01/04/2026
We had an uh-oh moment today.
Ponay is hands-down one of the best ponies I’ve ever been around. Great handle, no buck, no rear… but she is not a dead head. I actually love that about her. She stays alert and looks out for things that might be dangerous like that horse over there who looks like he might kick, or apparently…a cup of water.
A few weeks ago we jumped a doe, and Ponay exited stage left like she was auditioning for Broadway. It gave Murphy a little scare, and I told her the truth: unexpected things can happen on any horse, and learning how to handle them matters.
Fast forward to today.
We decided to play a game I played as a kid—the Water Race. You ride with a cup of water and see how much you spill. Simple enough, right?
Wrong.
Round one was an immediate loss because Ponay decided that cup was clearly a bomb and exited stage left again.
But here’s the win: Murphy stayed in the middle, sat deep, pulled back until Ponay stopped… and then laughed. No tears. Just a little fear. Just, “Okay, let’s do that again.”
And that’s the real lesson.
With horses, and life, anything can happen at any time. What matters is how you handle it. I hope she always remembers to stay calm, stay in the middle, and pull back on the reins when she needs to.
