Pony Power

We left POA after the fall of 2013 when we realized that with all the major life upheavals we weren’t going to be able to afford to breed show anymore.  We tearfully said goodbye to our very special and talented ponies so that they could continue to compete at the top level and have a chance to shine.  They haven’t disappointed us and most of them are still showing and winning as high as the Congress level.  A few are getting some time off to just be ponies and enjoying some down time, but all are well loved and doing great.  We sold our last POA in 2014 and now, here we are, not even 4 years later and we are selling off the big horses and bringing back ponies.  

It all started with the impulse buy of Kuzco from some friends of the family.  And then Anne Dykstra helped Libby get Hope.  And when you have really good, quiet ponies in the pasture, it’s easy to remember how much you loved them and 1, turned into 2, which turned into 3 and guess what?  Number 4 comes home this weekend.  

We are so excited for 2018.  The goal is to get to more POA shows and really show off our fancy new ponies.  We may attend some open shows and take our ponies against the big horses and show them what pony power looks like.  We are looking forward to new classes, new challenges and new faces in the pasture.  And through it all...SPOTS!

Some of you are probably thinking, what the heck is a POA?  As far as I know a POA is a legal form for Power of Attorney.  For those of you who haven’t been around our blog forever and ever, POA is Pony of America.  For many folks that meet our ponies, they are shocked.  When people hear the word “pony” they think of one of two things:  1. Tiny little miniature horses or shetlands or  2. Ponies are baby horses.   One is partially true, two is absolutely false.

The POA can be anywhere from 48” to 56”.  Yes, we refer to our ponies in inches, while almost every other breed of horse measure in hands.  That’s because our breakdowns are so specific.  In fact, on POA papers it will be so exact that the height will be listed to the ⅛ of an inch. Height is everything.  The pony cannot measure over 56” in order to be able to show at a POA show.  Even a smidge over and they are out of luck.  Every show, until the pony is 6 and able to get a permanent height card, every single show the pony has to be inspected.  Ponies are inspected for two things; height and color.

Which brings us to the second thing that makes a POA a POA.  The pony has to have appaloosa coloring and characteristics.  That means spots.  And not big paint horse spots.  Appaloosa spots.  Or roaning.  But not quarter horse roaning.  Which can be really confusing for people who don’t understand the difference.  Let’s see if I can find pictures that will demonstrate the difference.  

This first picture is a varnish roan POA:

This is a roan quarter horse:

There are also fewspot POAs, which a lot of novice people will look at and call a white horse.  Yep - there is a whole lot of white on a fewspot, but they are not white horses. For the record, there is no such thing as a white horse.  There are fewspots and there are grays.  No such thing as a white horse.  Oh wait - there are also cremellos.  They look pretty white, but they aren’t.  So don’t call them that.  Okay? Our Cotton was the whitest pony you would ever see. But his actual basecoat color was sorrel. Weird. I know.

My personal favorite are blankets.  We haven’t had as many as I would love, but they are my favorite.  It’s where you have a solidish looking horse and they have the appaloosa spots over their butt and hip.  Yep, I said butt.  Many have white spots and some have dark spots too.  Cutie was a blanket butt (but she was roaning out with age).  Bibble probably had my all time favorite blanket.   Kuzco is a blanket butt too.  Some blankets go all the way to the withers and there can be some really fun variations of this coat pattern.

There are so many variations to appaloosa coloring.  And one of the best thing about them is that if you don’t like it, stick around.  There are very good chances that it will change as the pony ages.  I have seen completely solid babies be nearly white by the time they are 10 years old.  Our Licorice pony was born completely solid black and was covered in snowflakes by the time we had her at 5.   

Another popular coat pattern are the leopards.  They aren’t my favorite, but they are striking. Especially the really loud and dark spots.  Unless my memory is failing me, I think Kid might have been our only leopard. Sadly I don’t have a picture of him laying around.

Having a striking spotted pattern isn’t the only color characteristic that the pony needs to have.  The pony needs to have other appaloosa coloring, like mottling (speckled pink skin).  Mottling can be found around the eyes, muzzle, and *cough* *ahem* private parts. There is a funny story about that I should share in another blog some day…

They also need to have sclera.  Sclera is a white ring around the colored part of the eye.  Sometimes terrified horses will show the white around their eye.  POA’s need to have it all the time.  In the above picture you can see it pretty clearly.

Lastly, striped hooves - a lot of horses have them on their legs with the white socks.  POA’s need to have them even on their dark legs.  

There is a lot to take in and a lot more to it than even I have touched on here. But for anyone who cares and is still reading, you have a little bit of the basics and hopefully understand what makes a POA a POA now. Color and height aside, there is so much more to a POA. The POA was bred and designed to be a "using pony for the youth". There are built to be of smaller stature for kids, yet even more versatile than the larger stock horse. A POA is expected to show in a wide array of classes, all on the same day, often going from one to the next with very little break between. They should be able to halter, do showmanship, English and western pleasure, trail, reining, western riding, jump a course, then switch gears to turn and burn in a wide array of game classes from scurry to key hole, barrels and every imaginable game between. Oh and don't forget the costume classes!

And all the while, the POA needs to keep a quiet and level mind. Disposition is key for these ponies and they had better be steady as they come. They are carrying the little loves of our lives after all. Are you ready for some pony power in your barn yet?