street, at the light by Bensons Market & Deli and Grant's Burgers, to grab Lola's Cavallo boot when it came off. This has happened a couple times. I'm frustrated but have a plan.... Anywho....

We made the trip to/from town, on our own because we met friends Roger Edmonds and Annalisa Fox, driving Alex the Clydesdale, downtown. We made a few passes from the skate Park to Star Park. Stopping at each parking lot so the kids could pet the ponies and we gave out candy.

Lola was PHEEEE-NOMINAL! Man, this is a darling pony. This time, we made the drive from the farm to downtown via Thornton then cut down Shannon to Hendrickson to Main..... Then went home via Douglas. This is the reverse of the Zombie Run costumed drive.

I'm super proud of this little mare. She pulled 2 not-petite 'skeletons' over 12 miles with an elevation change of 1248 ft.

More videos coming... I've got a backlog 🤷🤷😎

10/29/2026

I hate how dark it is this early. This is so depressing. Go ahead. Guess which Pony I'm working. Can you tell??

10/29/2026

Declan
Week 1 in Review
10-24-26

As always, a bit behind in videos. We're putting in new flooring so I've been packing to move.....into storage things in our driveway. Training still progresses, the videos just fall behind (I still have Zombie Run video to edit).

Let me first say....Declan comes with some serious skills. Shout out to Declan's former owners, they did a fantastic job with his ground manners and skills. Chris and Rose Kelley are wonderful to work with. Upfront about cart crash incident, and wanting to be upfront about his questionable future as a driving pony. I really appreciate that! It's refreshing to have full disclosure. I would absolutely buy a pony from them, again. Yeah, seriously impressed. You'll hear me mention it in the video, a few times.

It's even better, when the pony arrives with manners and skills. I don't have to start at the beginning. He already know most of our games so we'll use these to develop him more in hand. Then later, we'll reintroduce the driving aspect of his training. But it'll be a few months. I take my time. I develop dressage ponies first who then become driving ponies. I'll start at the beginning, like he's never driven before.

But I don't have any concerns. We talked it out. He said it was 10 minutes of his life, it was more annoying than scary but he's not holding on to any fear. He's already easier to handle than Captain, my beloved, who remains scarred from his 'quality training'. Please don't slap your horses in the ass with your reins. It's rude. That's not the way things should be done. Develop your voice aid and their quick response to vocal cues.

My first week with a new horse, I assess their body and current skill-set. I use the Henneke Scale to score their body condition. All this information helps me determine what and how much I feed. I test ground manners, being able to move them around with my voice, and whip/hand. I lunge, double lunge, ground drive, and because Declan will be half of a pair so, I'm also assessing the interaction between Declan and Captain. I'm cataloging their individual and joint areas of opportunity. For example, Declan's walk is much nicer than Captain's. His walk is the walk I've been trying to get for a year, with Captain. Declan just has it naturally. So my focus for Captain will be to stretch, long and low, and develop the extensor muscles. His flexor muscles are completely overdeveloped. Declan is playful and likes to nip at Captain (you'll see in the video), so that is a challenge when ground driving them together.

I roundpenned him and learned he didn't know to turn facing me. We do this so the horse is checking in with us, to confirm cues. Turning away is moving away from pressure, but we also want be able to pull them towards us. To do this, we go backwards and create a vacuum causing the horse to step in and slightly face me. Then I give a cue, with no pressure, then follow with pressure (in this case, shaking my whip) once their front end is slightly turned towards direction change, then I shake my whip in the space between the fence and the pony, creating a physical deterrent preventing a turn towards the rail. At times, I had to approach close enough to touch him. After a week of work, 4 days of roundpen, he improves every session. His clockwise to counter-clockwise is solid, the reverse is still a bit sticky and slow.

I won't be able to do these, every week. But I wanted this line in the sand. This way we can track his and their progress. This is the first pair I've trained. Though right now, I'm training them individually with just a bit ground driving or roundpenning, as a pair.

10/26/2026

Declan
Body Condition Scoring - Henneke Scoring System
10-24-26

Anytime I bring a new horse in, the first thing I do is a comprehensive assessment. I need to determine where to start. Are they overweight? Underweight? How much should they eat, how much activity can they handle? How obedient they are? How they are motivated? What level of training do they have.

I start with what and how much to feed them. To do this, I need to have an accurate assessment of their body condition. You can't tell body condition by looking from a distance. You have to put your hands on them. Ribs, withers, neck crest, tailhead — those six spots tell you the truth the coat is hiding. I also get a height/weight on them.

Henneke Body Condition Scoring gives every horse owner a common language. When I say a horse came in at a 3, you know what I mean — and when I say we got him to a 5, you know that matters. And when I tell you your horse is overweight, this isn't a personal attack.....I am seeing fat pads at the tail head, a thick neck with a firm crest, a valley running down much of your pony's back, and I can't feel a rib without really pressing hard. This wasn't a subjective comment based on my opinion..

There is a sub-section of the pony-owning community that love their 'fat, 'lil ponies'. "I love them when they're as wide as they are tall." "I like when they have wide backs." "I love rolly-polly ponies". Unfortunately, these folks often are more interested in their enjoyment than their pony's health and well-being.

Fortunately, MOST pony owners want the very best for their pony and will spare no expense to keep them healthy and happy, but even some of these kind-hearted people hate the idea of limiting the grass that their pony loves so much.

Ponies have evolved, over centuries, to survive on very little. They don't require a lot of calories to do amazing things with their pint-sized bodies. Do a google search on 'pit ponies' to be amazed by some pony history. These ponies don't need alfalfa or orchardgrass. They don't need energy-dense foods.....that's like using rocket fuel in a scooter. They don't need it. Even worse, they can't use it. So they store it.

Often, people feed their horses/ponies based on what the previous owners fed. But how many owners know how to determine what and how much to feed their horse? Shout out to my fellow Pony Clubbers.....we know. But some horse owners have a favorite feed or tried and true feeding plan that's worked on 'every horse they've ever owned'.

I say this not to discount or belittle what Declan's former owners fed or what/how you feed your horse. We all have our reasons. Some people, myself included, like to have a little more flesh on them going into the winter. The grass loses much of its nutrition, so we shift from primarily pasture grazing in the summer to hay in the winter.

The less active they are, the less they should be eating. Captain and Lola spent the entire summer grazing on green grass with no muzzles....but we limited their time on the grass and they were worked a tremendous amount. By comparison, Lautrec was worked 1/2 as much and so wore a muzzle much of the time.

I work extremely hard to keep my horses at a healthy weight. I lost my long-time driving partner, Toulouse, to chronic laminitis secondary to Cushing's. We battled it for years but always felt reactive and not proactive. I learned from his journey and work hard to manage my horses' weight and fitness. Even our retired or 'wobblers' horse get exercised.

Learning about horses isn't linear. Something I've known for decades, may be something my trainer has never experienced.....Likewise, I am regularly learning from my interns, etc. For me to know something that you don't is not a judgement about your experience.

I'll talk about how I use this information to calculate feed in another post.

10/24/2026

Friday night chores with 3 of the Wyndover Farm ponies!

Captain, Declan(the new kid in class), and Lola.

Lola had the day off today but she came in from the field and stood at the gate until I put a halter on and dragged her into the barn so she could stand with the pony boys.

We're fitting their ComfyFit pair harnesses from Chimacum Tack. I need to swap out Declan's breeching for a shorter one. He's never worn breeching so it's good that he gets to just stand in the harness so it starts to feel like a second skin.

And please.... When you tighten your girth..... It's not a riding saddle. You do not need to cinch the back saddle down tight. It should be just tight enough that it cannot rotate. And remember, your saddle/pad will compress with the weight of the shafts. Make sure your girth is still tight enough with the compression. I leave my left side girth billet out of the keeper until I put to. I make sure I've tightened the girth to account for the depression. Please be kind when you tighten your girth.

10/23/2026

Calling WHATCOM horse and pony drivers!!

Dress up your pony and cart and join us as we bring candy to the trick or treaters!

Join us for the drive from Wyndover Farm OR part in town and join us there!

Contact me for more info!

10/22/2026

10/21/2026

Hanging with students at Miss Kimber's School of immaculate pony Manners