Our backyard zoo seemed big enough: two horses, two dogs, and a cat. Then my wife heard about a pony that needed a good home. I should mention that we are suckers for rescue projects. Both of the horses came from bad places, one was so malnourished that we weren’t sure it would live. One dog was abandoned in a field near us, the other had been abandoned at a kennel, and the cat was a humane society leftover.
So my wife hears about this pony. The current owner is considering selling it to a dealer (i.e. next stop: slaughterhouse) because it is so difficult to catch. Apparently it came from Amish country and had been really abused, so it had a lot of trust issues.
Yesterday she went and bought it for a song and brought it home. It’s a real cutie. It will need a lot of work, but I think “Fiddlesticks” is going to make a great pony for my daughter.
Before we were married, I used to tell my now-husband that I wanted a pony whenever he asked me what I wanted (for Christmas, my birthday, etc.). One Chrismas he gave me a My Little Pony that he had set up in a homemade stall with hay and everything. What a sweetie!
Am I the first one to say that I had a pony growing up??
We lived on ~5 acres and had 1 quarter horse, 1 Welsh pony, 1 Shetland, and 2 mixed baby ponies (1/2 Welsh, 1/2 Shetland, wanna guess why??) Of course, my little sister fell off the Shetland and broke her arm.
Enjoy! They’re really fun! I loved riding on trails with my dad.
Whenever I make a list of things I wish I had, I wrap it up with “… and a pony.”
One of my high school friends has ponies. Three of them! A mommy, a daddy and a baby. They’re not Shetlands. They’re miniature ponies, I think they’re called - about the size of Shetlands.
Of course she also has five horses, two goats and a cow.
My other friend has seven cows, a bull and some geese, but he doesn’t have a pony, so I consider him almost as deprived as I was.
All I ever had were My Little Ponies, and I don’t even have them anymore.
That’s why you always bring a pillowcase, thay can hold anything.
It did just dawn on me that we got the pony on Halloween (I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes). We might have to change its name to something spooky like Jinx. I’ve got some digital pix of the beast at home, I’ll have to put some up on-line tonight.
I actually had little to do with the whole pony-buying experience. My wife handles all things equine, I’m just there to play the bad guy and ask her “Are you sure we can afford it?” while secretly doing the “I want a pony” dance internally. She must never read this thread, the balance of power would be irrevocably shifted.
It should be fun having him around. It’ll be years before my daughter is ready to ride “her” pony, but it makes my wife happy, and if she’s happy, I tend to be happier.
tevya - we could adopt you, but wouldn’t your husband mind?
Awww! I’m happy for y’all and your pony. I live in the suburbs of a medium/small city and believe it or not, a guy down the street kept a miniature horse for a number of years. Now it’s gone and he’s got goats. The poor little horse smelled (he wasn’t very good about cleaning up after him), but the children and I tried to make his life bearable by brining him carrots all the time (a good friend lived next door).
Looking forward to seeing the pictures, Why A Duck!
Fiddlesticks is the perfect pony name. Do not change!!!
I, too, used to ask for a pony for Christmas and my birthday. I had to wait until I was 30 to buy my own. But it was worth the wait. Actually the Wonder Pony isn’t a pony, but a 16.2 Quarter Horse/Thoroughbred. He is so very cute. Remember the thread on “favorite smells?” (I don’t know how to link). So many people said one of their fave smells was horse/pony. Give Fiddlesticks a apple and big kiss on the lips for me.
P.S. Might want to look into some John Lyons round pen work for Fiddlesticks.
My horses have always come when they’re called. In fact, Irish knows my car out of all those that come and go at the boarding stable. When I drive into the driveway, he heads towards the gate. I’d imagine with regular treats and feed and love, Fiddlesticks/Jinz will start hanging around for attention, too. Congratulations on your new attention!
Grrr…I am not feeling to hospitable towards ponies at the moment, I just got through feeding my horse when he so kindly smacked me in the face with his own, causing me to cut my lip, almost break my nose, and spit blood for a good 5 minutes. My face is still tingly. Ponies can be little bitches sometimes.
I didn’t know there were so many Dopers with horses! I know about StGermain’s, we’ve discussed them before, but heck, we have enough horsey Dopers we could form a mounted posse!
