The Second Ride

Referring to Vera's Blog. I sure hope that her dad takes pencil and paper in hand and will write many of his experiences. H T Derickson has forgotten more about horses than most of us will ever know. When he does open up: sit back, shut up and take notes.

I took things that I have learned at the Van Bert Farm from the Tiptons, Dericksons and Pattersons and have applied it to my horse ownership. When I arrived at the Van Bert Farm almost two years ago to buy a horse, my life with horses was nearly a clean slate. I could not have found a better place to start learning about horses and especially about Mountain Horses. H T has contributed a lot to what I know about horses now as has all the others at Van Berts.

I want to tell you about a young lady I met at Van Berts in one of my early visits there. I counted her as one of my first friends at the stable. Not that everyone else hadn't been super nice to me but Kaylee Tipton took me under her wing and offered me her friendship. Kaylee was only eight years old when I first met her. I had seen her on the web site and I was assured that Mt Girl had been ridden on trail rides by the 8 year old Kaylee Tipton.

She has been an inspiration in my riding and taught me just how good a child could ride. It then became my ambition for my grandchildren to learn to ride and maybe someday ride in the show ring too if they found they loved that. I started with the little five year old great granddaughter that lived closest to me and this time last year she started taking riding lessons. Over the summer as the Mississippi grandchildren came to visit me, I learned just how much the three of them enjoyed being on horses too. Melissa (the great granddaughter) started riding in the UMH horse shows over the summer on lead line and is looking foward to riding alone in the arena in the coming year as an under eleven rider. So my hopes for my grandchildren are becoming a reality. It has been a great family time for all of us. Melissa's grandparents and Aunts and Uncles has joined me at the horse shows to watch her ride and we have had some very enjoyable times together as a result.

And so that is how a little sweet bay pony ended up on my trailer for the long ride to Mississippi. As I said in yesterday's blog, the children rode Lilly the first night that we arrived in Ms. The next morning Kailey (my granddaughter) had to go to school but Stephen didn't have to. So he was on the pony pretty early on Tuesday morning. I used the knowledge that I had gained at Van Berts in my riding and watching others ride there to start to teach Stephen how to make his pony walk on and more important to stop. So that was the first lessons the two smallest grandchildren learned.

Stephen we learned was a natural and he will not be long before it won't be enough to ride a pony that doesn't want to run. But for a small child that is good for now. So he learned the phrase "Walk on Lilly" to let his pony know he wanted her to walk forward. Of course, she thought he really didn't know what he was doing so she stood there. Next I told him to kiss at her to let her know he really meant to move forward. She still stood there not taking him too seriously at first. Then I told him to give her a kick in the side if she still ignored him and soon he had her moving forward. After he did that several times that morning, she soon started listening to him when he said "Walk on Lilly". Then we went through the exercises to teach her to stop on command. She liked that right off so that was no problem. Next was showing him how to dismount. He really didn't want to do that because he was having too much fun riding.

After school that afternoon when Kailey came home, she got her turn learning the same lessons. We also added in the steering with the reins. Both of them are such naturals they will soon be riding that little mare all over the fields and enjoying the thrill of riding alone. Their big brother Dalton will also enjoy that pony long enough he too will get comfortable on horseback and soon move up to a bigger horse.

So the grandchildren and I share a love for this little pony and I believe all horses in general. They will learn many lessons from the bay pony. They will learn that she must have hay and water and she will like brushing and having those itchy spots scratched. They will learn that she will be a good friend to them but to have a friend they must also be a friend. Perhaps they too will learn that T V is not nearly as much fun as being able to go out and work and play with their pony. They will soon know that with ownership there comes responsibility. Lessons children have to learn anyway and why not with a pony that teaches them all these things without them really thinking of it as learning. After all, isn't that the best way to learn.