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This lesson is all about how to approach your pony. we must approach a pony safely if we
startle him he may kick or run away. Always talk to your pony so that he knows where you
are.
Approach you pony from the front and towards his shoulder, put the lead rope around his
neck and lift the noseband of the head collar over your pony's nose. Flick the headpiece
over his head and fasten the buckle. Your pony can now be led out of the field.
Hello Crafty Ponies!. Approach you pony from the front and towards his shoulder, put the
lead rope around his neck and lift the noseband of the head collar over your Crafty pony's
nose, just like a real pony. Flick the headpiece over his head and fasten the buckle just like
you would on a real pony, your pony can now be led out of your field!
Walk on!
If your pony has his bottom towards the door do not pat it you may startle and upset him,
instead talk to him and call his name so he will come towards you. 'Brandy, hello boy.
This lesson is all about how to tie up your pony, to tie up ponies we use a quick release
knot. A quick release knot holds a pony securely but can be undone quickly and easily in case
of an emergency.
Put the rope through the ring, make a circle around the pony's rope, make a loop and put
that through the circle, pull the knot firm, slide the knot up the rope towards the ring.
To release the pony, pull down firmly on the loose end of the rope.
To tie up your Crafty Ponies, put the rope through the ring, make a circle around your
pony's rope, make a loop, put that through the circle, pull the knot firm and then slide
the knot up the rope towards the ring.
To untie the quick release knot pull on the loose end of the rope, your pony is now free.
this lesson is about grooming, cleaning your pony is called grooming. We groom our pony
before we put on the saddle and bridle to get rid of any dirt that may rub or irritate
your pony. We pick out his feet to make sure there are no stones that may hurt him.
Here is a dandy brush, it has long stiff bristles and is used to brush our horse's body. Here
is a body brush, it has short soft bristles and we use it on his mane, tail and face.
Here is a hoof pick, we use the pointed end of the hoof pick for picking and cleaning
his feet, and we use the bristle part of the hoof pick for brushing his feet clean.
To groom your pony start at his neck on the near side, brush firmly, work your way along
his body, under his tummy and to his hindquarters. Where the hair grows in funny directions follow
the line of the hair. On the off side of the pony start by his neck working your way along
his body, down his legs, if your pony is a bit ticklish or he has been clipped, you may
have to use a body brush as the dandy brush is quite a firm brush. Groom his face using
the body brush, careful round his eyes but still brushing firmly. Brush his mane with
a body brush. We use the body brush on his mane and his tail so that it does not break
the hair then the hair can be nice and long. At his tail brush little pieces at a time,
brush a little piece shake a bit more and brush a little piece. Now we are going to
pick out his feet, pat his neck run your hand down his leg, pick up his foot and hold the
foot near the toe. Use the pointy end of the hoof pick starting at the back of the feet
work towards the front following the line of the frog. Brush it clean with the brush
part of the hoof pick, put his foot down gently, that's it and work your way to his hind legs,
stroke along his body pick up his foot and again holding near his toe with your left
hand working your way from the back of his foot towards the front of his foot and brushing
it clean. Then move around to the other side of the pony, the off side of the pony patting
him as you go, keeping your hand on the pony then he knows where you are. Run your right
hand down the front of his leg, pick his leg up and again working from the back of the
foot towards the front pick out all the dirt and stones that might be in there, and then
brush it clean. Put it down gently stroke along his body, stroke down his hind leg,
pick up his hind leg and holding his foot near the toe with your right hand work your
way from the back of the foot towards the front with the pointy end of the hoof pick,
when you have got out any stones and mud then use the brush end of the hoof pick to brush
it nice and clean. Put the foot down gently on the floor.
Now with your Crafty Pony you can groom him just the same, so take the dandy brush start
from his neck down his legs and along his body, just the same as with a real pony, and
remember when the hair grows in a funny pattern like that follow the line of the hair. That's
a lovely job, he's going to be lovely and clean. Now take the body brush and brush his
forelock, that's the hair that is in front of his face, and his mane and you can brush
his face gently round his eyes and you can brush his tail just the same way letting a
little bit of the hair down and brush a little pieces at a time. Now pick his front foot
up just the same, ask your friend to hold your pony while you pick his leg up, use a
little hoof pick to clean his foot, stroke along his body, pick his back foot up and
working from the back of the foot towards the front following the frog clean out his
foot. Now your pony is ready for a ride.
This lesson is about how to put a saddle on, we need to put a saddle on correctly so that
our pony is comfortable and the saddle is secure. To put on your pony's saddle first
of all we are going to start with the numnah, brush your numnah clean underneath so there
is no little bits of dirt or stone that might irritate your pony. Put your numnah carefully
on your pony's back then go and collect your saddle. Lift your saddle onto your pony's
back placing it over the numnah, pull the numnah up into the saddle so that the numnah
does not press onto your pony's back. Go to the off side of the pony and lower the girth
lift up the saddle flap and just check that both of the girth buckles are fastened, Bring
the girth slightly forward so that it is just behind his front leg and keeping your hand
on the pony go around the other side of the pony, lift the girth under his tummy, lift
up the saddle flap and fasten both buckles. Some saddles have got three girth straps the
central one can be used as a spare so fasten the girth on the front and the last strap.
With your Crafty Pony it is just the same, make sure that your numnah is clean and put
your numnah on your pony's back. Lovely, get your saddle, lift the saddle onto the pony's
back on top of the numnah and make sure it is nice and straight, that's nice. Lower the
girth, go around the other side of the pony, make sure the buckles are fastened just like
on your real pony and lift the girth under his belly, lift up the saddle flap and fasten
the girth buckles onto the girth straps. That's a lovely job, it's just like a real saddle,
this just how you put a saddle on a real pony. Put the saddle flap down and your pony is
ready to have his bridle put on. this lesson is about how to put a bridle on, bridles can
be tricky to put on at first but with practice gets a lot easier. Let's put our pony's bridle
on, approach your pony from the front, hold his head collar and put the reins over his
head. Now you can unclip the lead rope, still holding the head collar unfasten it and then
put your right hand round your pony's nose so he cant walk off. Put your bridle in your
right hand and with your left hand introduce the bit into his mouth, put the off side ear
forward and then bring the bridle back over his near side ear. Arrange his forelock so
that it is not all tangled up in his bridle. Fasten his noseband making sure that the noseband
is inside the cheekpieces, when you fasten the noseband it should be firm but not tight.
The throat lash should be quite slack, on a real pony you put four fingers between the
throatlash and his cheek. And just check that the noseband is inside the cheekpieces on
both sides of your pony's face, like that. Now you can take the reins over his head and
you are ready to lead him away. Hold just behind your pony's head with your right hand
and hold the loose end of the reins with the left hand. to put the bridle on Crafty Pony
is just like a real horse! Put the reins over his head first, put them on his neck then
unclip his lead rope, unfasten his headcollar at the buckle and hold his nose because we don't want him
running off! Then put his bridle on, putting the bit into his mouth and then lifting the
bridle up and over his ears, you could sort out the forelock when you are putting the
bridle on and then it does not get tangled up. Now your Crafty Pony is not as sensitive
as a real pony and so you can actually pull your bridle a little bit to get it on, with
a real pony, a real pony's e very sensitive and we have to be very careful when putting
a real pony's bridle on. with Crafty Pony, just like a real pony, put the noseband inside
the cheekpieces, fasten the noseband firm but not tight and fasten his throat lash.
take the reins over his head and off you go for a walk. Crafty Ponies craft/sewing kits
for children and adults to make a soft toy horse/pony! www.craftyponies.co.uk