WHAT DO YOU DO?

JOE AND LILLY


Months ago decided to acquire a pony for my grandson, Joe who I look after for a couple of days every second weekend ...I happened to mentioned to people I knew I was setting off that day to look at ponies

"Do not get a pony we have a perfectly good pony going to waste in the paddock which our grand daughter does not want or wish to ride and will not go near it"......."No do not buy a pony we would like to have this pony and we have asked our grand daughter and she is perfectly happy for Joe to have the pony, and he can consider it his own until he has not further use for her".

The pony, Lilly, is a beautiful animal with a delightful temper but had never been ridden and was quite young three years of age. I took the pony, broke it in to saddle and tramped miles and miles driving it in reins to town through the bush down the road, waiting on corners so she would become acquainted with cars and trucks...and Joe was estatic and I made the mistake of telling him it was his pony as the owners had assured me Joe would have the use of it until he grew too tall for the little darling.

Joe rode that pony for miles and miles and I wore my legs out walking beside Joe, after all Joe is only three years of age BUT Joe became somewhat of a celebrity on his pony and told everyone of his pony and how he loved to ride and he would ride to town through the bottle shop and buy a ginger beer then go to the shops and buy an ice block. Children would stop and marvel at this little boy and his fairytale pony. Joe, my grandson lives in a big city with his mother and visits me in the country when with his father has the custody so visiting with his Grandma and riding this horse was his fantasy. This is a huge contrast to the concrete and steel jungle and the joy of this child was contagious to anyone who witnessed him with the pony.

A week before his next visit, a bolt from the blue I received a telephone message that the pony was needed at home as a companion for another horse....gone were the assurances that the pony would stay with the little boy as his own....oh yes if you like when Joe visits he may come and have a ride on the pony. Joe was fanatical about the pony talking to it and feeding it and grooming her beautiful black coat mane and tail.....and thought it was his...Children at the local school spoke of "Joe's pony" and of course it is not Joe's pony but belongs to the little girl. ....I can not even after the passage of a week get my head around the lack of morality doing this just because they could. I know in my heart if the shoe was on my foot I would never do this to a three year old child.

Luckily the message was recorded on my mobile as went ballistic ....... had thought had learnt to control my temper. I calmed down and spoke to my sensible son who said the bottom line was I did not own the pony. I agreed and meekly took the pony back to the owners knowing I had done the wrong thing in trusting someones word and that I had led this little boy to believe the pony was his......I desperately scoured the country for another pony to get here within days and was prepared to drive to Victoria as another black pony was available down there and would have been a drive of two and a half thousand kilometres. I rang a pony stud 100 kilometres distant and they did not have a pony available and told them my tale. The owners of the stud became very involved and said they would try and locate a suitable pony. After some hours I was contacted by these people and they had discussed the matter and agreed to let me purchase one of their show team shetlands. I purchased the pony and brought her home and broke her in to a saddle. Joe arrived and I told him that the black pony had to go to a paddock as needed to be a companion to a lonely horse and said that I have another little pony who was going to live with me and perhaps he would like her.

I did not give Joe the opportunity to question too closely and whisked him down to the stables and this little horse walked up to him and made his aquaintance. I told Joe she was still being trained and perhaps he could help. Joe agreed and we went and collected his saddle from the shed and he told me "No, can not use the black saddle as the black saddle was for Lilly as she was black and the new pony Milo Miranda, needed a whitish saddle to match" This was Joe's protest and I explained to him that all saddles were black or brown and fetched a horse magazine for him to confirm. He decided it was OK to use Lilly's saddle on Miranda and the rest is history but I do believe the saddle was the little boy's angst at losing Lilly to the green headed monster......




JOE MAKING FRIENDS WITH MILO MIRANDA WITH A CARROT..Eddie in the background loves carrots can hear the crunching and is hoping he gives him one too....he does




GETTING TO KNOW YOU







Now that I have told the world and gotten that out of my system seems trivial...........and not such a big deal now that the new pony has been accepted......had a sick feeling in my tummy all week, chasing a pony, organized her within twenty four hours, collected her and broke her in to saddle.....she is well aquainted to hustle, bustle, cars, traveling as has been competing at halter since a weanling, she still needs plenty of work and attention but is a very willing and intelligent pony. We can be lucky.....and I am never too old to learn a lesson of human nature.