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| God I love this pony... |
Jennifer Williams rides Pia's daddy, and just got back from a big training trip overseas.. so we thought it'd be fun to go audit and have a day of learning and snacking and horsey time.
Of course it's been wet, windy and just generally snarly out here, so when the clinic organizer sent an email saying "it's gonna be cold, so bring PLENTY OF BLANKETS!"we took that as our cue to bail and find something else to do with our time. (oops)
So instead of chattering our teeth and trying to hear Jennifer's helpful instruction over our own shivers, I drove north, met my friend D at her home and paid a long overdue visit to the current reining queen of pony-dom, Star.
By our best guesses, Star is currently somewhere between 36 and 39 years old. And although I consider "40" a badge of honor in the horse world, I'd never offend a lady by nudging her age closer to another decade...
Aside from a total lack of teeth, the beast is still just as sassy and almost as active as she's ever been. Or at least, she's still just as active as she's ever wanted. Which basically means she's carefully whittled her daily responsibilities down to sleeping, eating mashes, being turned out, and snarling at other horses/people.
While she managed to be quite the show pony there for a while, it was always somewhat begrudgingly and I'm pretty sure she would have preferred her current itinerary over anything her riders had in store for her. The only exception being occasional runs on cross country... but she certainly could have done away with anything involving flatwork or that blasted dressage ring.
Anyway, without any further ado... here's the little twit in all her glory:
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| Looking just as grumpy as always |
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| oh the ears DO still go forward... how cute. |
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| Nope... we still don't give hugs... |
Like I said, she looks AWESOME. Aside from losing her masseter (jaw) muscle from the lack of chewing, she really doesn't look her age. I mean yes, she's a dirty little meatball, but she's earned that right I think. Her coat looks awesome, her feet are great and her fat little tummy all look like what a pony should look like.
Ok, so maybe her withers should be a bit more prominent... but sometimes the old lady goes off her feed.. so I suppose its better to keep a little bit of a camel hump for some reserves...
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| I dare you to find the withers... I swear they used to be there! |
She's had a few scares over the last couple of years, but somehow she keeps bouncing back. My current theory is that she just isn't done pestering everyone yet, but who knows what grand plans she still has rattling around in that (semi evil) pony brain.
Before we left to go see D's current projects, we turned Star (and her friend Camille) out and watched them play... Her gaits show her age, but gosh darn, she looks pretty good! I can't believe how not-swayed her back is... what a little champ.
This is my favorite.. once she figured out what pasture was open for grazing, Star took off and (of course) had to be the first one there... I can't believe she still canters!
I don't think that pony has a single thing to complain about.... she deserves it.
I see where Miss P gets her good looks :)
ReplyDeleteAwww. I love old white ponies. I wish my daughter's Welsh was a gray so he would look like that when he gets old. Alas, he's a bay. But a lovely bright red bay with a full blaze, so he's darn cute in his own right. Thanks for sharing her royal pony-ness.
ReplyDeleteWhat a totally adorable pony! She's looking awesome for her age. :)
ReplyDeleteThose old troopers are precious. The old morgan I grew up riding finally had to be put down last fall. I think he was 39. Good ol' man.
ReplyDeleteGlad the pony is still kicking. ;-)