Something special this way comes

Look into my eyes... look deep into my eyes....

No! Stop! Don't do it. Don't listen to him. He is trying to draw you in and gain control over you. lol

This is my pony stallion Lightly Frosted. He goes by Kat, the little man and sometimes even Bear, because he is so incredibly lovable.

When I went to look at him I almost walked away. I was not impressed. He was in a small pen with another rank pony stud and wore a halter and lead 24/7, because he was difficult to catch. His owner led him out, tried to lead him off so I could see him walk and evaluate his line of travel. He was just all over the place. Wobbly is one way to describe it. At one point he was almost being dragged along as he refused to move. He was put back in the stall, we went to look at the woman's other horses, she was called inside for a phone call and that's when it happened.

I looked over at the pen to see him, his head barely above the back of the other pony. About what you see in the picture above... He shot me a look and I was doomed. My friend asked what I was doing? Was I crazy? "He can't be caught, he doesn't lead, I doubt he loads and you are out of your mind!" All of that from a teenager. Yeah, sigh.

I paid for him, we led him out, got him in the trailer and headed home. He tried to climb out the side of the two horse trailer when we stopped at a red light. We pulled into a gas station I tied him up differently and off we went again. Moving he was fine, stops he got antsy. We tried to hit as many green lights as we could and got back on the freeway.



At his new home, he quickly settled in, stood like a champ the next day for a full body clipping and soon turned into everybody's favorite. Except for the barn owner. If he was turned out, I had better be showing up. Otherwise he wouldn't come in, wouldn't let anyone catch him and was just a little brat that way. Treats didn't work, wearing him out didn't either. I would walk out to the gate, he would stroll over I would put his halter on and bring him in. They could be heard grumbling about it the whole time.


(Yay cell phone cameras!)

He was supposed to be the pony that was the next 'step up' for my daughter. He was supposed to grow up and be bigger than her current pony. He did get taller. A whopping 2 inches taller... It became clear that he was not her pony. Not at all.

Over the years he has always been a keeper and his place with me is as solid as it gets. His first time in long lines, he was hooked up and pulling a drag around in no time at all. He pulled it past the mares and never even acknowledged they were there.



Sunday night I dragged his old harness out and put it on him. He hasn't worn it in years. Clearly a few things have changed- like where the britchin' strap lays... and how I needed to re-adjust the crupper. But he seems happy to be going back to work. We did a bit of ground driving. Circles, serpentine's, all the way around the rail, stop, wait, back a couple of steps and walk on. He never got excited, never tried to speed up, just put his head down and walked on. Even when the horse in the next pasture over, snorted and rushed the fence every time we went by. The biggest reaction he got from the little man was, he stopped, stood there and waited for the next command of what to do.

So last night we took it up a notch. We 'drove' down the street. The neighbors dogs rushed the fence barking, a car came up from behind us, I told him to "Walk on" and he never missed a step. The easy ones are great and we tend to forget, they don't all learn so fast and they aren't all so easy.