With Vintage now gone, my Pony Man was alone. He had moments were he seemed fine, and others were he was very upset. There was no way I was going to leave him by himself, so I weighed my options.
- I could sell Pony and have no equines on the property.
- I could bring Stu home, and worry about him jumping the fence, and also not really having a great place to ride.
- I could find a little pony for the kids, and then they could ride together and grow up with ponies.
So naturally I choose grow up with ponies. It really seemed like the best option. Get them addicted to horses young, and we can all share in the fun. Plus there’s no way I’m giving up Pony Man. You can pry him from my cold dead fingers before I let him go anywhere.
I did some searching, talked to many sellers, watched videos, and explored my options. I decided I really wanted a bitty little pony (or mini) that would be a friend to the kids, and also could be the “third horse,” of the farm.
“Third Horse” – The horse that keeps the buddy of your original horse company when you go out for a ride. Your original horse needs a friend, but then it gets lonely when you go out riding so you have to get a third horse to keep your buddy horse company. Complications may arise when you take a friend out riding, then you might need a 4th horse to keep the 3rd horse company.
That’s how I came across the little black and white pony. I was talking to the seller, “The Pony Lady, Dealer in Fine Ponies,” (I gave her that title) about a different pony, but that one sold before I paid for her. So I asked about other ponies available, and he was brought up.
He’s a little black and white paint, perhaps a pony, but also maybe a mini. His sales receipt says, “Pony,” – very descriptive. He was calm, very basic training, as in, not ready for a horse show, but ready to be the perfect leadline pony. He was bred by the Amish, and he’s trained for both riding and driving. I thought it might be fun to try driving at some point, so that was a nice, completely unneeded, perk.
See his dramatic, late night entrance here.
It was off to a great start. He was perfectly behaved on our late night walk through the neighborhood. The very next day after his arrival, I decided to have his shoes pulled. I don’t like dealing with horse shoes, they are very annoying and unless there’s special circumstances, everyone is going barefoot. So far, in my over 20 years of horse ownership, there has been nothing that would require my horses to have shoes.
So less than 24 hours after his arrival, the farrier was out to pull his shoes. This was the first test, and unfortunately he did fail. He was not happy about his feet being handled. I have no idea how they even did his feet prior to this because, to put it nicely, he was a bit of an unruly little scoundrel. He either has extreme trust issues, or he was manhandled or tranquilized every time his feet were done, because I don’t know how they managed to get 4 shoes on that pony.
He kept trying to kick the farrier, so she only managed to get off 3 of his shoes. She left with a dire warning that she would not be servicing this pony unless he got his act together.
That was disappointing. I was really expecting a pony described as a perfect kid’s pony to be well mannered about handling. To make it worse, the first time I turned him out, he literally bolted away from me like I was about to attack him. Then he would not come near me in the field. He fled at the sight of me. The only time I was able to catch him was when I fed him, so I used this to my advantage. I would fed him, catch him, and work with those feet.
I don’t know much about his past, but he’s very wary of people. Except for children though, my children can walk right up to him and he’s thrilled to get their attention. It’s just me he doesn’t like. Since the children are the target market for this pony, I am very happy he does like them, but I do need him to like me somewhat, since I’ll be leading the pony activities and all.
I was seriously questioning my sanity in picking this pony. The first few days he was wild, but things have gotten better and now I can handle his feet without even haltering him. He has even started coming up to me in the field for a short pet. Progress!
The kids have had a short sit on him, but since I don’t have tack that fits him, it was literally just a sit. He does seem to have impeccable manners once haltered, the issue is catching him, and the events leading up to catching him. And I actually want this pony to like me. I’ve never had a horse not like me. WHY DON’T YOU LIKE ME, SMALL PONY?!?
I am slowly bribing him into liking me with food, so I think it’ll eventually be fine. Also Pony Man is an excellent example; he loves me and I can cuddle with him (the benefits of raising them from a youngster). I make sure to do it in front of the new pony to show him what he’s missing. Get him a little bit jealous of the attention.
Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for – what is the pony’s name?!
Well, his original name was terrible. I don’t want to say it because I don’t want to possibly offend anyone, but this name did not suit him at all. Think, sports related nickname. (I am not a fan of any sports. Bah humbug.)
He needed a new name, and with his distinctive black and white coat, it seemed super obvious. However, we didn’t want to be sued for trademark infringement from a giant company, so the name is….
Cookie.
The kids decided on this name, not me, but I’m terrible at coming up with names, so it’s not like I was coming up with a better one. As long as it’s not the terrible name he came with.
Also, on the plus side, his coat makes him stand out in the field. He’s very easy to spot. No more searching for slightly hidden dirty brown ponies!
I know moving to a new place can be a big adjustment for a horse, so I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt right now and letting him settle in. But soon he’s going to need to start working. I got this pony to give pony rides to my kids, dang nabbit, and that’s what he’s going to do. They need to be horse kids!
Hopefully positive updates soon.