Thursday, November 10, 2011

My Pony, Velvet, when I was a child in the 1970's





Velvet, Our Pony
Softness of heart, Velvet, her name;
of shaggy coat and gentle gaze.
Her short legs worked overtime
to stay in front of the pack
as the lead she liked to maintain.
One blue eye, one brown, always cautious.
Watchful babysitter, she, on many a rambunctious day.
Summer mornings, warm and promising, off we went
field eagerly crossed, sister and I securely upon her back.
Traversing up and down the quarry 
through tall cornfield and railroad tracks,
wading along river bank, and forest trail.
Aware of the way home, she always led us back.
Until the day our feet 
nearly dragged upon the ground. 
We knew our journeys had come to an end.  
With joy, I must admit, we welcomed a bigger horse,
one eager to explore and take us away, fast.
Behind the fence we heard her whinny,
her indignant cry of being, finally, left behind.
Never again did she join the pack, 
no leader she.  Resigned to wait 
until we returned, greeting us eagerly.
She cared for us when we were small
and watched us outgrow her.  We brushed and petted
and walked her by lead.  The big horse moved on 
when we finally grew up, but she was family, 
beloved and cherished, she remained.

by Margaret Bednar

* * * * *

The top is a photo of my sister and me with our pony, Velvet.  I am standing and my sister has our dog, Sugar, in her lap.  Looking at this picture it both seems so long ago AND like it was yesterday... how can that be?

Well, as I fight the lump in my throat, I can look back and say how lucky we were to grow up in an "innocent" time when we kids didn't worry about being out ALL day, wandering around the countryside, only coming home when we were either hungry or it was starting to get dark.  And our pony was usually with us!  My horse was beloved too.  But when we moved out of the house and got our own apartments, he was sold.  My mom refused to part with Velvet - she said a better caretaker of her children she could never have found!  


This is me in my "beloved" (not really) polyester green 4-H outfit.  Velvet was a great little pony, always well liked by the judges.  She brought home the blue ribbon for both of us this day.  She knew her leads and trotted along so slowly.  Tucked her head in nicely when asked to back up.  Horse shows were not my "thing", though.  My sister, to this day does raise horses and shows them professionally (give me trail riding any day!).

Maybe I would have felt differently if I had been given a better outfit...  :)

7 comments:

Val said...

Loved this.

Debi said...

Wonderful Velvet. I know you really have stories to tell your children about your horse days. It was an innocent time. FYI - Grand Prix this weekend in Raleigh.

Shirley said...

What a sweet tribute poem. I noticed you have St. Martin de Porres on your sidebar like I do; tomorrow is his feast day.

Dom said...

What a cutie!!

Jennifer MacNeill said...

How beautiful! Love the photos and poem.

Grey Horse Matters said...

That outfit is...umm, very green. Probably scared you for life!

Loved this whole post and Velvet sounds like a very special pony to grow up with. You and your sister were very lucky.

Equine Mum said...

Great equestrian blog! Why not come along and post this at Haynet an Equine Social Blogging Network -http://hay-net.co.uk/ Hope to see you there!