#28 It's All In A Name...

I started a riding school.

The arena now finished, I was excited about expanding our business and I wanted to teach riding. It was late spring and the beginning of the slow season for us. After some negotiation I contracted with a prominent private school to provide riding lessons for students. The school would provide the students and I the teaching service. It was a win win.

Summer was approaching and the school shifted to their summer mode. I would have approximately fifty students twice a week and they would arrive early each morning. Their ages would be between 8 and 10 years and would be both boys and girls.

The arrangement couldn't be more perfect.

I had many suitable horses to use but felt that size might be intimidating to smaller novice children. I decided to find ponies.

As luck would have it a "pony ring" was up for sale. These are basically a modified version of a hot walker in which the ponies were tethered and walked around a ring. The old gentleman who owned it had passed away and his family were disposing of the ponies.

We quickly made an offer, only to discover it was a total package. It was all or nothing. Ponies were scare and we needed them so we purchased the entire thing. We never used the "ring" as such more than a few times but it was another mechanical toy for My Cowboy.

The ring came with five Welsh Ponies, 13 to 14 hands and two Shetlands. Perfect sizes and with perfect temperaments.

I rode each of the ponies... testing each for suitability. All passed muster and became part of the riding school. None of the ponies came with names and I decided to let my students correct that problem. The kids had fun coming up with the perfect name for each of the small equines.

Thus began what was to be a summer of fun with both riding lessons and lectures, classroom style, too. I discovered a mix of students from shy little girls to class clowns and not a few bullies and sought to create a program for each.

One such young man was both clown and a bit of a bully. He did not have a bad heart but he was bigger and more aggressive than the others and sometimes pushed his weight around. It took our tiniest pony to set him straight.

One morning, he was more rambunctious than usual, pushing, shoving and teasing the others mercilessly. On a whim I assigned him a Shetland pony to ride.

The ponies all bore names supplied by the kids and this pony was called Spot. She was a sweet little mare, all white with several brown spots. My young man was a little over-sized for her and with his legs dangling, he rode around the arena.

He was set to perform a series of tasks under my direction. Walk, trot, turn, stop, etc. Simple basic things that he'd done many times before. He struggled a bit with this pint sized mount and when she didn't immediately respond, he struck her.

Spot promptly bucked him off.

"You little FART!!!!" he screamed at her fleeing form as he picked himself up from the dirt.

The others all laughed and cheered. Their bully had been put in his place. I rushed to check him out but the soft sand kept him from injury. I discovered a big grin on his face. He knew he'd been bested too!

Spot had become a star in my little school but branded as well. For her name changed that day... sweet little Spot became "Lil Fart" forever, none of the children would call her by any other name.

Summer's end came quickly and with it the end of the school. The children wanted to put on a display for their families and we planned a morning of fun. The day arrived and we began with a series of games for the kids. It all ended with a musical ride in which every child participated. Some were mounted, some walked leading the smallest children who were mounted. We had practiced the maneuver many times and today we were perfect. 

As I watched the kids perform I spied Lil Fart with my young man riding. He'd finally found his place in the group and pony to fill his heart. The day ended in a sea of smiling faces. Happy students and happier parents all left to go home.

For the equines and me, it was back to our old routines. For Lil Fart... she once more had a pretty name.