If You Give a Kid a Pony…

By: Anna Ingram Knowles

If you give a kid a pony, they will need a saddle to go with it. You’ll buy them the best saddle you can afford, and then they will probably want a bridle, and a saddle pad, and some boots too…

Then, they will probably spend hours begging you to go to the barn, even though there are other things that you need to do. They will insist, and their persistence will win.

When they get their first show shirt, they’ll need a belt, and spurs, and a hat… And a team, a barn family… And then, life as you know it, is over.

No more lazy weekends or holidays for you, my friend. You will see more sunrises than you ever thought possible. Every spare minute will be spent hauling kids, and dogs, and boots, and tack all over tarnation for hours to practice for their sport. The sport that will drive their very passion.

And your house will be a mess. And your car will be dirty. All because you gave a kid a pony…

Your weekends will be spent freezing to death, or burning up, as you hang out in the barn or arena. And their weekends will be spent gaining confidence, and friends, and learning new skills that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. They’ll be having fun and getting dirty, so dirty that you will be doing laundry in a whole new way, possibly at times involving a pressure washer.

And you’ll be there the day they learn how to lope, the day they win their first ribbon, win their first class, get their first Circuit Championship… And you will be SO proud. The other parents will congratulate you, but you know, it’s the hard work and determination that they have invested into this pony that deserves the congratulations. As a team, they have done this…

And right before your eyes, your little one will be transformed from a small fry who be-bopped along on that little pony, with their little bum bouncing out of the saddle, into a little horseman. And you will be proud… So proud.

When you give a kid a pony, you give them more than just a four-legged furry friend. You give them a sport, a talent, hopes, dreams, and friends- the kind of friends who become family. You give them a place to learn about life, room to grow as a person where they can push themselves to their very limits, bravery, courage, and memories. Oh, the memories that will last a lifetime. And a life.

They will have all these things simply because you gave a kid a pony…

Because you gave a kid a pony, you too will develop lifelong friendships, developed solely from the same passion for the sport and the love of your barn family and team. You will root together, and cry together, and laugh together.

All because you gave a kid a pony…

Then, one day, years from now, they will be in their room, and a picture of that pony will catch their eye. When they look at it, they will know instantly that when you gave that kid a pony, you gave them a childhood that they will never forget. They will realize that everything you gave up along the way… was worth it.

All because you gave a kid a pony…

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