SAVE THE DATE! OCTOBER 2nd BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR ANNA HARLEY Anna Harley's birthday is October  2nd! Come join our special birthday live moderated chat that day to help Anna Harley and her pals celebrate.

Special Contest - One week only! Which member has the most original name for their virtual pony?

Think yourvirtual pony has prize-winning name? Here is a chance to find out. Send your pony's name to contests@clubponypals.com and ask to enter, or w-mail Jane Crandal and tell her which of your ponies you want to enter. Deadline for Entries is September 30th, voting starts October 1st and the winner gets 1000 Wiggins bucks. Entered pony name must be a member's virtual pony that exists on Club Pony Pals.

New Fall Cabin Decor

The Long Riders Special Recognition to our Trail Riders

for miles ridden PonyGirl11 --- 503

advertisement w-mail Kell27 for more information

w-mail Keely for more information

New Saddle Pad Designs Created by Our Members For 3000 WB, you can design one too!

Helps Fight Cancer Western by Hope

Maid Mairain's Saddle Pad by Kell27

Admin3's Breast Cancer Saddle Pad

Cabin of the Week Contest

Enter to win 1000 bucks for your decorating skills!
Scoutgirl	gk99	indijade
Last Week's Cabin Winner DTKLOVER Send contests@clubponypals.com an email telling us the username's cabin you want to enter. Rules are: Each week three cabins will be chosen from the entries for member voting. Members can enter enter as often as they like, but winners cannot enter this contest again for six months. Look for more new fun furniture items soon. Have a request for something you want to add? Let us know!

Drawing of the Week Contest

by Maid Mairain

"Lightning"

by Kaitlin2010

Winner gets 500 Wiggins bucks, and their art is made into a painting for members' cabins. If you want to enter, send your art to the Contests@ClubPonyPals.com or mail it to:

Club Pony Pals
16654 Soledad Canyon Road #382
Canyon Country, CA 91387 USA

If you want a sticker and bookmark make sure and include a mailing address where we can send it!

Vote for your favorite caption for this cartoon--

Write a caption for this --

Can you write the winning funny caption for this cartoon? Deadline is Thursday of this week. Email it to Contests@clubponypals.com

Look for the entries in the next week's e-newsletter and vote for your favorite.

Winning caption gets 500 bucks, runners-up get 100 W bucks each. Captions should be short.

or draw a cartoon --

We are looking for cartoon artists, too. Draw one and email it to us by Thursday.

If it is selected, you can earn 500 Wiggins bucks! Hint -- for this contest, please draw your cartoon in black and white. If you want to enter, send your art to Contests@ClubPonyPals.com or mail it to:

Club Pony Pals
16654 Soledad Canyon Road #382
Canyon Country, CA 91387 USA

Envelope Art Contest! Win 100 Wiggins Bucks!

EagleGirl's Clicker Club Training Column: Teaching Pony to Lead

Last week we talked about how to teach your pony to target a rope, and to walk with you.  You walk, holding out the rope while he follows it, and when you stop and let him touch it, then you click and treat.  This week, we are going to continue our discussion of teaching your pony to lead by having him target the rope.  And we are going to learn a fun game to play with your pony that will enhance his training.

Once you have spent some time - this could be days, weeks, or in some cases even months - walking with your pony, letting him touch the rope, then clicking and treating, you should be to the point where you can walk all over the pasture and your pony will follow the rope you are holding in your hand.  You can either hold out the end of the rope, or you can make a loop and hold out the loop.  I like the loop because it is easier to control, and more visible to the pony.

Once your pony does this nicely in a straight line, you can begin rotating your hand to the left or right and clicking when he follows it.  If you like, you can say "gee" when you turn to the right and "haw" when you turn to the left.  Just rotate your wrist up to go to the right, and down to go to the left, then gently move your hand in the direction you want to go.  If you are having your pony walk to the side and slightly behind you rather than right next to you, it is very easy to turn either direction simply by the wrist and hand movements.  When you rotate your hand right (wrist turning up), you can then move your hand to the right in front of your pony's muzzle, while you begin walking slightly to the right.  He should follow your hand and begin turning to the right.  When you rotate your hand left (wrist turning down), you can then move your hand towards you as you begin walking slightly to the left, and your pony should follow and begin turning to the left.  Observe your pony, and move as slowly as you need to.  At the beginning, click the instant he begins to turn after being cued.  You can gradually wait longer and longer until he is making the entire turn before being clicked and treated.

Once your pony is "leading" at liberty - without a lead - you are now ready to go to the next step.  While you are reading this, stop and think for a moment - what IS the next step?  What do you think you should do next?

In order for a pony to walk on a lead, the lead has to be touching him someplace.  Eventually, the lead is going to be hooked to a halter on his head, but right now it is not.  Since he is not wearing a halter you will be draping the lead over the pony's neck.  How do you do this?  Let's think about the process and what steps we need to take.  In order for the lead to be on the pony's neck, he has to be comfortable with the rope touching him.  So we are going to talk about how to accomplish this.

Again, this is how I taught my mule that he could walk on a lead and still be safe.  We had to take very tiny steps, because he did not feel safe for a very long time.  Most ponies are not going to need anywhere near the amount of time my mule needed, but they do still need to have things broken down into steps.  So let's get your pony comfortable with having the rope touch him.

Your pony is now walking with you, following the rope as you walk so that he can touch it.  Your next goal is to get it on his neck, so you are going to introduce that gradually.  You and your pony are now going to play a fun game!  My mule and I call this "The Rope Bump Game", and it is still one of his very favorite games.  He loves it because all he has to do is stand still and let me bump him with the rope, and then eat treats.  Your pony will learn to love it too.

To begin The Rope Bump Game, stand in front of your pony and hold up the rope.  Click and treat.  If he shies away, just hold it up a little more slowly and try again.  Continue this, observing him carefully, and working with him until he will stand when you hold up the rope.  Once he is standing still when you hold up the rope, you are ready for the next step.  Hold the rope up and let the end of it swing just a little.  Immediately click, put the rope down, and treat.  Repeat.  You can move the rope around a bit.  You can hold it in front of his face, to the left, to the right, a little higher, a little lower.  The object is to get him comfortable with standing by the rope while it is moving.  Once he is doing well, you can swing it a little wider.  Just take your time and observe your pony!  You will see if he is getting uncomfortable.  Chances are, once he figures out that all he has to do is stand there and let you swing the rope, and he keeps getting treats, he is not going anywhere!

The next step will be to gently swing the rope beside his face.  Don't swing too closely, but swing the rope very gently from front to back right beside his head.  The instant the rope passes his head, click, drop the rope,then treat.    Do this on both sides.  Once he is doing well with this, you can lengthen the part of the rope you are swinging, and swing it a little wider.  You can also swing it twice before clicking, then thrice, and so on.  Continue in this fashion, building on the successes you have already had.

Eventually you are going to take the rope, and while you are swinging it, VERY gently bump it against his neck.  Do NOT do this too close to his head; you don't want to bump him in the face right at first.  And try to have the rope lay lengthwise against his neck when it bumps him, rather than bumping him with just the end.  The end will have more force behind it, and he might interpret that bump as a hit.  Bumping him with the length of the rope is gentler.  The exact instant the rope touches his neck, click.  Then bring the rope down and give him a jackpot treat.  Repeat the process with a normal treat.  If he was a bit nervous, it is fine to give a jackpot the second time too.  Do this several times, then you can try it on the other side.  Some ponies are much more nervous when someone is on their off side.  If your pony is like this, don't push him right now.  You can swing the rope on that side, but you can always wait to bump him on that side until he is more comfortable with the game.

You will gradually progress to swinging the rope by his shoulder and bumping him there, to his side, his back, his forelegs, his belly, his hindquarters, his back legs, even his face and ears . . .  Eventually you will be able to swing that rope and bump him anywhere with it, and he will stand still and wait for that click and treat!  Once you are both really good at the game, you don't have to click every time you bump him.  You can bump him one, two, three or more times, then click and treat.

When working with his head, you will also want to work with draping the rope over his face, in addition to bumping it.  You can gradually increase the amount of time you allow the rope to lie on his face before you click and treat.  You will want to do this in various places on his face and head, and you will want to not only allow the rope to lie still on his face, but you will want to slowly pull it across his face as well.  This will help to prepare him for having a halter on.

Just remember, you are VERY gently BUMPING him with the rope.  You are not hitting him!  And because you are so gentle, and he learns to associate the bumps with treats, he will have no fear of the rope.  Even if you accidentally do hit him with a rope at some point, he will not perceive it as such, because you have played the rope bump game, and he knows that you do not ever hit him with the rope!  And more than that, he looks at being bumped with a rope as a positive thing.  This actually happened with my mule recently.  I was pulling a rope off the gate, and it caught for an instant, then popped off the gate and over into my mule's face!  He just stood there looking at me, and didn't even flinch.  He was probably disappointed that I didn't click and treat, since I had neither my clicker nor my treats with me, but I did pet him profusely and tell him what a good boy he was!

Now, you and your pony know how to play The Rope Bump Game.  If he is ever nervous about anything, like having the farrier work with him, you can pull out the rope, along with your clicker and treats, and start playing your game, and you will be amazed at how he will relax.  It makes anyone feel better to have something familiar going on, and your pony is no exception.  Once you have played it for a minute or two, you can hand the rope to the farrier and let him play with your pony for a few minutes, while you observe, click, and treat.

It may only take a day or two, or it could take weeks or months to get to the point where you can bump your pony anywhere, but this is not a race.  Just move at a pace where your pony is happy and comfortable, and you will have success every time.  Remember that the key is always observation.  Observe your pony and he will tell you what he needs.

Next week we will talk about how to use The Rope Bump Game to teach your pony to have the rope around his neck. 

Until next time, happy clicking!
EagleGirl

Member Photo Gallery

from Ajaxsluver101

These are some pictures from my previous trip to Chincoteague, hope you like them!

Nat2 and CoolGuy at a Constitution Day observance

Nat2 surrounded by her play silks - silk scarves she received for her 9th birthday

Our regal Tom turkey - Captain John Smith, but we just call him "Cap"

Two newly hatched white doves

Our neighbor's new donkey colt - what a cutie!

Sparkle, Twinkle, and Seraph relaxing in the windowsill - they belong to CoolGuy,
Nat2, and EagleGirl

from Taylor***

My dog, Luke! Read about him in my story called Sky, Luke, Roger and Me! part 2 in
the Sept Story Contest!

Member Art Gallery

by Onaneagle

by iluvmyhorse12345

"Makenna"

by Pernile

 

Dear Pony Pals Send in your photos, stories and drawings for our contests. e-mail them to Contests@ClubPonyPals.com or mail it to: Club Pony Pals 16654 Soledad Canyon Road #382 Canyon Country, CA 91387 USA The first printing of collectable stickers is almost gone. For the next week or two, if you want a sticker and bookmark make sure and include a mailing address where we can send it. Please include your user name and the email address you used to register in your letter, too. Webmaster

 

Play These Games to Earn Wiggins Bucks

 

Play these to earn bucks! Each week, that week's highest scoring

Scavenger Hunt
Winner gets 3000 Wiggins bucks,
next nine members scores below that get 500 bucks each.

 

 

"Scavenger Hunt "

jogjed

gunprize

Shackal

Blueroan19

millfarm123456789

Lumps

ponypalpayton

MeggieE16

herders

StunnerIzzaBeastXoX

 

Pony Pal Derby
Race your pony to earn Wiggins bucks!
Each week the derby game's highest scoring player earns 3000 Wbucks.
500 Wbucks goes to each of the next nine highest scores.

 

"Pony Pal Derby"

asylum

DizzyDaizy

RogueMustangMare

BostonGal

allyalli0

geigergirl13

LunaLight

CharlieHorse187

shinabella

solmalfoy

 

Math Games
High scoring players in addition,
subtraction or multiplication earn 500 Wiggins bucks,
next nine players who have high scores earn 100 bucks each.

 

"Add Like Mad"

wombat165

EagleGirl

LunaLight

indijade

Elizabeth114

horseegirl122

HorsesAreMyLifeNZ

dragonlvr12345

MusicalTheatre10

allyalli0

 

 

"Subtraction Action"

LunaLight

wombat165

indijade

jumper94

allyalli0

fawsleyfilly

boughie

BlaireBear1990

Abigail K E

RascalFlatts#1Fan

 

 

"Multiplication Station"

LunaLight

indijade

Anna Grace

allyalli0

jumper94

RascalFlatts#1Fan

ruby_stella

penelopecurlytots

boughie

babygirlpro

This Week's Cross-Country Trophy Winners

Cross-country course north

FuzzyWolf

allyalli0

jogjed

Lil Lexi Girl

lacer94

Cross-country course south

RogueMustangMare

KateriAnne

Cookieman

fawsleyfilly

wombat165

 

Pony Pal Thoughts for the Day:

"A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace. "
Ovid

_____________________

"A wise man looks upon men as he does on horses; all their comparisons of title, wealth, and place, he consider but as harness."
Robert Cecil

______________________

"We are like horses who hurt themselves as soon as they pull on their bits - and we bow our heads. We even lose consciousness of the situation, we just submit. Any re-awakening of thought is then painful. "
Simone Well

_______________________

"You'll probably get three horses and you have to draw a good buckin' horse. That's mighty tough. "
Chris LeDoux