Three Ladies and Three More: Ponies are *not* the spawn of Satan

And I will keep arguing that point until my dying breath. I am sick to death of hearing that statement every time someone asks on a social media platform if they should buy their child a pony or a horse. Oh and that isn't the only one, "Ponies are short so they are closer to hell" or "Tell a gelding, ask a mare, pray if it's a pony". Oh ha ha ha - you're so funny, but guess what? You're also missing out on something truly great and the worst part is, you're convincing others that are asking for honest advice all the wrong things.

I love the excuse "in my experience". What is your experience? You had a naughty shetland or mini as a kid? Your friend had one? You heard a story on the internet? Of course people share naughty pony stories on the internet. Everyone LOVES that video of the naughty little gray pony dumping his poor little rider over and over again, it gets a laugh. It makes me angry so I refuse to watch it, but it does get laughs. So people share those naughty stories because they get a laugh and they get passed on.

We all have naughty pony stories. I had incredibly naughty and intelligent paint pony that I started out on. Libby also had a naughty spirited little welsh type pony once. The girls also had a little mini that, while incredibly good and funny, had his naughty moments too - like stealing my tools every time I tried to fix fence. Not every POA is even the perfect kid safe starter pony. But wow - for people to write off ponies is so wrong. I've known just as many asshole horses as I have ponies. I know I won't change everyone's mind, but if I can get just one person to see pass the "ponytude" stereotype, I will feel like I have made a dent in ignorance.

I could literally bore you to tears with good pony stories; stories just of our OWN ponies being beyond amazing. I could share stories of great ponies that I have seen until "the cows come home" or you pass out from lack of sleep. But I won't, because those aren't my stories to tell. I will share a few of my own stories and I would love for the comments here to fill up with stories of your own ponies being just what your family ordered for you and your kids.

Our first POA was a a POA cross named Lieba. She had no formal training being a former Amish broke pony. She was Libby's first "real" pony after a little shetland that she had her first few rides on. Lieba was a gem. She was as safe as safe gets, she had one speed. Walk. And boy did she love the word "whoa". She was a great pony for Libby to start showing on. She never won big awards, but Libby was safe. Safe to lead her, safe to ride her, safe to brush or clip or wash her. She was the perfect pony for Libby to start learning about horses on.

We then tried a welsh or hackney or some type of cross pony. She was naughty. She spooked. She bolted. She reared. And she taught Libby a ton. I thought Libby would get scared and give up. But she didn't dream of it and there were plenty of moments when Shadow was a very good pony. She wasn't exactly beginner friendly, but she was a good pony. When we looked to replace her with something more reliable we knew what we wanted. A POA. We got, Giggles.

Giggles is the "shit" as they say. She literally was every little girl's dream pony. No, she didn't have long flowing mane and tail. She had kind of a big ugly head and she wasn't "cuddly". But you could do anything with that pony. My kids could sit on the ground and clip her feet. They crawled under her, over her, through her legs. They fed her, walked her, jumped her, rode her bareback in a leadrope, picked up her feet, you name it. There weren't many classes she didn't show in and win in, even beating the "big" horses. Western to English, trail, reining, costume, jumping, games, you name it. She can do it all. You'd think she was old and dead broke right? Not really. She was 7 when I bought her for my 7 year old, but really only 2 year old broke. She wasn't even "fancy broke". Just a good pony that tried her heart out. When my girls had learned everything she could teach them, she went to a new home and is teaching more little girls. And to prove that you can really do anything to Giggles, check her out in one of my favorite costumes with her new little girl.

Giggles gave my daughter confidence to start training her own ponies. She was 9, yeah 9 when she trained her first POA. Taz was another gem. Never stepping a foot wrong, just always trying to please. Not spooky or mean, just a gentle soul - old at heart. Of course she had help, but Libby was able to train that pony on her own. And he wasn't the last.

We had a string of really great and quiet POA ponies that I would have trusted with almost any kid. Susie - she was 2 when I sold her to be a kid's pony and she didn't disappoint. Her new family loved her. There was Dolly and Licorice. Licorice's whole family came to try her out and they still look me up when they are at the same shows we are to say how great she is. Oh and Buddy - what a great pony he was. Sophie's first pony she showed all by herself, did anything and everything she asked and was a saint. There was Levi, a pony that did have a "ponytude" when we got him but it literally took one lesson and he was back to being a good broke pony. Cotton! Who could forget Cotton? Just a 3 year old when we bought him for Sophie who was only 8 at the time. They won literally everything. Even when I would have dumped her butt for being a brat, he just put up with her and tried his little heart out. And Rye. God bless Rye. Libby broke him out when she was 11. And with a little help she trained that pony to do everything under the sun and do it well, Congress level well.

I remember trail rides with green broke ponies who ended up leading the ride because they were just that good and just that quiet. I remember letting my girls jump into new classes like trail when the pony had never seen a bridge or a mailbox or... and the ponies just sailed through the class, because they were just that good. I remember throwing Libby into her first hunter over fences class, virtually never having practiced a jump before in her life and Giggles threw herself around that course with great glee. I can see the time I duct taped a horn to Cotton's head and he went into a class draped in Sophie's stuffed animals and blanket for a costume class. Or how about Peach going to her second real horse show weekend and winning a belt buckle? Pretty sure we threw classes at her, and tack, that she had never seen before. Even just this last summer, poor Hope getting taken to shows at her 7th ride and showing in a walk trot class. Oh wait - winning a walk/trot class. Or a favorite memory - when I asked the girls to bring their ponies down to the barn and I caught them in halters and leadropes/bareback, having a race across the hillside with loose horses and dogs running. Oh and one of those ponies was a 2 year old. Where is that video....

I could share a million pictures, literally I am probably only barely exaggerating, I took a lot of pictures of my girls when they were horse showing. I will share a few, but I cannot stress enough how good and quiet our POA ponies have been. Easy to train, easy to ride and more importantly, easy to love.

So yeah - every time I hear someone say that ponies are the devil, I get a little (a lot) defensive.