"The Hard Way"
I learned to stay ahead of my horse at an early age. Baldy
was the name of my first pony. My dad bought Baldy and said,
"He will teach you a lot!" At the time, I didn't understand
that, I was just excited about getting a pony, but here is
what happened.
My brother, my dad, and myself drove out to a farm, with my brother
and I having no idea we were going to look at a pony. I was the first
to ride him. I rode around the barnyard for about fifteen
minutes. (At this point, it will help to picture the barnyard,
a typical barnyard with the buildings set in a circle, barn,
machine shed, corn crib, etc. There was an opening between
the barn and the machine shed.) Because the pony was to be
for both my brother and I, it was now time for my brother
to take a ride too. My dad put George up behind me on the
pony. I was told to stay in the barnyard, a likely request.
I was starting to become really uncomfortable at this time. At the same
time I noticed Baldy, the pony, kept looking out between
the barn and the machine shed in the opening that lead
to the hayfield. Thinking that Baldy just wanted to look
at the hayfield, I steered him out the driveway. I remember
the sequence of events, like it was yesterday.
As soon as Baldy's noce got turned toward the driveway, I could feel
him want to trot. I thought, "How cool!", because up until now, all I
could get him to do was walk. He trotted down that short
drive and I was all smiles. We no sooner got past the buildings,
and his trot quickened, from then on it was all over but
the crying. Baldy put his head down and gave us what was
to become his signature, the neatest buck. Both George
and I went flying!
We were both crying like only ten and eight year olds can, only George
was crying because he was scared, and I was crying because my pony was
running away. I was sure that was the end of my pony.
After Baldy loped the fields several times, he came back to the barnyard,
just like my dad and the farmer said he would do. Much to my surprise
and delight, my dad said he would take the pony. We loaded
Baldy in the trailer and headed for home. On the way home,
I must have asked a thousand questions. One of which was,
"Why did you buy him after he bucked us off?" His answer
was, "You won't hurt the pony, and he will teach you a lot."
Little did I know at the time how right he was.
The day was not over when we got home. We tied Baldy in a large garage,
we had no stall yet. Of course, the first thing I wanted
to do was feed my pony. I brought him a bucket of oats,
and he knickered and seemed really pleased. I put the pan
down so he could reach it, and started around him to brush
and pet. As I started around him, he kicked me in the knee.
At that point, Dad sat me down with the first of a many
talks about how you have to keep ahead of your pony.
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