For the Love of Ponies: Sugar, Patches and Merrylegs

Dr. Krishona Martison, Dr. Kathy Anderson and Dr. Colleen Brady share their favorite memories of ponies from their past and give parents tips on wether a pony might be the right choice for their child.

Ashley and Merrylegs 

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:05

This is Tack box Talk and this is Horse Stories with the Purpose. Who are we? We are Equine educators. We are owners. We are judges. We are competitors. We are coaches. We are volunteers. We are moms. We are horse owners just like you. And we want to share our horse stories with a purpose.

Speaker 2 0:31

Welcome to Extension Horses Tack Box Talk Series, Horse Stories with a Purpose. I'm your host, Dr. Kris Hiney with Oklahoma State University. And today I have with me Dr. Colleen Grady from Purdue. Hello. Dr. Kathy Anderson from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Good day to you all. And Dr. Chrisona Martinson from University of Minnesota.

Speaker 1 0:54

Hello.

Speaker 2 0:55

So today's episode of Horse Stories with a Purpose, we're actually going to share some of our uh favorite pony stories from either when we were a kid or even our more recent experiences. So I'm sure many of you have all had those wonderful memories of hanging out with ponies and what little terrors that they actually can be. So, Kathy, you had a pony named Mary Legs that you have for your kids. So tell us about Mary Legs.

Speaker 3 1:24

Yes, Mary Legs was a little white pony. I don't know, probably a Shetland Cross, something or other. And um we got her as my kids were just kind of getting the age where we thought that they could go ahead and ride, especially our daughter. And um, so she was adorable, she was really cute, and the people we got her from rode her around and she looked okay. And I have to say, it was within the first week that we had her. So my daughter Ashley is sitting there hugging her, and like a stupid parent, um, Merrilex happened to be eating some of her grain, and Ashley goes down to give her a big hug, and little Miss Merrillegs turns and bites my daughter on her cheek. So bad, bad moment. Um, and so the pony didn't get off to the very best start because then you know not she were worried, and it it was significant enough that I took her in to the doctor's because I didn't want this big scar, and you know, it did go through the skin, and yeah, so she was kind of bruised and looked kind of bad for a little bit. So that's how we got started with Miss Merilex.

Speaker 1 2:25

So now did she want to go back and play with her pony, or was that like, oh, I hate the pony?

Speaker 3 2:30

No, yeah, she was crying, why'd my pony bite me? Why did my pony bite me? You know. So that was kind of then the I mean, we knew to be just kind of eyes open, and she wasn't with the little deadhead that some ponies are. So then another little deal that we had with her is um we're outside riding in the in her outdoor arena. My husband and I are on bare horses, and we're all riding around there, and she'd ridden Merry Legs enough, so she was out in the in the arena with us, riding her around, and I think I rode a little close to Merrilleggs, and she did have what we call sometimes small man syndrome, and she wasn't in love with the bigger horses, and she just kind of had this funny look in her face. And all of a sudden I just noticed her ears go back, and she starts flying across the arena, kicking with both feet up like a donkey, running backwards towards me because I was the horse that ran too close to her, you know what? And so she's flying back at me, and I got out of the way, so she'd actually kick my horse, but she sure tried. And then she stopped, and everything stopped, and I was smart enough. I got off my horse kind of in quick and I went over there to grab her, and I barely got a hold of her that my daughter just left out the biggest wow, crying, bawling, screaming, and I think that pony would then would have run off because Ashley's wailing scared her. But so yeah, we had some interesting experiences with Mary Lake. She wasn't all bad, but we had some moments with her that kind of challenged us.

Speaker 1 3:49

So after the biting and the the pony kicking, she hung in there, she still liked hanging out with her pony?

Speaker 3 3:55

Yeah, she still did. We still had a lot of time with that pony until she got a little bit bigger. My son showed her a little bit. Um, we had another friend that had another white pony, and so they were the cutest pair at our little open show thing because you'd have Michael and Mackenzie out there showing their two little white ponies, and they're spending most of the time really just talking and visiting. So they were really pretty cute, and we were smart enough that Michael really just did the showmanship stuff with her and that kind of stuff. So, yeah, she hung around for a long time, and then we sold her to some friends um in Wisconsin, and then I think she's also moved on. I don't know if she's still around or not, because we that was a good bit ago.

Speaker 1 4:28

So, Colleen, you had a childhood pony that was sugar. Tell us a little bit about your fondest memories of sugar.

Speaker 4:36

Well, probably one of my fondest memories of sugar was actually the day I got him when I was eight years old, and my parents unloaded him off the back of a pickup truck, and he was a little bay-in-white pinto. He had a big red bow, he had a ton of mane. And he had he was a Shetland Welsh cross and had that Shetland fluffy mane. He had a big red bow tied in his mane, and um, he was the best Christmas or the best birthday present I had ever gotten at that point, because of course I'd been begging for a pony, um, like a lot of eight-year-old girls have. Um, and he was a good pony. He never, I don't remember him ever biting or ever kicking the whole time we had him, so he must not have been very related to Merry Legs. Um, but his little thing was he didn't always like to be caught. Um, and so we didn't keep our horses or ponies on pasture or on in a stall, they were just out on pasture, and so every time I went wanted to ride, I had to go catch him. Well, he decided that some days he didn't really want to work, he just assumed, you know, not have some little kid get on and gallop around the world, so I wouldn't be able to catch him. So I started to get creative about figuring out how to build like little enclosures that I could get him into. Because if I could get him into a fairly small space, I could catch him. So I would take sticks and ropes and and like build these little corrals around trees and stuff like that, and then I would try to lure him in there so I could catch him. Uh, one time I remember we had him cod, and my brother decided he wanted to ride. My brother wasn't into it very much, but I remember giving him a leg up to get on, and of course we're riding bareback. I hardly ever put a saddle on my pony, and I gave him a leg up right up and over, and he slid down the other side. And and I really don't think I did that on purpose. I think I just was accidentally a little too a little too strong when I legged him up. But sugar was good, he stood there. Uh, but then we moved to a place that we actually had there was a little paddock attached to the barn, and so then I had it figured out as we put his salt block, he loved the salt block, in the paddock, and I would hide in the barn and have a rope attached to the gate. And so when sugar came in the paddock to lick the salt block, I could pull the rope and pull the gate shut, and then I could catch him, and then I could ride. So I didn't have to try to build my own little and those little corrals I built, they never really worked anyway. I maybe once or twice I successfully caught any one of those, but that never really worked.

Speaker 2 7:00

So your bait in the pony track was always just salty. He loved the salt block. I would have baited my pony like with an apple or a carrot, like a little bit.

Speaker 7:09

Well, it had to be inside holding on the rope so I could pull on it. Had I been a smarter nine-year-old, I'd probably because I was probably nine by then, I was not a smart enough nine-year-old to do that. I knew what he liked and I knew he would come in there. So there's a lot of people.

Speaker 2 7:26

Patiently waiting for a pony to want to lick some salt. So, Krishona, you had a pony named Patches. Is that your childhood pony? Yes, my childhood pony. So I was very fortunate. Um, I grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, and my grandfather was a cattle jockey. He didn't ride cattle, but he um transported cattle, bought and sold cattle, had bulls, and a lot of times when people couldn't pay or he thought he found a good deal, he would buy a pony and bring it home to me. So I had a herd, usually about three to four ponies strong all growing up. But Patches was my favorite pony, uh probably a little Shetland, Welsh, uh little, a little pink pony. Um, but this pony had the traditional jackhammer trot, you know, pony trot. And it was in an era, I mean, you know, think back in the day into the 80s, you know, early 80s, late 70s. You don't have to date yourself. Yes, it's okay. Well it was back in the day when we played a lot of cowboys and Indians, and I always wanted to be the Indian, and um, my parents, you know, indulged me and got me an Indian outfit and braided my hair, and I had a little drum. And my grandparents just lived up the road, and I'd ride that pony up the road and I'd beat the drum the whole way. And the faster I beat the drum, the faster the pony trotted, and the faster we'd get up there. So I spent a lot of time riding a trotting pony in an Indian dress with a drum, and it was a really wonderful childhood memory to do that. One that we probably wouldn't be seeing today. No, you probably would not, nor would most people probably, you know, allow that to happen. But it was a bit it was very rural Wisconsin, so there wasn't really any issues with traffic. Um, and you just rode wherever you wanted to ride because you own the field and you just ride the fields. So I remember my had a pony named Flickka. So speaking of those wonderful pony trucks, um and that was the horse that I had was my little Shetland pony. I think I got when I was five. Um, so I didn't really know anything. What if five-year-olds know nothing? So I just got this pony um and would love to have the pony go fast, but my pony really didn't know anything. Um, and so it was just sort of me and the pony. But if I could get the pony far enough away from the barn, then the pony would want to run back to the barn, and so then you got to go fast. So that was my favorite thing to do is just to get the pony far enough away from the barn so she'd want to go fast backwards. And then I, as an enterprising builder, as a child, I would build pony jumps out of sticks and logs or whatever, and try to put them on the path back to the barn. So, yeah, this is no steering, no aggregation, whatever. Just take the pony far enough away and then block the path with the pony jumps. The pony had to jump back. So those were some of my memories. Like, there was no real aquitation. Like, I didn't learn to sit at trot or anything like that. You just stood up and that way the pony went as we went. Uh, but I love that pony, you know. And as a kid, I could brush it and hang all over it and drag the pony around. So she was a really good-natured little thing. Other than I'm sure she was like, oh my goodness, why do we have to go far away? So I have to run back. So at thinking back on your childhood memories, and Kathy, you got a pony for your kids to kind of grow up. Would you recommend that other parents kind of do the same thing? Get a pony for their kids?

Speaker 3 10:58

You know, I'm really big on just making sure you got the right individual. And that sounds so lame, but it's so true. I mean, you can have a little pony that's worth its weight in gold, and you can have one that's a real rat, and you can have the same with the big horses. And so, um, you know, after Merrills wasn't the exact what we wanted, then we ended up with kind of a half crippled big horse that both of our kids started riding on, and it was a little bit safer situation, a whole lot bigger, so maybe a little bit intimidating, but yes and no. So it really comes down to that particular individual and what you feel comfortable with, and what what's going to be the safest for your kids because you don't want to scare them, you want to keep them involved, and if they're really scared, then that's gonna limit them on what they want to do. So it it it could be a pony, it could be a big horse, and it just depends on them and what who they are and what they can do.

Speaker 2 11:44

And I also think it depends on what type of discipline you show in. So my daughters and I show in um Western Saddle Club Association or WS Safe Speed Events, and they actually have classes for pet ponies, which the pony has to be 48 inches or under, and the rider is 10 and under, or a regular pony which is 56 inches and under, or 13 and under for the age of the rider. So there are specific classes just for ponies, and the reason I wanted to start out my kids with ponies is I wanted them to be able to do it themselves, you know, be able to brush their horse all over, be able to put the saddle on, put the bridle on. Um, and if they get stepped on, yes, it can still hurt, but it's four to six hundred pounds versus twelve hundred pounds. So for me, and also like you said, Kathy, is that intimidation factor. I think you know, people I think a lot of times we'll say minis are the gateway drug, right? Like they're the gateway to the big horses because they're not as intimidating, they're small, you can have more of them. Um, but for me, it was our association encouraged it, and for me it just felt the logical fit. And I was fortunate to find also some really nice ponies.

Speaker 12:53

And I I I think that's the most important thing is that whether it's a horse or a pony, that it's youth appropriate and for the child at that age and what that child is interested in. And and to me, given that, then if you have a part something you're participating in that has pony divisions, a lot of times too, there'll be ponies that kind of are known within the community that as kids outgrow them, you know, they kind of get passed around from one family to the next. Because I think that's one of the challenges when you get ponies for young kids, is the children grow and they're gonna outgrow that pony at some point. And so then, you know, how do you move forward with do you get them a horse? Do you have to rehome that pony? Um, what do you do? And so I think thinking about all of those things is is really important. And in a lot of places, you know, I know in the world that I I participate in, which is um dressage and eventing, if you have a good pony, you never have to worry about finding a good home for it because people are always looking for a good pony for kids that are getting started. We have small adults that ride, you know, on ponies and do really, really well and have and have a great time. So um, if you're looking for one of those really good ponies, sometimes it helps to uh kind of network with other people in the industry that you're interested in because a good pony disappears really, really fast.

Speaker 1 14:25

Yeah, and I have to give props out uh, you know, to a particular breed.

Speaker 2 14:29

So the the little POAs, amazing ponies, and so they're really nice because they're pretty laid back most of the time, and they're on that edge of big enough that a small adult can ride them and kind of help out a little bit with that pony training, but they're not intimidating. Um, they're still the size, I mean, I mean, it's practical, right? So, do you want to have to put the saddle on the horse for your kid, or do you want them to, you know, maybe struggle a little bit, but to be able to reach their horse? So there's some really, really good ones out there. So I would I would always kind of think about, yeah, find the good one because they're gonna be worth it. And they live a long time, right? So ponies just don't don't seem to end, they keep going.

Speaker 15:11

The ever ready battery and just keep going and going and going. Well, and and too, and and again, like you said, too, not to try to promote, we never try to promote a specific breed. But if you have young people that want to be involved, find the organizations that really focus on young people and you'll find opportunities and get into the networks of the people because like POA does a great job really focusing, because it is a smaller horse, on opportunities for youth to participate. The saddle club that Krishona was talking about really focuses, and I bet there's a lot of people there that if you were looking for a good pony, they would say, Oh, well, I know so and so, because that's part of what they do is encourage youth and encourage small horses or or ponies. So there's lots of places. I know, again, like I said, in my world, you know, it if you're looking for a good pony, if you know a few people, they'll the good ponies always find a new home right away.

Speaker 1 16:06

So you guys talked about some of your your pony challenges that you have.

Speaker 2 16:10

So, what are your your fondest memories of those ponies or any other like crazy shenanigans that kids do with ponies that you you're willing to tell us? Well, of course, growing up in the wild Wisconsin outdoors, right? And having a herd of ponies at my disposal because of my grandfather, um, the ponies were also broke to drive because a lot of them came from Amish communities. Um, and we also had a pony cart and a harness, but we had one harness, one cart, but three ponies. So, what is the logical thing you would do? Put them into a chariot situation where you have one main pony that pulls a cart, and then, of course, on a dairy farm, you would use twine string and feed sacks to create riggings for the other ponies that you'd have a three-pony, you know, cart, but it never ended well because they were not trained as a team, they were trained as individuals, but you could spend all day going around the neighborhood and picking up friends, and then as they would get less cooperative, you would just have people ride the outside ponies because you even get more kids in there, so probably wasn't the safest thing, and to my knowledge, the ponies never had sores. How I have no idea having twine strings strung all over them instead of leather harnesses. Um, but you know, I think there's something to be said for ponies that are kid broke, right? Those ponies tolerated all of that shenanigans. Um, there's a few times where we ended up walking home without the ponies and cart, um, but you learned some good lessons from that as well.

unknown 17:46

Yeah.

Speaker 2 17:47

Priceless.

Speaker 3 17:48

Yeah, you know, mine was mainly just with um the the one we had for the kids as they were just getting started. And, you know, not a whole lot of things stand out, but she really did give them a good start, a good foundation, and they learned to really appreciate her and um get where um you know they wanted to play with her and you know, and hug her and those types of things. So we made a little pen for her over on one side of the house, and I would catch them over there kind of going through the fence and feeding her through the fence and stuff like that.

Speaker 18:15

So um, I guess I probably my funniest story I think about sugar, I I already shared, but you know, I I I was thinking about another pony. We were talking about how ponies seem to go on forever. Um, at a barn where I used to ride a friend of mine has an Arabian bash curly cross, which is an interesting cross. Um so he's a larger, he's a larger pony, but he's about 24 years old right now. He was an event pony, he went up through novice level, which is jumping around, you know, three foot, something like that. And and actually they have another POA that was a lesson horse forever that could jump anything. Her daughter finally had to move from the POA to the Arab Cross because her feet were getting so her legs were getting so long. Her daughter's name was Victoria. Tori's legs were so long they were hanging below the POA's belly, and Muffin was clearing the fences, but they were worried that Tori was going to start knocking them down with her feet. And so um that's when she had to go up to a little, a little larger horse. So, you know, I just think good ponies, but Muffin, you put her, you put her out on the cross-country course, and you could ride up until she was retired in her 20s, and the same with Sparr, and they would just go and go and go, and they would jump anything in front of them, and they taught so many kids how to ride. Um, and not that they were easy, because if you didn't ride them, they'll they'll they'd stop, you know, or or Spar would jump over something and feel really good, and he'd throw in a little buck just just for fun, um, because he was having such a good time. So uh, you know, you needed to know how to ride them, but you can be really competitive on ponies in a lot of disciplines.

Speaker 2 19:52

So I think talking about the competitiveness on good ponies, we also have stories of like really positive ponies. So I was fortunate to stumble on one for my daughters. They started out on 44-inch, I suppose they were miniatures, large miniatures. They outgrew them very quickly, so that's a good lesson to learn, kind of be thinking to the you know, to the future. But um, we ended up with a 48-inch pony, so she fit into that pet pony category, into what we rode in. And her name is Holly, and this pony is a saint. She was just a trail riding pony. We taught her all the speed events, she was very quick, very competitive. And that pony has never put her ears back, kicked, buffed, bit. If there's any you know, feeling of drama with horses, she just leaves the area. Um, we can house her with the big horses, she doesn't have all the pony problems, and she's a relatively small pony, but she just had that fantastic personality that I'll probably never find again, even in a large horse. So, like you said, Kathy, you buy the pony, you don't buy the the pony the size, you buy the personality and the ability. And sometimes you just totally luck out and you find this peach of a pony at a bargain price just because the pony was only quote unquote trail written. Um, but that pony went through lessons and she maybe had two or three moments where she couldn't catch on to things, but man, once she caught on, she was just fantastic. So, for all of the little shenanigans and stories we have from our youth, I think, you know, Clean, you've said there's been some awesome ponies at your barns, and there's always the good ones, and I think that's what keeps people hanging on to ponies is the stories, those myths of the good ponies. They're not always myths, the good ones are out there, yeah, they exist. And even if it's that connection, again, I just revert just spending time with the pony, just brushing her, writing her hair, making her pretty, that that helps develop that connection. And and you know, a lot of parents can feel safe. They'd rather have their kids hanging out with pony than being on the internet these days, right?

Speaker 1 21:58

So be all promotionally.

Speaker 2 22:01

Well, and obviously for all of us, it led to like a profession. I mean like a lifelong love of learning and showing and riding and also our profession.

Speaker 1 22:11

Well, I hope everyone's enjoyed allowing us to reminisce a little bit about the ponies in the past. And thanks for joining our Tech Box Talk series or stories with a purpose. Bye. Bye.