My first pony I got when I was about 13 years old. I was a middle school girl obsessed with horses, just like every other girl my age. But I was one of the lucky ones; my dad broke down and bought me a horse. Two of them actually. Both were ponies. One was a young red roan and one was a black and white paint. I immediately claimed the paint as my own. His name was Buck, but I immediately changed that name to something more kid-friendly: Stormy. I took lessons on Stormy and showed him in multiple 4-H projects. He was the pony who taught me my first groundwork knowledge about horses. I learned to love horses through caring for Stormy and my love has set me on a career path of majoring in Equine Management and hoping to own my own farm some day.
This summer, I was forced to sell my beloved Stormy. I had upgraded to larger horses who fit me better and gave me more of a challenge to work with than Stormy was. Also they allowed me to compete higher and advance in my 4-H program as well as learn more skills than I could learn on a smaller sized pony. I still loved Stormy and worked with him occasionally, but he became more of a pasture pet than an regularly working and competitive horse.
It was heart-breaking to post a sale ad for Stormy online. It was easy to brag about him because I thought he was the greatest thing in the world. Unfortunately, because I had posted such wonderful things about my pony, many people were interested in him. I got many emails from people wanting to know more about my pony or wanting to come visit him. I answered all of their questions as honestly as possible while still trying to make a good sale. Eventually, one lady was so interested in him that she wanted to bring her friend’s child out and take a test ride on him. I scheduled a time when we were both available and the lady, her friend, and her friend’s daughter came out to see my pony. The daughter absolutely loved him. She was only 6 years old, but she led him around and rode him a few laps around the arena with the help of the adults. By the end of the visit, the girl was so excited about Stormy she wanted to take him home right away. Her mother agreed that Stormy seemed like a good fit and gave me a deposit of half his listed price to claim him while she went home to discuss with her husband a good time to pick him up to take back to their place.
This was my final wake up call; Stormy was really leaving. Suddenly it hit home that my beloved, first pony was not going to be mine anymore. It was a hard thing to handle. I didn’t know what I was going to do without my pony, but I was away at school so often that I knew it would be good for him and probably good for me in the long run too. So I wrestled with the thought of no longer owning Stormy. Eventually the new owners scheduled a time and they came and loaded Stormy into their trailer and paid me the rest of his price. I led him onto the trailer and he jumped on eagerly, excited to go on an adventure. He looked at me kinda funny as I stood around talking to his new owners, as if he was confused about what was going on. I know he liked this little girl and got along with her well, but I don’t think he understood that he would have to leave me in order to be with her.
It was sad watching him leave with his new family in his new trailer, but I knew he was going to a good home. His new family loved him and thought he was adorable, and he seemed to like his new owners as well. Even thought he was a little hesitant about meeting the new people, he seemed to get along with them fairly quickly. I know he is in a good home with people who love him and he is being more active than he was at my house, being a pasture pet. I still miss my pony, but I know he is helping some other little girl fulfill her horsey dreams. Who knows, maybe someday she’ll grow up to follow her horse passion into a career like I did.
Living A Life With Horses 