After saying good morning and giving my husband a kiss as he leaves for work...I head out to the barn each and every morning and see this adorable face looking for me. This is my pony Billy, he was born on our small farm in 1997. It's hard for me to believe he is 15 years old and as ornery as he was the day he was born. That reminds me that I too am 15 years older, good grief! Some days I wonder why God sent me this pony, but I'm convinced that Billy was sent to teach me and teach me he has. Billy has humbled me but he has also brought some of my most happy moments! He is absolutely adorable but ornery as all get out. There are days that he can thank his lucky stars that he's so darn cute or he would have been sold down the road long ago.
There is something so magical, so wonderful that can happen between a girl and a pony it is hard to explain. Billy has followed in the footsteps of other great ponies and horses in my life; each so special, each sent to me to teach me... Indian War Paint, the shetland pony that taught me how to ride. Archie the quarter horse I will never forget, we learned to jump fences together and although he was just a baby (old enough to learn to jump) he took care of this young rider and might I add took care of this young girl's heart as she matured from a gawky pre-teen with pimples and braces, through the dramas of high school as I bloomed into a young woman. Archie didn't see all those blemishes, he just simply accepted me the way I was. Then there is "My" mare who challenged me as a rider to step up to the next level who really developed me as a proficient and good equestrian. Oh, my goodness how I laugh when I think of the times I fell off of each one of these horses...how they taught me to sit up, to be confident, focus and to reach for my goals...no half way, half hearted attempts would do...I had to mean it and follow through and never give up! These are just a few of the very special equines that I have had the blessed privilege to know. Then one day, unexpectedly, God sent Billy.
Billy was a great surprise to our family. I know the term rescue has gone out of vogue with some people; but Billy's Mom Beauty was a pony that we rescued. She was so thin and her mane was in knots the day we met her. There was something so familiar about her and I could see in her big fluid eyes that there was a good pony in there no matter about the knots in her mane and sharp bones that protruded through her taunt flesh. I could see the Beauty that God meant her to be. She came to our farm the very next day. You could have knocked each of us over with a feather the day the vet came to give Beauty an exam and said, "by the way did you know this pony is in foal." What? Not what we had bargained for and to look at our thin pony girl...you would have never guessed there was a baby pony, or mule for all we knew, tucked away inside this little mare.
Billy was born on a summer's night, June 19th 1997 at the reasonable hour of 8 pm. He came out ready to take on the world. And even though he was very tiny, in fact he looked like a 3D object because his Mama hadn't gotten the nourishment she needed throughout her pregnancy, he was absolutely beautiful and healthy! We all breathed a sigh of relief. We were all pleased he was an active foal and into everything. We have him on video tape his first day and what a little bronc he was. I could swear there are times where Beauty looks completely at a loss as to what to do with him. His first day out in the field with his Mama he trotted and cantered around and around her so many times I thought Beauty was going to get dizzy. We wondered if he had somehow been wound up and would he ever run out of steam. He did eventually and then slept straight out on his side, in the middle of the field, without a care in the world. That's our Bill.
Billy was named by my 4 year old son, Nick as was a rabbit that had been born on our farm that year. Billy, the rabbit turned out to be a girl and her name was later changed to Jilly. We needed larger ponies for our kids to ride and had not counted on having yet another small pony so we thought Billy would be for sale. We had one person out to see him once when he was quite young, but I just couldn't go through with the sale. I felt Bill was worth far more than what was being offered and so he stayed. I felt I had to do something with him and that's when a friend suggested I train him to drive...and thus began my driving passion.
Billy was actually very easy to train to drive...extremely easy. I made the normal mistakes with him, nothing huge or horrible just some of the common mistakes made with a first driving horse. Billy took it all in his stride and was completely wonderful. Don't get me wrong, he can have his moments...and those moments have made my face red and humbled me to my core. I have kept a journal of sorts and have written down those stories and some day I should compile them into a book... But for now, back to the reason I started this post...
I just never tire of seeing this face each morning. We put our ponies in for the night year round because our pasture is far too rich to allow ponies to graze it 24/7, they have to come in off the field for a few hours everyday so they don't founder. Each morning the other ponies run out of the barn to the hay I place in the field for them but not Billy. I marvel that Billy chooses to stay with me and follow me around while I clean stalls. He seems to enjoy checking out the stalls that have been freshly cleaned and most mornings will enjoy a roll in one of the stalls - usually Lil Miss' stall. He stands while I scratch him in his favorite spots and then stands some more when I finish. He truly just enjoys hanging out with me. Lately he has been sneaking into the hay stall and enjoying the hay while I clean the barn and then when I ask him with a tap on his tail to back out he does and then heads out to the field with the rest of the herd. Sometimes he will stand and watch me when I clean brushes or straighten up the tack area...clean and fill buckets, de-cobweb the barn. He seems to find all the daily happenings fascinating and doesn't like to miss a thing. He watches me as I slip in the mud or fall on the ice or struggle lifting something heavy...he takes it all in. He listens quite intensely while I share my dreams, cry about my failures and tell him about our upcoming events or training schedule.
Some people head to an office and speak to their co-workers or lead meetings and conferences. Some people have their families; Mothers, sisters, cousins close by to share life. Some have close friends that they call each day or get together, plan weekly outings or luncheons, kind of like Lucy and Ethel. That hasn't been my story and that's okay. I know that each and every day I can count on seeing this beautiful face, looking for me and welcoming the day with me...and that's more than enough!
